BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1983
“Sunglasses at Night” is a song by Canadian singer Corey Hart. It was released on January 21, 1984, as the first single from his debut album, 1983’s First Offense, and became a hit single in the United States, rising to number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1984. The song combines an unflagging synthesizer hook, characteristic arpeggio, rock guitar, and cryptic lyrics. AllMusic has since described it as “an instant classic with its distinctive melody and catchy chorus”.
According to co-producer Phil Chapman, the recording sessions for the album took place in a studio whose air conditioning/heating vents were directly above the mixing console. Air from the vents blew directly into the faces of the control room personnel, so they often wore sunglasses to protect their eyes. Hart, working on a new song, began to improvise lyrics that included the line “I wear my sunglasses at night.”
The music video, directed by Rob Quartly, shot at the Don Jail in Toronto, reflects the vision of a “fashion” police state, with scenes of Hart in a prison cell, without sunglasses, being strong-armed by police officers and paraded past various citizens wearing their regulation shades. Near the end of the video, Hart is taken to the office of a female police officer (who releases Hart in the song’s end), played by Laurie Brown, who later became the host of The NewMusic as well as a VJ on MuchMusic. This video uses the shorter single version instead of the longer album version.
On early Canadian pressings of the vinyl LP “First Offense” the shorter 3:54 version was used for the album version. Later pressings throughout the world used the 5:16 version as the LP version.
Pretty sure I posted this back in 2010 but removed it from the site. In any case, this is a new transfer.
SIDE A:
Sunglasses At Night (Extended Version) 5:16
SIDE B:
Sunglasses At Night (Edited Version) 3:54
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Sunglasses At Night | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #7 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: EMI America – SPRO 9097
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Promo, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1983
Genre: Electronic, Rock, Pop
Style: Synth-pop
CREDITS:
Producer – Jon Astley, Phil Chapman
Written-By – Corey Hart
NOTES:
Track A: Taken from the LP, “First Offense”
Promo Copy Not For Sale
Recorded In England
Sleeve states Track A: Extended Version
Track B: Album Version
Find the 12″ at DISCOGS
VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Schiit Mani
Soundcard: Novation Audiohub 2×4 Audio Interface
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2, ocenaudio
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
Username: btg
Password: burningtheground
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this music is great! Ever! Perfect RIP!
TYTYTTYTYTY
The quintessential anthem for the notion that it doesn’t matter what you’re singing about as long as you look and sound good while doing it.
Thanks Paul!
Marvelous! I was 10 y.o. when this tune was new! Still remember the MTV video. This is the era when MTV was nearly impossible to turn off! Thank you for keeping the music of the 1980’s alive – and sounding incredible!!!
🙂 Love Hart music
Thank you very much Paul.
Yes you did have it posted once before. It was still on the menu when I first discovered you but was already a dead download link so I was never able to download it…so that makes it my longest waited for repost! Thanks, Paul :O)
What and AMAZING POST Paul..thank you so much!!….quality posts as usual (=
best regards Sir
Real classic. Corey will be getting Juno award in London, Ontario 10 days from now.
unforgettable one
This is classy! I also remember the PSB mash-up version called “West End Sunglasses”.
Thank you for this. My cassette is destroyed. Great quality as always.
Great choice, Paul! This has to be in the top 10 of most misinterpreted chorus lyrics of pop songs! 🙂 Check out Weird Al Yankovic’s Smells Like Nirvana for his hysterical lyrics about singing distinctly.
Thanks again!
This is a superb posting Paul!! When this song first came out, I started flashbacking over “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” because of the introduction. Of course, Corey’s record became an addiction as well. Thanks for this as always. You’re amazing!
Jeff
Thank you Jeff 🙂
Awesome! Thank you brother! My cassette is completely worn out! B)
You’re welcome Wes 🙂
Oh my word what a classic! Brought to my attention (as i’m sure many especially i guess here in the UK) from the PSB: West end girls mash-up which was also superb. For the record this isn’t on my hard drive from your site. 6 days of great posts for me. I’m loving this. Many thanks!
Thank you Neil 🙂
Funnily enough it was tucked away somewhere on the hard drive as MP3 only as i never used to take the Flac. May 2010 it was posted for your information.