Nights In White Satin

June 29, 2024

This month I’m focusing on Rock Songs of the 60s.

Today our song is:  Nights In White Satin

Wikipedia tells us this about the song:

"Nights in White Satin" is a song by the Moody Blues, written and composed by Justin Hayward. It was first featured as the segment "The Night" on the album Days of Future Passed. When first released as a single in 1967, it reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart and number 103 in the United States in 1968. It was the first significant chart entry by the band since "Go Now" and its recent lineup change, in which Denny Laine and Clint Warwick had resigned and both Hayward and John Lodge had joined.

When reissued in 1972, the single hit number two in the US for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 (behind "I Can See Clearly Now" by Johnny Nash) and hit number one on the Cash Box Top 100, making it the band's most successful single in the US. It earned a gold certification for sales of over a million US copies (platinum certification was not instituted until 1976). It also hit number one in Canada. After two weeks at #2, it was replaced by "I'd Love You to Want Me" by Lobo. It reached its highest UK position this year at number 9. Although the song did not enter the official New Zealand chart, it reached number five on the New Zealand Listener's chart compiled from the readers' votes in 1973. The 1972 single release of "Nights in White Satin" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

The song enjoyed a recurring chart presence in the following decades. It charted again in the UK and Ireland in 1979 reaching numbers 14 and 8, respectively. The song charted again in 2010, reaching number 51 in the British Official Singles Charts. It has also been covered by numerous other artists, most notably Giorgio Moroder, Elkie Brooks, and Sandra, and has been used in a variety of cultural mediums, including commercials and films.

Enjoy!