imported>Doctorhawkes: Reverted edit by 2001:8003:2352:D900:5DF2:AE0:2B4C:F623 (talk) to last version by Scottybbooyy

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Reverted edit by 2001:8003:2352:D900:5DF2:AE0:2B4C:F623 (talk) to last version by Scottybbooyy

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{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use Australian English|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Saturday Night
| cover = Cold Chisel Saturday Night.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = [[Cold Chisel]]
| album = [[Twentieth Century (Cold Chisel album)|Twentieth Century]]
| B-side = Painted Doll
| released = March 1984
| recorded = 1983
| studio =
| genre = [[Pub rock (Australia)|Pub rock]]
| length =
| label = [[Warner Music Group|WEA]]
| writer = [[Don Walker (musician)|Don Walker]]
| producer = [[Mark Opitz]], Cold Chisel
| prev_title = [[Hold Me Tight (Cold Chisel song)|Hold Me Tight]]
| prev_title2 = [[No Sense (Cold Chisel song)|No Sense]]
| prev_year = 1983
| next_title = Twentieth Century
| next_year = 1984
}}

"'''Saturday Night'''" is a 1984 single by Australian [[rock music|rock]] band [[Cold Chisel]], the second released from the album ''[[Twentieth Century (Cold Chisel album)|Twentieth Century]]'' and the first to be issued after the band's official break-up. The vocals are shared between [[Ian Moss]] and [[Jimmy Barnes]]. It just missed out on becoming the band's third Top 10 single, stalling at number 11 on the Australian chart for two weeks,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 |last=Kent |first=David |author-link=David Kent (historian) |publisher=Australian Chart Book |location=[[St Ives, New South Wales|St Ives, NSW]] |year=1993 |isbn=0-646-11917-6|title-link=Kent Music Report }}</ref> but it remains one of Cold Chisel's highest charting songs.

At the [[Australian pop music awards|1984 Countdown Music Awards]], the video was nominated for Best Video.<ref name="Top40TV">{{Cite web | url = http://users.ncable.net.au/~ronjeff/top40/oz_king.htm | title = Australian Music Awards | publisher = Ron Jeff | accessdate = 16 December 2010 }}</ref><ref name="1987noms&wins">{{cite web|url=http://1970scountdown.atspace.com/1987.html|title=Final episode of Countdown|website=1970scountdown|accessdate=23 October 2020}}</ref>

==Details==
The album track features ambient noise recorded in [[Sydney, Australia|Sydney]]'s [[Kings Cross, New South Wales|Kings Cross]] district, including the sound of motorbikes, [[strip club]] spruikers and crowds of drunks, recorded by author [[Don Walker (musician)|Don Walker]] on a portable stereo. Also recorded are Walker's favourite busker and a snippet of [[Dragon (band)|Dragon]]'s "Rain".<ref name="opitz">{{cite book |author1=Mark Opitz |author2=Luke Wallis |author3=Jeff Jensen |title=Sophisto-Punk|year=2012|page=187 |publisher=Ebury Press |location=North Sydney |isbn=9781742757933}}</ref> Engineer [[Tony Cohen]] helped with the street recording. He said, "I was abused by several people. Don lived in the Cross. He loved it and was friendly with a lot of locals. I became the target for angry drug dealers."<ref>{{cite book | author= Tony Cohen with John Olson |title=Half Deaf, Completely Mad|year=2023|page=100|publisher=Black Inc. Books|isbn=978-1-74382-308-8}}</ref> The album version appears on later greatest hits albums and is most frequently played on radio. The original single version omits the street sounds. Although Walker was unhappy with many of the songs from the ''Twentieth Century'' album, he later said he was particularly pleased with the production on "Saturday Night", which he was mostly responsible for.<ref name="kruger">{{cite book | last=Kruger, Debbie |title=Songwriters Speak |year=2005 |publisher=Limelight Press |location=[[Balmain, New South Wales]] |isbn= 0-9757080-3-1|page=279}}</ref>

Don Walker has said of the song, "The band I'd been in for ten years was breaking up. I think it's just a 'kissing all that goodbye and moving on into the unknown' song."<ref name="kruger" /> He later said, "The song is actually about walking away from a Saturday night. The song was pretty much built before the other guys cottoned on to what I was doing. I can remember Mark Opitz suddenly saying, 'I get this, this is really good.'"<ref name="opitz" /> Early drafts of the song were titled, "Show Me A Light".<ref>{{cite book | last=Wilson|first=Tony|editor-first=Christian|editor-last=Ryan |title=Best Music Writing Under The Australian Sun |year=2014 | publisher = Hardie Grant Books | location = Richmond, Victoria |isbn=9781742708812|pages=48–49}}</ref>

Author Michael P. Jensen said, "These guys were supposed to be bogan heroes, but they slip a little French into their songs. 'L'esclavage D'amour' is 'the slavery of love'. The deep longing of the man walking his way around the city on the busiest night of the week is matched by his loneliness."<ref>{{cite book |date=2013| author=Michael P Jensen |title=Pieces of Eternity | publisher = Acorn Press |isbn=9780987428660|pages=172}}</ref>
"Saturday Night" spent 14 weeks in the national charts, peaking at number 11.<ref>{{cite book | author= David Kent |title=Australian Chart Book 1970-1992|year=1993|page=72
|publisher=Australian Chart Book |location=St Ives, New South Wales |isbn=0-646-11917-6}}</ref> The art work for the single was done by Chilean artist Eduardo Guelfenbein, who had also done the artwork for the album and a number of videos for the band.

In 2007, [[Grinspoon]] covered "Saturday Night" for the tribute album ''[[Standing on the Outside (album)|Standing on the Outside]]''.
<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|title=Missing Missy no longer|author=Christine Sams|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/music/missing-missy-no-longer/2007/02/11/1171128802951.html|accessdate=26 June 2010|date=12 February 2010}}</ref> [[Kylie Auldist]] released a disco version in 2016.
[[File:Saturday_Night_Cold_Chisel.png|thumb|left|From the video, Ian Moss and Phil Small outside a strip club in Kings Cross]]

==Video==

A [[Music video|video clip]] for the track, directed by [[Richard Lowenstein]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Richard Lowenstein
|url=http://www.mvdbase.com/tech.php?last=Lowenstein&first=Richard|accessdate=7 March 2011| website=mvdbase.com}}</ref> was filmed in Kings Cross in February 1984, three months after the group disbanded. Part of the clip features Moss and Barnes mingling with the participants of the [[Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras]]. Lowenstein said the idea came from his friend Troy Davies. "At the time it wasn’t so accepted for straight guys to go there. I think Troy was worried how they’d deal with his extrovert gayness. It was brave at the time to have the gay Mardi Gras in a Cold Chisel video on Countdown. That was Troy, he was a mischief maker. But Cold Chisel lapped it up," Lowenstein said. Other sections of the clip showing the band members (minus Barnes) moving through the crowd of the Darlinghurst Road [[red light district]]. Lowenstein said, "I had a camera on the back of a station wagon, we'd just drive up and down the Cross and film in slow motion. The song suited that kind of imagery so well, I thought it was a no-brainer to put the down and outs and all the characters in. It was a quick shoot, maybe two nights."<ref>{{cite news| work= Courier Mail | title=12 music videos filmed in Australia | url=http://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/music/12-of-the-best-international-music-videos-filmed-in-australia--from-david-bowie-to-beyonce-to-u2/news-story/a413810d9847c0e228a86968e6a00f83|accessdate=21 March 2016}}</ref>

It was nominated for Best Video at The TV Week / Countdown Awards.<ref name="CountdownMarch1987">{{Cite web | url = http://www.countdownmemories.com/magazines/pdfs/1987_03.pdf | title = Countdown to the Awards | work = Countdown Magazine |date=March 1987 | publisher = [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] (ABC) | format = [[Portable document format]] (PDF) | access-date = 16 December 2010 }}</ref>

==Reception==
Reviewed in [[Juke Magazine]] at the time of release, it was described as, "Another of those sparse, atmospheric songs. They haven't lost their edge over all these years, which is really sayin' something."<ref name="wild colonial">{{cite book | author= Michael Lawrence |title=Cold Chisel: Wild Colonial Boys|year=2012|page=223 |publisher=Melbourne Books |location=Melbourne, Victoria| isbn=9781877096174}}</ref> Elsewhere, they called it, "an appealing track with many of Chisel's best qualities filtered through a clever mix. The melody relies heavily on Phil Small's excellent bass line".<ref>{{cite magazine| magazine= [[Juke Magazine]] |author=Stephen Waldon| title=albums|date=April 1984}}</ref> ''[[The Age]]'' also noted Small's bass, and, "The echoing drumbeat of Ray Arnott".<ref>{{cite news| work= [[The Age]] | title=Chisel makes a last stand|author=Mike Daly|date=26 April 1984 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/122122320/?terms=%22cold%20chisel%22&match=1}}{{subscription required|s}}</ref>

[[Marc Hunter]], Paul Hewson and Robert Taylor reviewed the single for ''[[Rock Australia Magazine|RAM]]'', saying, "This shows why Chisel are a top band — they're prepared to take chances. Ian Moss sings superbly; the band plays with restraint but perfect taste... Has to be a hit."<ref>{{cite journal | title = Torture by Numbers| author=Paul Hewson, Marc Hunter, Robert Taylor | journal = RAM|page =25| date = 27 April 1984}}</ref> [[The Sydney Morning Herald]] called the song a "pleasant ballad" but noted "hard-core fans may take to the b-side, "Painted Doll", more readily".<ref>{{cite news| work= [[The Sydney Morning Herald]] | title=The two moods of INXS| author=Mark Dodshon|date=27 March 1984|page=12}}</ref> Dodson also called it, "the most uncharacteristic Cold Chisel single ever. But it seems to have struck an immediate chord with Australian record-buyers".<ref>{{cite news| work= [[The Sydney Morning Herald]] | title=Cold Chisel has said goodbye, but expect one last surprise|author=Mark Dodshon | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/122616936/?terms=%22cold%20chisel%22&match=1}}{{subscription required|s}}</ref>

[[The Monthly]] said, "In many ways it represents the best of Cold Chisel. The music fades in slowly over the sound of voices and traffic, with an arrangement that borrows from soul ([[Marvin Gaye]] comes to mind), but isn’t quite that. Moss, the more melodious of Cold Chisel’s vocalists, takes the lead, with Barnes chipping in for an explosive interlude. Electric guitar and saxophone are woven together in a twisting instrumental melody."<ref>{{cite web| work= The Monthly | title=Standing on the outside| author=Anwen Crawford | url=https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2015/october/1443621600/anwen-crawford/standing-outside| date=October 2015}}</ref> Elly McDonald at ''[[Rock Australia Magazine|RAM]]'' said the "lyrics read especially well on paper: direct, genuine, sane."<ref>{{cite journal | title = The Last Cold Chisel| author=Elly McDonald | journal = RAM|page =9| date = 11 May 1984}}</ref>

==Charts==
{| class="wikitable"
!Chart (1984)
!Peak<br>position
|-
|Australia ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|authorlink=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=Illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|pages=68|isbn=0-646-11917-6}}</ref>
|align="center"|11
|}

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

{{Cold Chisel}}
[[Category:Cold Chisel songs]]
[[Category:1984 songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Don Walker (musician)]]
[[Category:Macaronic songs]]

Saturday Night (Cold Chisel song) - Revision history

imported>Doctorhawkes: Reverted edit by 2001:8003:2352:D900:5DF2:AE0:2B4C:F623 (talk) to last version by Scottybbooyy