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1973 single by Bay City Rollers From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Saturday Night" is a song recorded by the Scottish pop rock band Bay City Rollers. It was written and produced by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter. The tune is an upbeat rock number with a memorable hook, in which the word "Saturday" is spelled out in a rhythmic, enthusiastic chant.
| "Saturday Night" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dutch single of 1974 re-recording | ||||
| Single by Bay City Rollers | ||||
| from the album Rollin' | ||||
| B-side | "Marlena" | |||
| Released | 29 June 1973 (UK)[1] August 1975 (US)[2] | |||
| Recorded | 1973 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:56 | |||
| Label | Arista | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Bill Martin, Phil Coulter | |||
| Producer(s) | Bill Martin, Phil Coulter | |||
| Bay City Rollers singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Saturday Night" (TopPop, 1976) on YouTube | ||||
The group first recorded the song in 1973 — their fourth single, released in June, with Gordon "Nobby" Clark on vocals — but it failed to chart. The song was re-recorded for the Rollers' 1974 UK album Rollin' with lead vocals by Les McKeown, Clark's replacement. In the autumn of 1975 "Saturday Night" this version was released in the US as a single (but not in the UK), reaching number one on Billboard's Hot 100 in the issued dated 3 January 1976 — the first number one of the United States Bicentennial year. The single also reached number one on the RPM Canadian Singles Chart listing dated 10 January 1976.[6] This is the band's sole number one in the United States.
In 2019, the record was used in Netflix's Umbrella Academy series.
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[15] | Gold | 75,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[16] | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
Students at the Lochiel, Glenwood, and South Carvolth Schools in Canada covered the song in 1976. This rendition later appeared on The Langley Schools Music Project album, Innocence & Despair.
The song was covered by English rock band Ned's Atomic Dustbin for the Mike Myers 1993 romantic comedy film So I Married an Axe Murderer. The song also appears on the soundtrack album.
Japanese punk rock band Hi-Standard released a fast-paced cover of the song on their 1996 debut album Growing Up.
Two covers have been aired as the opening theme song for the pre-game show of Hockey Night in Canada: Canadian hard rock band Monster Truck covered first for the 2017–2018 season[17] while Jane's Party and Shawnee Kish covered the second for the 2021-2022 season.[18]
The 'Hey! Ho! Let's Go' chant in "Blitzkrieg Bop" by the Ramones was, according to Tommy Ramone, inspired by "Saturday Night".[19]
Down With Webster's "Saturday Night" and Simple Plan's "Saturday" interpolate the opening "S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night" chant.[20][21]
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