All Night Long (Rainbow song) explained

All Night Long
Cover:Rainbow All Night Long.jpeg
Caption:UK 7" vinyl single
Type:single
Artist:Rainbow
Album:Down to Earth
B-Side:"Weiss Heim"
Genre:
Label:Polydor
Producer:Roger Glover
Prev Title:Since You Been Gone
Prev Year:1979
Next Title:I Surrender
Next Year:1981

"All Night Long" is a song by British rock band Rainbow. It was released as a single in 1980 from the band's fourth album Down to Earth and became their second top 10 hit in the UK, peaking at number 5 in the charts. It was the second single sung by Graham Bonnet for the band and his last, who along with drummer Cozy Powell, left after the Monsters of Rock festival in August 1980.

Reception

In his review for Record Mirror, Simon Ludgate says that "this is a real corker. Completely over the top, stupid lyrics, Cozy Powell bashes away in what sounds like a large biscuit tin and I love it" and "imperative to play it loud and jump up and down, preferably smashing yourself over the head with a metal tea tray at the same time."[2]

The song also came in for some criticism due to its overtly sexist lyrics. This prompted a double-page spread on sexism in music in a Sounds issue that September.[3] In an issue released a month later, Blackmore appeared on the front cover dressed in stockings and suspenders, with the headline "Blackmore in new 'Black Stockings' Sexism Outrage", and this was likely a publicity stunt.[4] He did say of the song's criticism:

Weiss Heim

The non-album B-side, "Weiss Heim" is an instrumental song, recorded in January 1980 at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen. The name, meaning 'white home' in German (although grammatically wrong as the adjective lacks declension - correct would be "Weisses Heim"), comes from a moniker Blackmore had given his house he was living in at the time.[5]

Track listings

7" UK:

  1. "All Night Long" – 3:50
  2. "Weiss Heim" – 5:07

7" US:

  1. "All Night Long" – 3:49
  2. "Danger Zone" – 4:30

7" Netherlands:

  1. "All Night Long" – 3:49
  2. "No Time To Lose" – 3:41

Notes and References

  1. Book: Stanley, Bob . Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop. Some Kind of Monster: Metal. 13 September 2013. Faber & Faber. 978-0-571-28198-5. 570.
  2. Record Mirror. Record Mirror. 8. 9 February 1980. 27 September 2020.
  3. Web site: Rainbow Rising: How Rainbow Became Accidental Pop Stars. October 2014. Jon Hotten08. Classic Rock Magazine. en. 2020-03-09.
  4. Book: Bloom, Jerry. Black Knight: Ritchie Blackmore. 2009-11-05. Omnibus Press. 978-0-85712-053-3. en.
  5. Web site: Rainbow Fanclan Legacy Interviews. www.rainbowfanclan.com. 2020-03-09.
  6. Web site: All Night Long (song by Rainbow [British rock band]) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts]. www.musicvf.com. 2020-03-10.