"Don't Tell Me You Love Me" by Night Ranger

Song#:  1305
Date:  01/15/1983
Debut:  86
Peak:  40
Weeks:  11
Genre:  Rock



Pop Bits:  Jack Blades and Brad Gillis were members of a San Francisco-based soft rock band called Rubicon who would grab one minor hit in 1978 with "I'm Gonna Take Care of Everything" (#28). Unfortunately, Rubicon would fold the following year so Blades and Gillis decided to developed a new band with a harder rock edge. Boardwalk Records signed Night Ranger and issued their debut album "Dawn Patrol." This first single became a hit on rock radio peaking at #4. It proved to be popular enough to crossover to the pop chart where it reached the Top 40 - just barely.

ReduxReview:  I remember this tune quite well. Night Ranger were a hot band on our local rock station, so this was played a lot. I think they had really good commercial appeal and their music leaned that way as well. They didn't necessarily impress the critics, but if you like fluffy, inoffensive rock, Night Ranger can be a pretty sweet listen. I enjoy them and this single was a good way to get their career kicked off.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  The group was initially called Ranger when recording their first album. At the time it was the go-ahead name and so the initial printing of albums listed the band as Ranger. However, there was a country group called The Rangers that had issues with that name. So the band decided to change their name to Night Ranger, which happened to be the closing song on the album. The initial printings of the Ranger album had not been distributed yet, so the label destroyed them and did a reprint for the new band name of Night Ranger.

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