Tonight It's You

"Tonight It's You"
Single by Cheap Trick
from the album Standing on the Edge
B-side	"Wild Wild Women"
Released	July 1985 (US)[1] September 1985 (UK)[2]
Genre	Power pop[3] glam metal[4]
Length	3:30 (single version) 4:46 (album version)
Label	Epic
Songwriter(s)	Rick Nielsen Robin Zander Jon Brant Mark Radice
Producer(s)	Jack Douglas
Cheap Trick singles chronology
"Up the Creek" (1984) "Tonight It's You" (1985) "Little Sister" (1985)

"Tonight It's You" is a song by American rock band Cheap Trick, which was released in 1985 as the lead single from their eighth studio album Standing on the Edge. It was written by Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander, Jon Brant and Mark Radice, and produced by Jack Douglas.^[5] "Tonight It's You" reached No. 44 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 8 on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks Chart.^[6][7]

"Tonight It's You" was released by Epic Records in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and Japan.^[8] For its release as a single, a remixed and edited version of the LP version of "Tonight It's You" was created.^[9]

Promotion

A music video was filmed to promote the single, which was directed by Just Jaeckin and produced by Joey Nardelli.^[10] It achieved heavy rotation on MTV.^[11] The band also performed both "Tonight It's You" and "Little Sister" on the US TV show Nighttime, hosted by Dick Clark.^[12]

Critical reception

Upon its release, Billboard described "Tonight It's You" as "power pop produced to Who-ish proportions".^[13] In the UK, Mike Gardner of Record Mirror praised it as a "stylish pop/rock tickler that goes in acceptable fashion straight for the commercial jugular" and one which represented a "return to something like form" for the band.^[14] Sandy Robertson of Sounds noted that "chrome power chords and soaraway sunshine melodies are back, as heavy, heaving, heavenly metalpopsters pull themselves out of the doldrums". She questioned its commercial potential in the UK, but added that it's "definitely number one in my heart".^[15]

In a review of Standing on the Edge, Rolling Stone commented, "'Tonight It's You' is gorgeous Top Forty mischief, reminiscent of the Raspberries' 1973 neo-operatic nugget, 'Overnight Sensation'. Zigzagging through the Sixties British Invasion like a runaway train, Cheap Trick plows into Rubber Soul folk-pop, jingle-jangle Merseybeat and orchestral guitar metal recalling the Move's classic 1970 album, Shazam. Cascading acoustic guitars decorate axeman Rick Nielsen's wall of monster fuzz while singer Robin Zander wails in front of sheetmetal harmonies. The cumulative effect is like three or four hit songs vacuum-packed into one."^[16]

In a retrospective review of the album, Mike DeGagne of AllMusic described the song as "silvery-sounding" and the "only highlight" from Standing on the Edge.^[5] Billboard, in a review of the 1996 compilation Sex, America, Cheap Trick praised it as a "Beatlesque gem".^[17] John M. Borack, in his 2007 book Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide, included "Tonight It's You" as one of Cheap Trick's best twenty songs. He stated, "Sure, it sounds a bit dated now and seems, in retrospect, to have been a calculated effort to get the boys back on the pop charts in '85... but still, that chorus... heavenly, I tell ya. Zander sings it like he means it, too."^[18]

Track listing

7" single

1. "Tonight It's You" (Single Re-Mix/Edit) - 3:30
2. "Wild Wild Women" - 4:14

7" Single (US promo)

1. "Tonight It's You" (Single Re-Mix/Edit) - 3:30
2. "Tonight It's You" (Single Re-Mix/Edit) - 3:30

12" single (UK release)

1. "Tonight It's You (Album Version)" - 4:47
2. "Wild Wild Women" - 4:14
3. "I Want You to Want Me" - 3:09
4. "If You Want My Love" - 3:35

12" Single (US promo)

1. "Tonight It's You" - 4:19
2. "Tonight It's You" (Single Re-Mix/Edit) - 3:30

Chart performance

Chart (1985)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot 100[6]	44
US Billboard Top Rock Tracks[7]	8

Personnel

Cheap Trick

• Robin Zander - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Rick Nielsen - lead guitar, backing vocals
• Jon Brant - bass, backing vocals
• Bun E. Carlos - drums, percussion

Additional personnel

• Jack Douglas - producer
• Mark Radice - additional keyboards, backing vocals
• Paul Klingberg - keyboards, recording engineer
• Tony Platt - mixing

References

1. "Cheap Trick - Tonight It's You / Wild Wild Women - Epic - USA - 34-05431". 45cat. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
2. "Cheap Trick - Tonight It's You / Wild Wild Women - Epic - UK - A 6390". 45cat. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
3. Billboard magazine - Reviews - July 27, 1985 - page 65
4. David Fricke (1985-10-10). "Standing on the Edge | Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
5. Mike DeGagne. "Standing on the Edge - Cheap Trick | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
6. Billboard. "Cheap Trick Tonight It's You Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
7. Billboard. "Cheap Trick Tonight It's You Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
8. "Cheap Trick - Tonight It's You at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
9. "Cheap Trick - Standing On The Edge at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
10. "12 round U S B A Middleweight Championship, Curry vs. Montgomery, Tonight it's you". Copyrightencyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2013-01-31.
11. Billboard magazine - MTV Programming - September 21, 1985 - page 36
12. "Cheap Trick on "Nighttime" U.S. TV 1985 (2 songs + interview)". YouTube. 2012-04-06. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
13. Billboard magazine - Reviews - July 27, 1985 - page 65
14. Gardner, Mike (28 September 1985). "Singles". Record Mirror. p. 13. ISSN 0144-5804.
15. Robertson, Sandy (28 September 1985). "Singles". Sounds. p. 18. ISSN 0144-5774.
16. David Fricke (1985-10-10). "Standing on the Edge | Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
17. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. 1996-08-10. p. 85. Retrieved 2012-06-23 – via Internet Archive. cheap trick can't take it.
18. Borack, John M. (2007). Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide - John M. Borack - Google Books. Shake Some Action - PowerPop. ISBN 9780979771408. Retrieved 2012-06-23.