Expert: Bong Santos - 4/11/2006

Question
I heard  a song on the radio on a flashback show I think it's from the eighties all i can remember is that they keep sayin Tonight, Tonight, etc..
it's not phil collins
i think another line in the song is like
remember when we sailed around the world or somethin like that.
im tryin everything to find it, you're my only hope.
if you're familiar with musical from the "to" to the "night" he goes up a 4th then two beats and then he goes on the next "to" up a 3rd and then back to the "night" note of the last tonight.
so if its in the key of C
it goes from g to c on the first tonight then two beats then e to c. at least in my head thats what it sounds like. I hope that helps.  
Thanks!
brian

Answer
Dear Brian,

A lot of songs come to mind that does a lot of "Tonight, tonight" on their lyrics or are titled "Tonight". First to cross is 1987's "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" by Genesis from their 1986 album "Invisible Touch" but you mentioned it is not by Phil Collins. Then, "Tonight, Tonight" by Smashing Pumpkins from 1995's "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" and even Bill Champlin's ballad "Tonight, Tonight" from 1981's "Runaway". They're not what you're talking.

But suddenly I remember another "Tonight" song which sounds close to what you heard. I checked on it and alas, it is. I found what you were trying to look for but it is not from the 80's.

It is "Tonight" by the New Kids On The Block. The act, though, was from the eighties. They were a 5-man boy band formed 1984 in Boston by record producer Maurice Starr. They were known for such hits as "Please Don't Go, Girl", "Hangin' Tough", "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)", "You Got It (The Right Stuff)", "Cover Girl", "(Didn't I) Blow Your Mind" and "This One's for the Children" to name a few. The group went on to sell over 70 million albums worldwide and roughly paved the way for acts like the Backstreet Boys and *N Sync. NKOTB, as they were later known, consisted of brothers Jordan & Jonathan Knight, Joe McIntyre, Danny Wood and Donnie Wahlberg, older brother of actor Mark Wahlberg (who hit #1 with 1991's Good Vibrations as frontman of the group Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch; Donnie is also an actor now, last seen in Saw II ). "Tonight" is the group's second single from their 3rd album "Step By Step" released in 1990. The song went to No. 7 in the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and unfortunately will be the group's last Top 10 hit. "Tonight" then was touted as a Beatlesque song. The group disbanded in 1994. Jonathan is now in real estate. Danny formed his own label and produces other acts. Jordan released an album in 1999, JK and continues to record and tour. Joe released an album in 1999, Stay The Same and is now a regular in Boston Public and has performed in Broadway including Wicked. He continues to record and tour. Donnie has appeared in Southie, The Sixth Sense and Band of Brothers and on TV's Boomtown (defunct) as Detective Stevens. As previously said, he was last seen in 2005's horror film Saw II.

Here's a lyric of the song:

TONIGHT/New Kids On The Block

Remember when we said, girl, please don't go,
and how I'd be loving you forever,
taught you 'bout hangin' tough as long as you got the right stuff,
didn't we, girls, ooh, didn't we, girls, aah?

Well, I guess, it's a brandnew day after all
every time we hear the curtain call,
see the girls with the curls in the hair,
the buttons and the pins and the loud fanfares.
Tonight, tonight.

Remember when we traveled round the world,
there were a lot of people and girls,
fan mail from everywhere showed us how you care,
didn't it, girls, ooh, didn't it, girls, aah?

Well, I guess...

[Spoken:] Sounds good, hey fellas, let's do it, here we go.
La-la-la-la-la-la tonight, la-la-la-la-la-la tonight.
Tonight, tonight [repeat & fade]

Hope that helps. Maraming salamat po!

Bong Santos