"Ladies' Night" is a song by American band

Kool & the Gang Kool & the Gang is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B, soul music, soul, and funk band formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964. Its founding members include brothers Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell (musician), Ronald Bell (also known as " ...

, released as the first single from their eleventh album of the same name (1979). It is a play on the popular use of "Ladies Nights" at bars and clubs that were meant to draw in more female patrons in order to draw in even more male clientele. The single was a big success and became a radio staple. It was a chart success, reaching #4 on the

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

Top 100 and #8 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in early 1980. It hit #1 on the R&B charts where it held for three weeks. The 45 had passed a million in American sales by December and was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. This was also their first hit in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, peaking at #9 in the UK Singles Chart in 1979. ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' called it a "startling shot of funky motion music."

Track listing

Notes * denotes associate producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Atomic Kitten version

In 2003, Kool & the Gang asked English

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

Atomic Kitten Atomic Kitten were an English girl group formed in Liverpool in 1998, whose original lineup comprised Kerry Katona, Liz McClarnon, and Natasha Hamilton. The group was founded by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) members Andy McCluskey an ...

to re-record "Ladies Night" for their ''The Hits: Reloaded'' tribute album. The band subsequently asked them if they could include it on their then-untitled third album which they eventually named after the song in honour of the collaboration following Kool's approval. The re-recording was produced by Khalis Bayyana and Leigh Guest; Andy Whitmore is credited as a co-producer, while Ash Howes and Martin Harrington served as additional producers. "Ladies Night" was released as the lead single from ''The Hits: Reloaded'' and served as the second single from Atomic Kitten's ''Ladies Night'' album. The song peaked at number three in Spain, and reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart, outperforming the original version of the track.

Chart performance

The song debuted at its peak at number 8 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Atomic Kitten's first single to not reach the top 5 in over two years. It stayed in the top 40 for eight weeks, three of which were in the top ten. In 2021, the

Official Charts Company The Official UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...

ranked the song as the band's seventh-best-selling single in the United Kingdom – ahead of previous single " If You Come to Me," making it the biggest-selling single from ''Ladies Night''. In Spain, "Ladies Night" was Atomic Kitten's only top ten hit peaking at number three; it lasted three weeks in the top ten of the

Spanish Singles Chart Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine ** Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

. The song reached the top twenty in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

, the Netherlands,

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

and Denmark, and became a top-40 hit in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

-speaking Europe, peaking at number 33 in Germany, number 32 in Austria and number 38 in Switzerland. In Oceania, the song did not do as well as their previous singles. "Ladies Night" was not released in New Zealand, where their previous single "If You Come to Me" had reached the top 10, and it managed to peak at only number 39 in Australia, becoming their last single to reach the top 50 there.

Music video

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "Ladies Night" was directed by Cameron Casey. The video begins with many people anxiously crowded around the entrance of a club, trying to get in. Suddenly a pink plasma waves sweeps through the middle of the crowd, from the door, pushing them off to either side. The group head into the Kitten Club, and the crowd follows them in, until only the bouncer is left standing outside. In the well-lit club, the group groove about and sing, a great deal of which is on a pure white

discothèque A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighting displays, and a ...

dance floor. They primarily dance in a row, with two rows of men behind them, though occasionally they are straddling the fellows, or performing other dance moves with them. Drag queens are spotted in the video, and appear repeatedly, including in the women's washroom, near the video's conclusion. A bartender, bearing resemblance to

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer-songwriter and DJ who rose to fame as the lead singer of the pop band Culture Club. He began his solo career in 1987. Boy George grew up in Eltham a ...

, appears throughout the video. Jenny Frost starts to flirt with him, as if going in for a kiss; in actuality, she is stealing his drink from behind him. While a man hits on

Liz McClarnon Elizabeth Margaret McClarnon-Cho (born 10 April 1981) is an English singer, songwriter and actress, who is the longest serving member of the girl group Atomic Kitten, with whom she has scored three number-one singles and two number-one albums. M ...

, he is in turn hit on by another man. The group repeatedly flip their hands in the air, creating pink plasma as appeared earlier in the video. This transports them to the opposite side of the club, where they appear on rollerskates, in different outfits. They use their magic again, instantly stripping three men down to pink lycra underwear. The men, in their skivvies, visit the girls at their booth. Natasha Hamilton is so amused at the provided crotch view that she brings out American money which she waves around; money is never actually transferred. At the very start of the video, when Frost blows a kiss, lip marks appear on the screen as a graphic.

Track listings

Notes * denotes co-producer * denotes additional producer * denotes vocal producer

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''

Ladies Night A ladies' night is a promotional event, often at a bar or nightclub, where female patrons pay less than male patrons for the cover charge or alcoholic beverages. In the United States, state courts in California, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Wisco ...

''. Studio * Recorded at KFTA Studios, New Jersey; Metropolis Studios, London; Unique Corp Studios, London Personnel * Clifford Adams – trumpet, trombone * Kaylis Bayyan – producer, saxophone, keyboards * Ronald Bell – bass guitar, writer * George "Funky" Brown – keyboard * Reece Gilmore – programming * Leigh Guest – arranger, producer, programming * Martin Harrington – additional producer * Tim Horton – drums * Ash Howes – additional producer * James Loughrey – U production engineer * Sennie "Skip" Martin – trumpet, vocals * Andrew Smith – additional guitars * Charles Smith – guitars * James "J.T." Taylor – vocals * Dennis "D. T." Thomas – guitars * Keith Uddin – engineer * Andy Whitmore – co-producer, programming, additional keyboards

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

Other covers

* "Ladies Night" was remade with Spanner Banner and

Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican dancehall musician. Paul's first album, ''Stage One'', was released in 2000. He gained international fame with his second album, ''Dutty Rock'', in 2002. Its single "Get Busy ...

in 2004. This song was a collaboration with

and reached 58 in the Swedish chart SwedishCharts.com
"Ladies Night" (Spanner Banner) page Accessed: October 29, 2006 * One Way, also known as Al Hudson and (soul) partners, did as similar groove on the 1979 hit "You Can Do It" * Leon Haywood's 1980 song "Don't Push It Don't Force It" has a similar groove. * San Francisco indie rock band Two Seconds performs the song at their live shows. * Rapper

Lil' Kim Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), Those giving 1974 include: * * * * * better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper. She was born and raised in New York City and lived much of her adolescent life on the streets after ...

used a sample of this song for the remix of her song " Not Tonight", also called "Not Tonight (Ladies' Night Remix)", which features

Angie Martinez Angela "Angie" Martinez (born January 9, 1971) is an American radio personality, podcaster, singer, former rapper and actress. Dubbed "The Voice of New York", Martinez is widely known for her 28-year run at New York City station WQHT, Hot 97 ( ...

Da Brat Shawntae Harris-Dupart (née Harris; born April 14, 1974), better known by her stage name Da Brat, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Chicago, she began her career in 1992 and signed with Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings two years l ...

, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, and

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971), also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her musical career as a member of the Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group 4 All the Sistas Arou ...

. *

Samantha Mumba Samantha Tamania Anne Cecilia Mumba (born 18 January 1983) is an Irish R&B singer-songwriter, dancer, actress, fashion model and TV presenter. In 2000, at the age of 17, she shot to fame with the release of her debut single " Gotta Tell You", w ...

sings a portion of the song in "

Baby, Come Over (This Is Our Night) "Baby, Come Over (This Is Our Night)" (released outside the United States as "Baby Come on Over") is a song by Irish singer Samantha Mumba, from her debut studio album, '' Gotta Tell You'' (2000). The song was written by Mumba, Anders Bagge, a ...

". *

C+C Music Factory C+C Music Factory was an American musical group formed in 1989 by David Cole and Robert Clivillés. The group is best known for their five hit singles: " Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)", " Here We Go (Let's Rock & Roll)", " Things ...

sampled the end of the song in the song "I Found Love" from the album '' Anything Goes!''. *

Preston Reed Preston Reed (born April 13, 1955) is an American fingerstyle guitarist. He is noted for a two-handed playing style and compositional approach that uses the guitar's body as a percussion instrument. Biography Reed learned guitar as a child on ...

did a

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

instrumental cover * South Korean-Chinese Girl Group

Miss A Miss A (; stylized in all caps or miss A) was a South Korean girl group formed by AQ Entertainment, a subsidiary of JYP Entertainment. The group debuted in July 2010 with the single " Bad Girl Good Girl" as a quartet consisting of Fei, Jia, ...

sampled a portion of the song in "Come on Over" on ''

Hush Hush may refer to: Film and television Film * ''Hush'' (1921 film), starring Clara Kimball Young * ''Hush'' (1998 film), starring Gwyneth Paltrow * ''Hush!'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film directed by Ryosuke Hashiguchi *''Hush!'', a 2002 film dir ...

''. * The song is heard and "rabbidizied" by the rabbids for '' Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party''. * On the game show ''

Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch '' Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this format is the final round (a ...

'', episode "Ladies Night &

Hot Dog on a Stick Hot Dog on a Stick is a fast food company that was founded by Dave Barham in Santa Monica, California, in 1946, and later branched out into malls and shopping centers. From 2014 to 2021, the company was owned by Global Franchise Group based ...

", the song is heard when the firefighters are holding the cases.

References

External links

Official Kool & the Gang site

Official Atomic Kitten site
{{authority control 1979 songs 1979 singles 2003 singles Kool & the Gang songs Atomic Kitten songs Songs written by James "J.T." Taylor Songs written by Ronald Bell (musician) Songs written by Claydes Charles Smith Songs written by Robert "Kool" Bell De-Lite Records singles EMI Records singles Innocent Records singles Virgin Records singles