"Into the Night" is a 1980 song by American pop singer-songwriter Benny Mardones, from his album Never Run, Never Hide. He re-released it in 1989, on the album Benny Mardones
The song is unusual for being one of only 10 recordings to ever ascend to the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart twice
Mardones originally released "Into the Night" in June 1980. The song peaked at No. 11 on the Hot 100 for two weeks in September 1980, logging 20 weeks on the chart before falling off in late October
Mardones' 2nd recording peaked this time at No. 20 the first week in July, adding 17 weeks to its previous run of 20, to add up to a total of 37 (nonconsecutive) weeks. "Into the Night" broke the record set by Laura Branigan with her single "Gloria", which charted for 36 (consecutive) weeks from July 1982 to March 1983, for the longest-charting single of the 1980s by a solo artist. However it was still short of the 40 consecutive weeks set by Paul Davis' "I Go Crazy" in 1977–1978
"Into the Night" was a hit on Adult Contemporary radio this time as well, where it spent 19 weeks and peaked at No. 20
The video opens with Mardones walking down a street and approaching a house. The song plays over the video, and the lyrics serve as Mardones' monologue. He is met at the door by a bearded man who tells him, "She's just 16 years old. Leave her alone." Mardones leaves and walks around to the back of the house, peering through a window at a girl sitting sullenly in her room
The video then cuts to Mardones at a pay phone, speaking to the girl on the other end of the line and professing his love
The video then cuts again to Mardones returning to the girl's house, carrying a rolled-up carpet. He crawls through her bedroom window, unravels the magic carpet, and taking the girl's hand, they take flight into the night sky
The video closes with Mardones serenading the girl as they embrace; the scene finally fades to black as they kiss
With the opening line, "She's just 16 years old, leave her alone, they said," we understand if you think this song sounds a little statutory. Benny Mardones tells us that the 16-year-old girl he's singing about was named Heidi, and she lived in his apartment in Spanish Harlem. Their relationship was purely platonic, however, as Benny looked after Heidi and her family after her father left. Benny would pay her $50 a week to walk his basset hound, Zanky
While the song has stuck like glue to radio playlists, when it first came out, radio stations had some concerns. Benny explains: "When it first was released, R&B stations all over America thought I was black. Then they found out I was white and they dropped the record. White radio was afraid to touch it because they thought it was about me dating a 16-year-old girl at my age. So Polydor Records sent out like 3,000 letters to radio stations across the country explaining what the song was really about. And the song got added and almost instantly started playing all over America
When this song became a hit, Benny Mardones suddenly found himself with a great deal of money and fame, which he didn't handle very well. He developed a cocaine addiction and got in the habit of drinking a bottle of whiskey every night
In 1989, "Into The Night" was re-released after a "Where Are They Now?" feature on the Arizona radio station KZZP, which led to renewed interest in the song. The influential program director Scott Shannon added it to his playlist in Los Angeles, and radio stations across the country followed suit. A new version of the song was released, and this time it hit #20 in the US. The song was the only one to chart twice in the '80s by the same artist
The song is unusual for being one of only 10 recordings to ever ascend to the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart twice
Mardones originally released "Into the Night" in June 1980. The song peaked at No. 11 on the Hot 100 for two weeks in September 1980, logging 20 weeks on the chart before falling off in late October
Mardones' 2nd recording peaked this time at No. 20 the first week in July, adding 17 weeks to its previous run of 20, to add up to a total of 37 (nonconsecutive) weeks. "Into the Night" broke the record set by Laura Branigan with her single "Gloria", which charted for 36 (consecutive) weeks from July 1982 to March 1983, for the longest-charting single of the 1980s by a solo artist. However it was still short of the 40 consecutive weeks set by Paul Davis' "I Go Crazy" in 1977–1978
"Into the Night" was a hit on Adult Contemporary radio this time as well, where it spent 19 weeks and peaked at No. 20
The video opens with Mardones walking down a street and approaching a house. The song plays over the video, and the lyrics serve as Mardones' monologue. He is met at the door by a bearded man who tells him, "She's just 16 years old. Leave her alone." Mardones leaves and walks around to the back of the house, peering through a window at a girl sitting sullenly in her room
The video then cuts to Mardones at a pay phone, speaking to the girl on the other end of the line and professing his love
The video then cuts again to Mardones returning to the girl's house, carrying a rolled-up carpet. He crawls through her bedroom window, unravels the magic carpet, and taking the girl's hand, they take flight into the night sky
The video closes with Mardones serenading the girl as they embrace; the scene finally fades to black as they kiss
With the opening line, "She's just 16 years old, leave her alone, they said," we understand if you think this song sounds a little statutory. Benny Mardones tells us that the 16-year-old girl he's singing about was named Heidi, and she lived in his apartment in Spanish Harlem. Their relationship was purely platonic, however, as Benny looked after Heidi and her family after her father left. Benny would pay her $50 a week to walk his basset hound, Zanky
While the song has stuck like glue to radio playlists, when it first came out, radio stations had some concerns. Benny explains: "When it first was released, R&B stations all over America thought I was black. Then they found out I was white and they dropped the record. White radio was afraid to touch it because they thought it was about me dating a 16-year-old girl at my age. So Polydor Records sent out like 3,000 letters to radio stations across the country explaining what the song was really about. And the song got added and almost instantly started playing all over America
When this song became a hit, Benny Mardones suddenly found himself with a great deal of money and fame, which he didn't handle very well. He developed a cocaine addiction and got in the habit of drinking a bottle of whiskey every night
In 1989, "Into The Night" was re-released after a "Where Are They Now?" feature on the Arizona radio station KZZP, which led to renewed interest in the song. The influential program director Scott Shannon added it to his playlist in Los Angeles, and radio stations across the country followed suit. A new version of the song was released, and this time it hit #20 in the US. The song was the only one to chart twice in the '80s by the same artist