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Thread: R.I.P. Benny Mardones "Into The Night"

  1. #1
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    R.I.P. Benny Mardones "Into The Night"

    https://www.billboard.com/articles/c...-night-dead-73

    I never knew a lot about him, but damn I enjoyed this song back in the day - such a great voice. This actually was a chart hit twice - 1980 and again in 1989.


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    Sandy Gennaro, the drummer on that hit and the entire album, posted a video tribute:

    "We just lost one of the greatest voices in rock ‘n’ roll. RIP Benny Mardones. I’m fortunate to have called you my friend and even more fortunate to have played drums on your classic track. I love you B. PEACE"

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    An outstanding song that sends shivers up my spine. Played it on the jukebox at the local watering hole from time to time; it always got a thumbs up from the patrons. Always was enthralled with this lyrical passage:

    It's like having a dream
    Where nobody has a heart
    It's like having it all
    And watching it fall apart...

  4. #4
    Member moecurlythanu's Avatar
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    I remember him well. He was all over FM radio for a while.

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    Member Koreabruce's Avatar
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    Wow, I hadn't heard that song in decades! Great tune, and what a voice. RIP Benny.

  6. #6
    I've been reading up on Benny, he seemed like a nice guy he had been touring for years and has a lot of good tunes. I'm sorry to hear of his passing.

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    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    I find that song kind of creepy, but I know it was popular. He was from upstate NY, right? I heard his name a lot when I was in Syracuse.

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    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    He was from upstate NY, right? I heard his name a lot when I was in Syracuse.
    Nope. According to that Billboard article, “Mardones was born in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up in Savage, Maryland, joining the Navy out of high school to serve in the Vietnam War. Following his discharge, he moved to New York to become a songwriter...”

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    I find that song kind of creepy, but I know it was popular. He was from upstate NY, right? I heard his name a lot when I was in Syracuse.
    A lot of songs from back in the day could be considered creepy or in bad taste, curious, questionable and a whole lot of other things ( Louie Louie, Me and Mrs Jones,etc) but to me (us) it was just good music. For sure better than most of what happened in between then and now. If we went by today's standards we wouldn't have any music in the soundtrack of our lives. Tis a pity.

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    The song isn’t as creepy as one might initially think:

    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 told Songfacts 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.

    Mardones wrote this song with Robert Tepper, who would later write the song "No Easy Way Out" for the movie Rocky IV. Benny told Songfacts: "One night Robert Tepper and I were up writing songs. It was about a week before we were leaving for Miami to cut the first big album, which was Never Run, Never Hide. We thought that we already had the hit song, so did Polydor Records. It was a song called 'Might Have Been Love.' But at the last minute we're sitting there one night at my apartment trying to write. Bobby kept playing the chord changes and we tried 18 melodies and 30 kinds of lyrics and all of a sudden the key in the door turned and I said, 'Oh my God, it's daylight.' Because we liked to keep the blinds down.

    And in she walks, 16 years old, dressed for school in a miniskirt, little stacked heels, adorable, 16-going-on-21. She said, 'You've been up all night?' and of course it was obvious. I said, 'Yeah, we have.' She says, 'Okay, come on, Zanky,' and she walks the dog out. When she leaves and goes out the door, my partner goes, 'Oh, my God.' I said, 'Hey, Bob. She's just 16 years old, leave her alone.' And literally five minutes later I said, 'Play that lick again, Bobby.' So he played the lick and I went (singing), 'she's just 16 years old, leave her alone, they say.' Then I thought about her dad and what he had done, and that's where I got (singing), 'Separated by fools who don't know what love is yet.' The chorus was, 'you're too young for me, but if I could fly, I'd pick you up and take you into the night and show you love like you've never seen.' Then the verse 'It's like having it all and letting it show. It's like having a dream where nobody has a heart. It's like having it all and watching it fall apart.' Because his success was not the family's success; it was just his. 'I can't measure my love there's nothing compared to it' - it was all about the abandonment of this family and this 16-year-old girl."

    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."

  11. #11
    Member Camelogue's Avatar
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    Yep hadn't heard this one in decades. Good voice.

  12. #12
    Member mnprogger's Avatar
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    weird, as it was just a couple of weeks ago my wife and I revisited "Into the Night" for a list of 1 (and 2-4) Hit Wonders of the 80's (largely for nostalgia).

    The YouTube Channel Professor of Rock I recently subscribed to and just realized he uploaded this interview with Benny the day after he died.



    RIP
    Last edited by mnprogger; 07-04-2020 at 03:53 PM.

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