"Rock the Night" is a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

released by the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

band

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. The song was written by

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Joey Tempest Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson (born 19 August 1963), known professionally as Joey Tempest, is a Swedish singer best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Europe. He has written the band's great hits such as " The Final Countdown", " Rock the ...

in 1984 and premiered on the band's ''

Wings of Tomorrow ''Wings of Tomorrow'' is the second studio album by the Swedish heavy metal band Europe. It was released on 24 February 1984, by Hot Records. ''Wings of Tomorrow'' is the last album to feature drummer Tony Reno. The song "Scream of Anger" was ...

'' tour the same year. The song was released in two different versions, just more than a year and a half apart from each other- in 1985 as a single from the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

to the Swedish film '' On the Loose'', and in 1986 as the second international single from the album '' The Final Countdown.'' The original 1985 release has a rawer, more metallic hard rock sound than the more polished version released from ''The Final Countdown'' the following year. The B-side for both releases was a 1985 re-recording of the band's debut single, " Seven Doors Hotel". The 1986 release became a Top 10 hit in France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Belgium, Ireland and Switzerland, and peaked at #12 on the UK Singles Chart and #30 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the United States in 1987. The song was included in the 2007 film ''

Hot Rod Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimised for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and made ...

'' and the European version of the

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

game '' Guitar Hero: On Tour''.

Music videos

There were two music videos released for "Rock the Night," one corresponding to each of the different versions. The original 1985 version, apparently directly incorporated into the ''On the Loose'' film, features the band performing the song on stage, interspersed with shots of various audience members singing along and otherwise observing/reacting to the song. The second video was directed by

Nick Morris Nick Morris is a British film maker better known for directing music videos in the 1980's. Career Nick Morris began writing and making amateur films at school, one of which was shown at the NFT. His professional career began in the 1980s with m ...

and shot at the

Hard Rock Cafe Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a British-based multinational chain of theme restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and rol ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. It was the first Europe music video to feature the band's new guitarist,

Kee Marcello Kee Marcello (born Kjell Hilding Lövbom, 20 February 1960 in Ludvika, Sweden) is a Swedish guitarist/vocalist, best known as the former guitarist in the hard rock bands Europe and Easy Action. He is currently pursuing his solo career. Career ...

, since the original guitarist

John Norum John Norum (born 23 February 1964) is a Norwegian-Swedish guitarist and one of the founders of the rock band Europe. Concurrent to his role with Europe, he also maintains a career as a solo artist. Biography As an infant, Norum moved with his p ...

(who had recorded the guitar parts) had left the band weeks before the video shoot. The video begins with Europe drinking in a car before walking into the Hard Rock Cafe, where the people inside are watching a video...of Europe's "Rock the Night." Joey begins singing while the band is looking at the Cafe's order menu. The other band members use forks and other improvised "instruments" to mime to the music. The rest of the people inside soon become a crowd, clapping and cheering them on. Live footage was also included, although overdubbed by the studio version of the song. After the chorus, Joey uses a ketchup bottle as an imaginary microphone, before the waiter delivers a real wireless one. Right before the solo, Kee removes a guitar from the Cafe's wall. They take the stage during the solo and perform the remainder of the song.

Personnel

−

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

and

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

−

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

and backing vocals *

John Levén John Gunnar Levén (born 25 October 1963 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish bassist in the Swedish rock band Europe. Levén and vocalist Joey Tempest are the only band members who have performed on all of Europe's studio albums. Career When Lev� ...

−

electric bass The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck The ...

and backing vocals *

Mic Michaeli Gunnar Mathias "Mic" Michaeli (born 11 November 1962) is a Swedish musician best known as the keyboardist for the rock band Europe. Like many of the other Europe members he grew up in Stockholm suburb Upplands Väsby. He joined the band for thei ...

−

synthesizers A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

and backing vocals *

Ian Haugland Jan-Håkan "Ian" Haugland (born 13 August 1964) is the drummer in the Swedish rock band Europe. When he was eight months old, he and his family moved to the Stockholm suburb of Märsta, Sweden. He joined Europe in the summer of 1984, replacing ...

−

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Chart positions

References

{{Authority control 1985 songs 1985 singles 1986 singles Europe (band) songs Epic Records singles Songs written by Joey Tempest