"The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" is a song written by Benjamin Weisman, Dorothy Wayne, and Marilyn Garrett. It became a popular hit in 1962 for

Bobby Vee Robert Thomas Velline (April 30, 1943 – October 24, 2016), known professionally as Bobby Vee, was an American singer who was a teen idol in the early 1960s and also appeared in films. According to '' Billboard'' magazine, he had thirty-e ...

and has had several cover versions over the years.

Bobby Vee version

The song was first recorded by American

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

singer

, at United Recorders, Hollywood, California. The recording was arranged by

Ernie Freeman Ernest Aaron Freeman (August 16, 1922 – May 16, 1981) was an American pianist, organist, bandleader, and arranger. He was responsible for arranging many successful rhythm and blues and pop records from the 1950s to the 1970s. Birth and fam ...

and produced by

Snuff Garrett Thomas Lesslie Garrett (July 5, 1938 – December 16, 2015) known as Snuff Garrett or Tommy Garrett, was an American record producer whose most famous work was during the 1960s and 1970s. Early years Garrett was born in Dallas, Texas, United ...

. Released as a single in late 1962, it spent 14 weeks on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

chart, reaching number 3,Bobby Vee - Chart History - The Hot 100
''Billboard.com''. Retrieved November 2, 2016. while ranking number 2 on ''Billboard''s Middle-Road Singles chart,Middle-Road Singles
, ''

'', January 12, 1963. p. 35. Retrieved November 2, 2016. and number 8 on ''

''s

Hot R&B Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart.Bobby Vee - Chart History - Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
''Billboard.com''. Retrieved July 7, 2017.Hot R&B Singles
, ''

'', January 19, 1963. p. 16. Retrieved July 7, 2017. It also spent 12 weeks on the UK's ''

Record Retailer ''Record Retailer'' was the only music trade newspaper for the UK record industry. It was founded in August 1959 as a monthly newspaper covering both labels and dealers. Its founding editor was Roy Parker (who died on 27 December 1964). The title ...

'' chart, achieving number 3 on March 6, 1963.Bobby Vee - Full Official Chart History

The Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...

. Retrieved November 6, 2016. The song was included on his 1963

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revival ...

album, ''The Night Has a Thousand Eyes''. Vee also recorded a

Scopitone Scopitone is a type of jukebox featuring a 16 mm film component. Scopitone films were a forerunner of music videos. The 1959 Italian Cinebox/Colorama and Color-Sonics were competing, lesser-known technologies of the time one year before the Scopi ...

promotional video In video production, a promotional video is marketing or advertising: Arts, media and entertainment * Promotional recording, an audio or video recording distributed to publicize a recording * Trailer (promotion), a commercial advertisement for a ...

for the song.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other versions

*In 1965, Gary Lewis & the Playboys on their first album ''This Diamond Ring''; it can also be heard on their album ''Complete Hits''. *In 1973,

The Carpenters The Carpenters (officially known as Carpenters) were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen Carpenter, Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinct ...

on their album '' Now & Then''. *Alex Proyas' 1998 science fiction film, ''Dark City,'' includes a scene by Jennifer Connelly singing a jazzy, sultry minor key version of the song as a singer in a nightclub. In the film, the "thousand eyes" motif contributes to the theme of surveillance that permeates the film. In the Theatrical release, Anita Kelsey dubs her voice over Connelly's. In Proyas' Director's Cut, Jennifer's singing voice is her own.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Night Has a Thousand Eyes, The 1962 singles Songs with music by Ben Weisman Bobby Vee songs The Angels (American group) songs Gary Lewis & the Playboys songs 1962 songs Liberty Records singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles