\"Goodnight Tonight\" is a song by the British–American rock band Wings. Written and produced by Paul McCartney, it was released as a non-album single on 23 March 1979 by Parlophone in the UK and Columbia Records in the US. It was recorded during the sessions for the band's 1979 album Back to the Egg and is notable for its disco-inflected sound and spirited flamenco guitar break.

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Recording

\"Goodnight Tonight\" began as an instrumental backing track McCartney had recorded in 1978. Needing a single for Wings to accompany the Back to the Egg album, McCartney took out the track and brought it into the studio, where the full Wings line-up completed it. Denny Laine and Laurence Juber added electric guitars, mirroring Paul's parts, and Steve Holley added percussion, while the whole band sang in the chorus. Juber also played Denny Laine's Ovation Adamas acoustic guitar. Since the track was over seven minutes long, an edited version was used as the single, with the full version available as a 12-inch single. A music video was made for the song, showing Wings performing in 1930s costumes; stills from the video were used on the single's sleeve. In the US, the single was the first released under McCartney's new deal with Columbia Records.\n

Release

The track did not appear on Wings' then-current album Back to the Egg (from which sessions this song was recorded) as McCartney felt it did not fit the theme of the LP; it was later included on the McCartney compilations All the Best! (1987), Wingspan: Hits and History (2001), Pure McCartney (2016), The 7\" Singles Box (2022) and Wings (2025). The 7\" version was released as a bonus track on the 1993 remastered CD of McCartney II, as part of The Paul McCartney Collection. The B-side of this single was \"Daytime Nighttime Suffering\". An extended version of the song appears on a digital iTunes re-issue of Back to the Egg.\n

Charts and reception

\"Goodnight Tonight\" was an international hit, reaching number five on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. John Lennon, McCartney's former songwriting partner, later commented that he did not care for the song, but enjoyed McCartney's bass guitar on the single. The single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over one million copies.\n

Cash Box said it was an unusual song for McCartney in that the \"percussion undercurrents and muscular bass playing is likely to receive disco play\" and said that the \"acoustic and electric guitars offer interesting flourishes.\" Record World called it \"a semi-serious disco tune featuring every conceivable studio technique and a hook you can boogie (or sing) along with.\"\n

Track listings

7\" single (R 6023)

\"Goodnight Tonight\" – 4:15

\"Daytime Nighttime Suffering\" – 3:19

12\" single (12 YR 6023)

\"Goodnight Tonight\" (Long Version) – 7:15

\"Daytime Nighttime Suffering\" – 3:19

Personnel

According to Luca Perasi:\n

Paul McCartney – lead vocals, backing vocals, acoustic and electric lead guitars, vocoder, bass, drums, percussion, keyboards
Linda McCartney – backing vocals, tambourine (?)
Denny Laine – backing vocals, lead guitar
Laurence Juber – backing vocals, acoustic guitar, lead guitar
Steve Holley – backing vocals, clay drums percussion, tambourine (?)

Chart performance

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Certifications

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References

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Goodnight Tonight

Broadcast History