"Saturday Night" is a song recorded by the Scottish

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band Bay City Rollers. It was written and produced by Bill Martin and

Phil Coulter Philip Coulter (born 19 February 1942) is an Irish musician, songwriter and record producer from Derry, Northern Ireland. He was awarded the Gold Badge from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors in October 2009. Coulter ha ...

. The tune is an upbeat pop rock number with a memorable hook, in which the word "Saturday" is spelled out in a rhythmic, enthusiastic chant. The original version of the song was recorded and released in the UK in 1973 but did not hit the charts. The original version was sung by Nobby Clark. At the end of 1975, "Saturday Night" was released in the US and hit the number-one spot in January 1976. It was the first ''Billboard'' #1 of the US Bicentennial year. The song had been re-recorded for the Rollers' 1974 UK album '' Rollin''' with lead vocals by

Les McKeown Leslie Richard McKeown (12 November 195520 April 2021) was a Scottish pop singer. He was the lead singer of the Bay City Rollers during their most successful period in the 1970s. Early life McKeown was born in Broomhouse, a suburb close to the ...

, Nobby's replacement. The single also reached number one on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Canadian Singles Chart listing on 10 January 1976. This is the band's sole No. 1 hit in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In 2019, the song was used in Netflix's '' Umbrella Academy '' series.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover versions

Students at the Lochiel, Glenwood, and South Carvolth Schools in Canada covered the song in 1976. This rendition later appeared on The Langley Schools Music Project album, ''Innocence & Despair''. The song was covered by English rock band

Ned's Atomic Dustbin Ned's Atomic Dustbin are an English rock band formed in Stourbridge, West Midlands, in November 1987. The band took their name from an episode of radio comedy programme ''The Goon Show''. The band is unusual for using two bass-players in their ...

for the Mike Myers 1993 romantic comedy film '' So I Married an Axe Murderer''. The song also appears on the soundtrack album. Japanese punk rock band

Hi-Standard Hi-Standard (stylized as Hi-STANDARD) is a Japanese punk rock band formed in 1991 by bassist and lead vocalist Akihiro Nanba, guitarist and vocalist Ken Yokoyama, and drummer Akira Tsuneoka. The release '' Making the Road'' sparked sold-out Jap ...

released a fast-paced cover of the song on their 1996 debut album Growing Up. Two covers have been aired as the opening theme song for ''

Hockey Night in Canada CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...

'': Canadian hard rock band

Monster Truck A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock p ...

covered first for the 2017–2018 season while Jane's Party and

Shawnee Kish Shawnee Kish is a Mohawk singer-songwriter from Canada.Jane Stevenson"Two-spirit Indigenous artist Shawnee Kish sees music as 'medicine'" ''Toronto Sun'', June 20, 2021. She is most noted as a Juno Award nominee for Contemporary Indigenous Artist ...

covered the second for the 2021-2022 season.

Sampling

The 'Hey! Ho! Let's Go' chant in "

Blitzkrieg Bop Blitzkrieg Bop is a song by American punk rock band, Ramones, released in February 1976 as their debut single in the United States. It appeared as the opening track on the band's debut album, ''Ramones'', released two months later. The song, w ...

" by the Ramones was, according to

Tommy Ramone Thomas Erdelyi (born Tamás Erdélyi; January 29, 1949 – July 11, 2014), known professionally as Tommy Ramone, was a Hungarian American record producer and musician. He was the drummer for the influential punk rock band the Ramones for ...

, inspired by "Saturday Night".

Down With Webster Down With Webster is a Canadian rap rock band from The Beaches area of Toronto who signed with Universal Motown in April 2009. Down with Webster was originally formed for a middle school talent show. The band released their first official EP, ' ...

's "Satuday Night" and

Simple Plan Simple Plan is a Canadian rock band from Montreal, Quebec, formed in 1999. The band's lineup consists of Pierre Bouvier (lead vocals, studio bass guitar), Chuck Comeau (drums), Jeff Stinco (lead guitar), and Sébastien Lefebvre (rhythm guita ...

's "Saturday" interpolate the opening "S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night" chant from the Bay City Rollers song.

Credits and personnel

* Production – Bill Martin & Phil Coulter (track A), Phil Wainman (track B)

References

External links

* *
Ned's Atomic Dustbin cover
* {{Authority control 1973 singles 1975 singles 1976 singles Bay City Rollers songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Oricon International Singles Chart number-one singles Songs written by Bill Martin (songwriter) Songs written by Phil Coulter 1973 songs Arista Records singles