"Saturday Night" is a 1976 pop hit by the Scottish band Bay City Rollers. It was written and produced by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter. The tune is an upbeat pop-rock number with a memorable hook: the word "Saturday" spelled out in a rhythmic chant. An early version of the song was recorded in the UK in 1973, but did not hit the charts. On the first version Gordon "Nobby" Clark was the lead singer of the band. The song was re-recorded for the Rollers' 1974 UK album Rollin', but never saw release as a single in their home country, by this time Clark had left the band for solo work and had been replaced by Les McKeown. The re-recording was issued as a US single in late 1975 and became a smash hit in early 1976, becoming the first Billboard #1 of the US Bicentennial year. Despite a string of worldwide hit songs, and other US hits, "Saturday Night" was the group's only enduring American hit. This created a perception among Americans that the Bay City Rollers were one-hit wonders.
Remakes
Among the remakes of "Saturday Night" is a 1993 hit version by Ned's Atomic Dustbin, featured in the Mike Myers movie So I Married an Axe Murderer along with the Bay City Rollers' original. Japanese comedian Gorie released a cover of "Saturday Night" called "Pecori Night" which was the 48th best-selling single in Japan for 2005, according to Oricon charts. Although the melody is the same, the lyrics are completely different from the original. Also the japanese producer Yoichiro Ito - Akakage released a groove disco cover.
See also
Trivia
The American snack food company Planters has used the song as part of its TV advertising campaign. The Ramones opening chant from Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? was directly inspired by the 'S. A. TUR. DAY Night' chant from this song. Apparently Joey Ramone loved 'Saturday Night' and wanted a similar chant. It is believed that the Ramones chant "Hey! Ho! Let's Go!" (Blitzkrieg Bop) is also derived from "Saturday Night", but "Blitzkrieg Bop" debuted as a single in 1975 and "Saturday Night" wasn't released until '76.
| Preceded by "Let's Do It Again" by The Staple Singers |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single January 3 1976 |
Succeeded by "Convoy" by C.W. McCall |
