"Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?" is a song recorded by

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his dis ...

for his album, '' Roll with It'', released on

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

in 1988. Released as a single, it peaked at number six on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and spent two weeks at number one on the ''Billboard''

Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...

chart.

Background and use in Michelob commercial

Prior to the 1988 release of the "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?" single, the song was used in a national TV commercial for

Michelob Anheuser-Busch, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, is the largest brewing company in the United States, with a market share of 45 percent in 2016. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and nearly 20 in othe ...

. Though some critics at the time condemned Winwood for "writing songs for business interests" (i.e., "

selling out To "sell out" is to compromise one's integrity, morality, Authenticity (philosophy), authenticity, or Principle#As moral law, principles in exchange for personal gain, such as money or power. In terms of music or art, selling out is associated w ...

"), Winwood denied that the song had been written for the commercial. In the 27 August issue of ''Billboard'', Winwood's manager, Ron Weisner, said that Winwood granted Michelob use of the song to obtain tour sponsorship. In the 1 December issue of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', Weisner reiterated that the song was written before the deal with Michelob was struck. In a 1990 biography, Winwood explained: "When he albumwas finished, but before it came out, ichelobtook the song they wanted, and very quickly shot the commercial. So what happened was the commercial came out before the album. Then the LP was released and the first single which was ' Roll With It'. Six weeks later the second single was due to be released which was the song they used for the commercial. They started putting the commercial on the TV ''before'' the single was out. It looked like I had written a beer jingle!"

Release and commercial reception

"Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?" was released in 1988 as the second international single from ''Roll With It''. In the United States, the song peaked at number six on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming his 6th and last top 10 hit, and spent 11 weeks inside the Top 40. It reached number six on the Hot 100 Airplay chart and number eight on the Singles Sales chart. It also reached number two on the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart and spent two weeks atop the

chart. The song peaked at number 46 in New Zealand and number 89 in the United Kingdom.

Track listing

;7" Vinyl

Credits

– lead and backing vocals, keyboards, Fairlight programming *

Mike Lawler Michael Vincent Lawler (born September 9, 1986) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 17th congressional district since 2023. From 2021 to 2022, he was a Republican member of the New York State Assembly fr ...

– additional keyboards * John Robinson – drums * Bashiri Johnson – percussion * Tessa Niles – backing vocals * Mark Williamson – backing vocals

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control Steve Winwood songs 1988 singles Pop ballads Rock ballads Songs with lyrics by Will Jennings Songs written by Steve Winwood 1988 songs Virgin Records singles Songs about nights