Strangers in the Night

This article is about the song. For the album by Frank Sinatra, see Strangers in the Night (Frank Sinatra album). For the album by UFO, see Strangers in the Night (UFO album).

"Strangers In the Night"
Song by Frank Sinatra from the album Strangers in the Night
Released	1966
Recorded	April 11, 1966
Genre	Traditional pop
Length	2:35 (original album/single version, incorrectly listed as 2:25 in the original back cover) 2:44 (extended version from "Nothing But the Best")
Label	Reprise
Writer	Bert Kaempfert, Charles Singleton, Eddie Snyder
Composer	Bert Kaempfert
Producer	Jimmy Bowen
Strangers in the Night track listing
"Strangers In the Night" (1) "Summer Wind" (2)
Music sample Strangers in the Night

"Strangers in the Night"
Single by Connie Francis
A-side	Somewhere, My Love
Released	1967
Format	7" single
Recorded	May 31, 1966
Genre	Schlager music
Length	3:01 (A-side) 3:08 (B-side)
Label	MGM Records 61 148
Writer(s)	Bert Kaempfert, Charles Singleton, Eddie Snyder
Producer	Tom Wilson
Connie Francis German singles chronology
Es ist so schön, dass es dich gibt / Das soll nie mehr vorübergeh'n (1967) Somewhere, My Love / Strangers in The Night (1967) Goodbye, Mama / Traumboot (1967)

"Strangers in the Night" is a popular song originally composed by Avo Uvezian as "Broken Guitar" and later renamed by Bert Kaempfert with English lyrics by Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder. Kaempfert originally used it under the title "Beddy Bye" as part of the instrumental score for the movie A Man Could Get Killed. The song was made famous in 1966 by Frank Sinatra.

Reaching number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the Easy Listening chart, it was the title song for Sinatra's 1966 album Strangers in the Night, which became his most commercially successful album. The song also reached number one on the UK Singles Chart.

Sinatra's recording won him the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, as well as a Grammy Award for Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist or Instrumentalist for Ernie Freeman at the Grammy Awards of 1967.

Vocal improvisation

One of the most memorable and recognizable features of the record is Sinatra's scat improvisation of the melody with the syllables "doo-be-doo-be-doo" as the song fades to the end. Many fans lament the fact, that the fade was early and Sinatra's improvisation is cut off too soon. For the CD Nothing but the Best, the song was remastered and the running time is 2:45 instead of the usual 2:35. The extra ten seconds is just a continuation of Sinatra's scat singing. The track was recorded on April 11, 1966, one month before the rest of the album.

Sinatra despised the song, calling it at one time "a piece of shit" and "the worst fucking song that I have ever heard." He was not afraid to voice his disapproval for playing it live. In spite of his contempt for the song, for the first time in eleven years he had a number one song, and it remained on the charts for fifteen weeks.

Italian-American tenor Sergio Franchi (among many others) covered the song on his 1967 RCA Victor album From Sergio - with Love.

Copyright issues

It is sometimes claimed, that the Yugoslav-Croatian singer Ivo Robić was the original composer of "Strangers in the Night", and that he sold the rights to Kaempfert after entering it without success in a song contest in Yugoslavia. This has not been substantiated. Robić - often referred to as "Mr. Morgen" for his 1950s charts success with Morgen, created in collaboration with Bert Kaempfert - was rather the singer of the Yugoslav (Croatian) version of the song, called "Stranci u Noći". It was published in 1966 by the Yugoslav record company Jugoton under the serial number EPY-3779. On the label of the record B. Kaempfert and M. Renota are stated as authors, whereby Marija Renota is the creator of the Croatian lyrics. The original composition of "Strangers" was under the title "Beddy Bye" - referring to the lead character William Beddoes - as an instrumental for the score of the movie A Man Could Get Killed. The phrase "Strangers in the Night" was created after the composition, when the New York music publishers Roosevelt Music requested the lyricists Snyder and Singleton - then of fresh "Spanish Eyes", composed by Kaempfert of "Moon Over Naples" fame - to put some text to the tune. "Stranci u Noći" is a literal translation of this phrase.

In 1967, French composer Michel Philippe-Gérard (more commonly known just as Philippe-Gérard) established a claim that the melody of "Strangers" was based on his composition "Magic Tango", which was published in 1953 through Chappells in New York. Royalties from the song were thus frozen until a court in Paris ruled in 1971 against plagiarism and stated, that many songs were based on similar constant factors.

Cover versions

"Strangers in the Night" was recorded by many other artists, among them:

• Peter Beil

in German as "Fremde in der Nacht"

• Cake
• Vikki Carr
• Petula Clark

for her 1966 album I Couldn't Live Without Your Love

• Dalida

in Italian as "Sola più che mai"

• Rodney Dangerfield

on his 2005 album Romeo Rodney

• Connie Francis

a first version in English (recorded April 2, 1966 - nine days prior to Sinatra's recording), which remains unreleased as of July 2012

a second Version in English for her 1966 album "Movie Greats Of The 60s"

in Italian as "Sola più che mai" for her 1967 album Connie Francis canta i suoi best-seller

in Spanish as "No puedo olvidar" for her 1967 album Grandes Exitos del Cine de los Años 60

• Anita Kerr Singers

for their 1967 album Bert Kaempfert Turns Us On

• Jack Jones

who also recorded the song in 1966 just before Frank Sinatra recorded his version

• Brenda Lee
• Perrey and Kingsley

an electronic version featuring the Moog synthesizer on their album Kaleidoscopic Vibrations: Electronic Pop Music From Way Out

• Al Martino
• Bette Midler

on her album Songs for the New Depression

• Johnny Mathis
• Mina

recorded two versions of this song, one on her 1984 album Catene and another on her 2005 album L'allieva.

• Ivo Robić

in German as "Fremde in der Nacht"

in Croatian as "Stranci u Noći"

• Gerhard Wendland

in German as "Fremde in der Nacht"

• Barry Manilow

on his album Manilow Sings Sinatra

• Aerosmith

on their Live! Bootleg album as an instrumental cover

External links

• "Strangers in the Night" at MusicBrainz
• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

Preceded by "Paperback Writer" by The Beatles	Billboard Hot 100 number-one single July 2, 1966	Succeeded by "Hanky Panky" by Tommy James and the Shondells
Preceded by "Band of Gold" by Mel Carter	Billboard Easy Listening Singles number-one single (Frank Sinatra version) June 4, 1966 (7 weeks)	Succeeded by "The Impossible Dream (The Quest)" by Jack Jones
Preceded by "Paint It, Black" by The Rolling Stones	UK number-one single 2 June 1966 – 16 June 1966	Succeeded by "Paperback Writer" by The Beatles