"Sunglasses at Night" by Corey Hart

Top 10 Alert!

Song#:  1917
Date:  05/26/1984
Debut:  75
Peak:  7
Weeks:  23
Genre:  Pop, Rock



Pop Bits:  This Canadian singer/songwriter made a bold move when he was a teenager and sent cassettes of his songs to members of Billy Joel's band while they were on tour in Canada. Sax player Richie Cannata heard something interesting in the songs and invited Hart out to Joel's Long Island studio to work on some recordings. Those demos got Hart a record deal in Canada with Aquarius Records and by 1984 his debut album, First Offense, was ready. This first single was issued, but it wasn't really catching on. Then a deal was struck with EMI for US distribution. The song was issued in the States along with the accompanying MTV video. The video became popular and moved into heavy rotation, which sent the single into the US Pop Top 10. Canada would eventually catch on thanks to all the attention in the US and the single would get to #24. He would soon be a major star in Canada, but in the beginning it was having this US hit that helped get him established at home.

ReduxReview:  This is one of those songs where it only took ten seconds to get hooked. That keyboard riff sold the song even before the verse started. Luckily, the verse and chorus only made it better. It was destined to be a hit and over time it became an iconic song of the era. Still today, a big chunk of folks will recognize this song within about five seconds of it starting. Although this song would end up not being his biggest charting hit, it certainly has remained his most popular and recognizable one.

ReduxRating:  9/10

Trivia:  Initially, this song was not going to be included on the album. In fact, it hadn't even been written yet. Hart had turned in eleven songs to the label and everyone thought the album was finished (including Hart). But soon after, he was toying with a demo from a song idea he had and before long, "Sunglasses" was written. Hart was absolutely sure the song was a winner and wanted to get it on the album. He called up his label and begged to get the song recorded. They allowed him to return to the studio to work up the song. It proved to be a wise choice when the single became a hit.

_________________________________________________________________________________