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"The Rhythm of the Night" is a song by Italian
Eurodance Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...
group
Corona Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to: * Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star * Corona (beer), a Mexican beer * Corona, informal term for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 di ...
. It was released as their debut single in 1993 in Italy, then elsewhere the following year. The song is the title track of the group's debut studio album, ''
The Rhythm of the Night ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' (1995), and was written by Francesco Bontempi, Annerley Emma Gordon, Giorgio Spagna,
Pete Glenister Pete Glenister is an English guitarist, songwriter and producer, known for his work with Alison Moyet and Kirsty MacColl. He has also worked with a number of other artists including Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Bruce Foxton, Terence Trent D'Arby, Bros, ...
and Mike Gaffey. It was produced by Bontempi, and the vocals were performed by Italian singer Giovanna Bersola, who is not credited on the single and does not appear in the
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
. The woman who appears in the video is the group's frontwoman Olga Souza. The video was A-listed on Music TV-channels, such as Germany's
VIVA Viva may refer to: Companies and organisations * Viva (network operator), a Dominican mobile network operator * Viva Air, a Spanish airline taken over by flag carrier Iberia * Viva Air Dominicana * VIVA Bahrain, a telecommunication company * ...
. The song was a worldwide hit in 1994, peaking at number-one in Italy, and within the top five in most of Europe, while in the US, it fell short of the top ten, reaching number eleven on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the ''Cash Box'' Top 100.


Background and release

The song was credited to Francesco Bontempi, Annerley Emma Gordon, Giorgio Spagna,
Pete Glenister Pete Glenister is an English guitarist, songwriter and producer, known for his work with Alison Moyet and Kirsty MacColl. He has also worked with a number of other artists including Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Bruce Foxton, Terence Trent D'Arby, Bros, ...
and Mike Gaffey. In 1987 the
Pete Glenister Pete Glenister is an English guitarist, songwriter and producer, known for his work with Alison Moyet and Kirsty MacColl. He has also worked with a number of other artists including Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Bruce Foxton, Terence Trent D'Arby, Bros, ...
and Mike Gaffey written song "Save Me" performed by German pop duo Say When! was released. The Rhythm of the Night borrows heavily from this track, namely the music and specifically the lyrics "Round and round we go, each time I hear you say", along with other similar lyrics shared by the two songs. As a result, the two received writing credits on The Rhythm of the Night. At the time she got the gig, Italian singer Giovanna Bersola suffered from stage fright, and would only be doing studio work. Brazilian singer Olga Souza would be fronting the song on stage and tour instead of Bersola, as well as in its accompanying
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
. Bersola told in a 2021 interview, “The studio was safe for me, it was no windows, just me and the music. It was a time when
dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
and euro house music was very prolific in Europe and I was living in Italy at the time, so I was singing three or four songs a day as a session voice.” According to Souza fronting the group instead of her and that they didn’t use Bersola's image on the single cover, she felt that it suited her, “That gave me the freedom to be absolutely no one.” Bersola is no longer suffering from stage fright and now lives in New Zealand. "The Rhythm of the Night" was released in 1993 in Italy, and the following year, it was released internationally.


Chart performance

"The Rhythm of the Night" achieved huge success worldwide. It reached number one in Italy and stayed there for eight consecutive weeks. In Europe the single entered the
Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...
on 12 February at number 63, and made a slow climb up to peak at five on 17 September. In the end of 1994, it was the longest-charting single on the Eurochart Hot 100. It peaked within the top ten in several countries, including Australia (8), Austria (6), Denmark (4), France (3), Germany (8), Iceland (4), Ireland (3), the Netherlands (5), New Zealand (7), Scotland (2), Spain (3), Switzerland (3) and the United Kingdom (2). Additionally, it was a top 20 hit in Belgium (13) and a 30 hit in Sweden (28). In the United States, "The Rhythm of the Night" reached number eleven on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the ''Cash Box'' Top 100. "The Rhythm of the Night" entered the European ''Border Breakers'' airplay chart at 21 on 9 April due to crossover airplay in West, Central, North and South-West Europe (also after topping the Italian charts for 8 weeks). It peaked at number four on 5 November. In the US, the song was a top ten hit on radio as well, peaking at number nine in the ''Billboard''
Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...
chart and at number seven in the ''Billboard''
Rhythmic Top 40 The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and previously named Rhythmic Songs, Rhythmic Top 40 and CHR/Rhythmic) is an airplay chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on ...
chart. The song was an even bigger hit on the dance charts. It peaked at number one on the French dance chart, number two on the Canadian ''
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 ...
'' Dance/Urban chart, number three on the
UK Dance Chart The UK Dance Singles Chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, garage, synthpop) in record ...
, and number seven on the ''Billboard''
Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...
chart in the United States.


Critical reception

Scottish ''
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'' complimented "The Rhythm of the Night" as "a great Euro pop record" that "has been a top 10 hit in every European country."
Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...
from ''
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 ...
'' wrote, "Recent No. 1 U.K./European hit is finally issued domestically, and it already appears to be on the road to meeting with similar success here." He explained, "Thumping
Italo disco Italo disco (variously capitalized, and sometimes hyphenated as Italo-disco) is a music genre which originated in Italy in the late 1970s and was mainly produced in the early 1980s. Italo disco evolved from the then-current underground dance, p ...
beats support glossy faux-
rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...
synths and a diva vocal that is forceful without being overly aggressive. A wildly catchy and repetitive
chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...
already has begun to woo radio programmers in several major markets on import." Dave Sholin from the ''
Gavin Report The ''Gavin Report'' was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs. The pu ...
'' reported, "Key programmers are catching on to this one and fast – for one very good reason: It's hot! Coming off a number one run in the U.K., Corona is set up to blowout Stateside." In his UK chart commentary,
James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a music writer and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worked on air ...
felt it's "more conventional dance though just has the edge for the moment". Pan-European magazine ''
Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...
'' said, "Nocturnal dance party animals and daytime radio programmers sweat to the pulsating Euro beat. When the mistress of seduction hits the mike, only a glass of
Corona Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to: * Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star * Corona (beer), a Mexican beer * Corona, informal term for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 di ...
can cool you down." Alan Jones from ''
Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
'' viewed it as a "extremely commercial pop hit from the Continent." He also found that the more concise Rapino edit is also assailing ears on radio, and its concise form will win it many admirers." John Kilgo from ''The Network Forty'' described it as a "uptempo high-energy dance number" that is "set to explode." James Hamilton from the '' RM'' Dance Update called it a "
Olga De Souza Olga Maria de Souza (born 16 July 1968) is a Brazilian-Italian singer, model and dancer. She is best known as the frontwoman of the Italian group Corona (band), Corona, produced by Francesco "Checco" Bontempi, a.k.a. "Lee Marrow". Early life S ...
cooed Euro smash". Jonathan Bernstein from ''
Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'' complimented it as "magnificent". Paul Sexton from ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' declared it as an "hedonistic anthem".


Samples

In 2019, the chorus of the song was sampled in the
Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo (rapper), Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie (singer ...
and
J Balvin José Álvaro Osorio Balvín (born 7 May 1985), known professionally as J Balvin, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. He has been referred to as the " Prince of Reggaeton" (from Spanish: "Príncipe del Reggaetón"), and is one of the best-sell ...
's " Ritmo (Bad Boys for Life)", which appeared on 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 ...
of the 2020 film ''
Bad Boys for Life ''Bad Boys for Life'' is a 2020 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Adil & Bilall. It is the sequel to ''Bad Boys II'' (2003) and the third installment in the ''Bad Boys'' franchise. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reprise their ...
''.


Impact and legacy

"The Rhythm of the Night" was awarded one of BMI's Pop Awards in 1996, honoring the songwriters, composers and music publishers of the song. The song was featured prominently in the closing scene of the 1999 film ''Beau Travail'', with the film's protagonist engaging in a frenzied solo dance performance to the song on an empty nightclub stage. In 2013, ''
Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down productio ...
'' ranked it number nine in their list of "Before EDM: 30 Dance Tracks from the '90s That Changed the Game". In 2014, ''
Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...
'' ranked it number 25 on their list of "The 50 Best Pop Singles of 1994". Bradley Stern described it as a "spacey
synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...
jam" and "true staple of early '90s club anthems". He concluded, "As soon as that almighty call to arms rings out ("This is the rhythm of the night!"), 20 years later, there's still no choice but to become a slave to the rhythm all over again." In 2017,
BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...
ranked it number two in "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs of the '90s" list. Stopera and Galindo wrote, "'The Rhythm of the Night' is not only a song, it's a lifestyle. It's a triumph. A feeling. Pure joy. This song will take you places!!" During the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, the song regained prominence due to the band's name, which shares its name with the group of viruses that cause
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. According to Italian author William Silvestri, the band and its most famous hit were remembered to "exorcise the fear of COVID-19". He argues that "COVID-19 was needed to remind us that, after all, the first case of "Corona" to go viral in the world was precisely this dance group." Olga Souza, known in her native Brazil as Corona, commented about the
Internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
s associating her band with COVID-19 in an interview with ''
Extra Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * ''Extra!'', an American me ...
'': "I have seen a lot of memes. We are all alarmed right now. This kind of news surely brings us a lot of anxiety, because we don't know how to deal with
he virus He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
yet. It would be a lot better if the world was infected by the song instead of that dangerous virus." In 2022, "The Rhythm of the Night" was ranked number 68 in ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
''s list of "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time". Same year, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' ranked it number 50 in their "The 70 Greatest No 2 Singles – Ranked!".
Alexis Petridis Alexis Petridis ( el, Αλέξης Πετρίδης; born 13 September 1971) is a British journalist, head rock and pop critic for the UK newspaper ''The Guardian'', as well as a regular contributor to the magazine '' GQ''. In addition to his mus ...
wrote, "Nineties Euro pop-house was seldom a finely wrought artistic enterprise, but just occasionally, it hit on something incredible. The work of shadowy Italian producers and British songwriters for hire, promoted by a “singer” who didn’t appear on the song itself, "The Rhythm of the Night" perfectly captures the anticipatory excitement of night out about to happen."


Accolades


Track listings


Original version

*CD single #"The Rhythm of the Night" (radio edit) (4:24) #"The Rhythm of the Night" (club mix) (5:31) *7" single #"The Rhythm of the Night" (Rapino Brothers radio version) #"The Rhythm of the Night" (Original Italian club mix) *12" maxi – Italy, Spain, Germany #"The Rhythm of the Night" (club mix) (5:31) #"The Rhythm of the Night" (radio edit) (4:20) #"The Rhythm of the Night" (RBX E.U.R.O. mix) (5:05) #"The Rhythm of the Night" (extended 2# groove mix) (5:30) #"The Rhythm of the Night" (a capella) (5:25) *12" maxi – UK #"The Rhythm of the Night" (Luvdup Burning Bush vocal mix) (7:59) #"The Rhythm of the Night" (Luvdup Tequila on a Spoon mix) (5:57) #"The Rhythm of the Night" (Rapino Brothers Let's Get Fizzical piano mix) (5:06) #"The Rhythm of the Night" (Lee Marrow remix) (6:24)


Remixes version


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications and sales


Release history


Cascada version

On 2 June 2012, dance group
Cascada Cascada (, Spanish for "Waterfall", stylized as CASCADA, CASC''A''DA and cascada) is a German dance music act founded in 2004 by singer Natalie Horler and DJs/producers DJ Manian and DJ Yanou. They are best known for their hit singles " Everyti ...
performed "The Rhythm of the Night" in a bar opening, leading to speculation that the song would be the group's new single. The single was released on 22 June. It was a top ten hit in Austria, but only reached the top 30 in the group's native Germany. It was included on their compilation album, ''
The Best of Cascada ''The Best of Cascada'' is the third compilation album released by German dance trio, Cascada. It was released 22 March 2013 in Germany. Consisting of past singles, "The Best of Cascada" also features 3 new songs. The album's first single, "The R ...
'' (2013).


Track list

*Digital download #"The Rhythm of the Night" (radio edit) – 3:22 #"The Rhythm of the Night" (Crew Cardinal radio edit) – 3:35 #"The Rhythm of the Night" (Ryan T. & Rick M. radio edit) – 3:58 #"The Rhythm of the Night" (extended mix) – 4:44 #"The Rhythm of the Night" (Crew Cardinal remix) – 5:50 #"The Rhythm of the Night" (Ryan T. & Rick M. remix) – 5:43


Music video

The
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
for the song was directed by Iulian Moga, the Romanian film director noted for making music videos. It was released on 22 June, first to those who had 'liked' Cascada's official page on Facebook, then on general release. The video shows Dutch rapper Nicci, singing his part of the song, and Horler in a yellow jacket, rocking a rich old woman's mansion. The party in the house also comes with police officers, that turn out to be strippers.


Charts


Other cover versions

In 2008, the song was covered by Dutch pop group
Hermes House Band The Hermes House Band is a Dutch pop band, established in 1982 by members of the Rotterdamsch Studenten Corps, a fraternity/sorority in Rotterdam, Netherlands. They have released more than 25 albums and singles. History The band rose to fame i ...
, and reached number 16 in France and number 55 in Germany. In 2013, British band
Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was sto ...
recorded "
Of the Night "Of the Night" is a song by British band Bastille, released on 11 October 2013 as the lead single from ''All This Bad Blood'' (2013), a reissue of their debut studio album '' Bad Blood'' (2013). The song debuted at number two on the UK Singl ...
", a medley of "The Rhythm of the Night" and " Rhythm Is a Dancer" by
Snap! Snap! is a German Eurodance group formed in 1989 by Record producer, producers Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti. The act has been through a number of line-up changes over the years, including American singers, songwriters and rappers Thea A ...
. Hattie Webb of
the Webb Sisters The Webb Sisters are an English musical duo comprising the siblings Charley and Hattie Webb from Kent, England. They were backing singers for Leonard Cohen and Tom Petty. They also appear on Sting's album If on a Winter's Night...''. Biogr ...
covered the song; her version was used in the
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
advert campaign "We Are Awake" and her EP ''Mouth of the Sea'', released on 11 November 2016.
Jenny B Giovanna Bersola (born 20 July 1972), better known by her stage name Jenny B, is an Italian singer. Biography Bersola was born in 1972 in Catania, Sicily, Italy, to a Sicilian mother and Senegalese father. In the early years of her music caree ...
, who sang on the original track, sang the cover used on the 2018 video game ''
Just Dance 2019 ''Just Dance 2019'' is a 2018 dance rhythm game developed and published by Ubisoft. It was unveiled on June 11, 2018, during its E3 press conference as the tenth main installment of the series, and was released on October 23, 2018 on Nintendo ...
''. In 2018, the song was covered in bigroom version by Dutch djs Maurice West & SaberZ.


See also

*
List of number-one hits of 1994 (Italy) This is a list of the number-one hits of 1994 on Italian Hit Parade Singles Chart. References {{FIMI 1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente ...
*"
Of the Night "Of the Night" is a song by British band Bastille, released on 11 October 2013 as the lead single from ''All This Bad Blood'' (2013), a reissue of their debut studio album '' Bad Blood'' (2013). The song debuted at number two on the UK Singl ...
" *"
Ain't Nobody "Ain't Nobody" is a song by American funk band Rufus (band), Rufus and American singer Chaka Khan. It was released on November 4, 1983, as one of four studio tracks included on their live album, live album, ''Stompin' at the Savoy – Live, Sto ...
"


References


External links


Corona - The Rhythm of the Night (Official Music Video), 1995. Rhino.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhythm of the Night, The 1993 songs 1993 debut singles 1994 singles 2012 singles Cascada songs Corona (band) songs English-language Italian songs Hermes House Band songs Number-one singles in Italy Songs written by Ann Lee (singer) Songs written by Giorgio Spagna Music videos directed by Giacomo De Simone Warner Music Group singles ZYX Music singles