Friday, July 11, 2014

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Eddie Rabbitt

Artist:Eddie Rabbitt
Song:I Love A Rainy Night
Album:The Platinum Collection





I Love A Rainy Night was Eddie Rabbitt's biggest hit and signature song. It topped the pop and country charts in 1980. Rabbitt is from New Jersey and first came to Nashville in 1968. He had success as a songwriter with the 1969 Elvis Presley hit Kentucky Rain and the 1974 Ronnie Milsap hit Pure Love. He signed with Elektra Records in 1975. His first number one country hit was Drinkin' My Baby (Off My Mind) in 1976. From then, he started appearing regularly in the country top ten. The song that crossed him over to pop was the theme to the 1979 Clint Eastwood film Every Which Way But Loose which topped the country charts and reached #30 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next single Suspicions reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. His 1980 album Horizon would turn out to be the most successful album of Rabbitt's career. It was certified Platinum. And I Love A Rainy Night was the biggest hit single of his career as it topped the country and pop charts. The song recalls Rabbitt's truck driving days in the 60s. Rabbitt kept all his old demo tapes in his basement. He would sometimes listen to them looking for songs he could use. He brought the demo of I Love A Rainy Night to producer David Malloy and frequent songwriting partner Even Stevens and they helped him finish it. The rest is history. Stevens recorded a solo album in 1977 but turned to songwriting and wrote many hits with Rabbitt. Some of you may have heard I Love A Rainy Night on the soundtrack of the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Horizon was Rabbitt's final album for Elektra. He continued to have success recording for Liberty, RCA and Capitol until the late 80s. His final number one country hit was On Second Thought in 1989. You can get all of Rabbitt's Elektra hits on this budget comp. Warners chose not to license his post-Elektra hits but they have licensed them for other comp CDs. Also be aware that Rabbitt re-recorded his hits for Intersound Records in the 90s. Watch out for that. It was after recording that album that Rabbitt was diagnosed with lung cancer and died on May 7, 1998 at age 56. Here's Eddie Rabbitt performing I Love A Rainy Night on Solid Gold 1980.

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