"Right in the Night (Fall in Love with Music)" is a song by German electronic music duo Jam & Spoon, released by labels JAM! and Dance Pool as the second single from the duo's second album, Tripomatic Fairytales 2001 (1993). It is a Eurodance song with elements from progressive and vocal trance. It is based on "Leyenda" by the classical composer Isaac Albéniz and features vocals by American vocalist Plavka, with lyrics by Nosie Katzmann. The flamenco-styled riff in the song is played by duo member Jam El Mar, who was trained as a classical guitarist.
The single was released in 1993 on the German labels JAM! and Dance Pool. It is widely regarded as one of the biggest electronic music anthems of the 1990s, reaching number one in Finland, Greece and Spain, as well as number two in Australia, Iceland and Italy in 1994. On the Eurochart Hot 100, "Right in the Night" peaked at number four. On the UK Singles Chart, the song originally peaked at number 31, but after a re-release in 1995 it reached a new peak of number ten. It has been extensively anthologised, further indicating the song's significance in trance music's evolution.
Jam & Spoon and Plavka performed the song on many different European TV-shows and concerts, like the British music chart television programme Top of the Pops, the Italian singing competition Festivalbar and the Finnish 1994 national final of Eurovision Song Contest. It earned the duo an award in the category for Best Progressive hi-NRG Recording at the 1995 Hi-NRG Music Awards in the US and a nomination for Best Dance Act at the 1994 MTV Europe Music Awards. The accompanying music video was directed by Matt Broadley and filmed in London.
Background and release
German electronic music duo Jam & Spoon was formed in 1991 in Frankfurt, consisting of composers and producers Rolf Ellmer (a.k.a. Jam El Mar, classically trained composer) and Markus Löffel (a.k.a. Mark Spoon, DJ). They had their first hit with the 1992 song "Stella", which was widely played, remixed and bootlegged in the dance club community for years after its release. The pair also remixed the singles "The Age of Love" and "Go". But their biggest commercial success came in 1993 with "Right in the Night". It is based on a piece that El Mar used to play as a guitarist, "Leyenda" by the classical composer Isaac Albéniz. To make it fit into the new song, El Mar had to compose some additional notes. "Right in the Night" originally was an instrumental track, but after their record company CBS Sony Music demanded a single release for the radio, the duo agreed to do something to the track and add a vocal.
German songwriter and producer Nosie Katzmann wrote the lyrics for the song and Jam & Spoon called Plavka and invited her to their studio in Frankfurt. While recording the vocals, she had a hangover since she had been out at a club the night before. But the duo was very satisfied with the result. Regarding the lyrics of the song, Spoon demanded in an interview with Melody Maker in January 1994, "Listen to the lyrics. They say something. It's about psychologically ill people falling in love with music. It can't solve your problems, but it certainly helps."
After being released in Europe in 1993, the single was released in the US in late May 1994 with remixes by Marc "MK" Kinchen. Larry Flick from Billboard magazine described it as a "jumpy, disco/pop ditty that strobes with bright synths and a killer hook." He noted that "at first, singer Plavka will have you thinking of Madonna, though her own unique tones and nuances eventually shine through. She has a field day with the song, more than holding her own against the track's busy array of sound effects." In a 1997 review, the magazine called it a "percolating ditty [that] was years ahead of its time, since the groove and synths sound as fresh as ever. And the splashes of flamenco guitars are an enticing flavor". Annette M. Lai from the Gavin Report felt that "this high-energy tune should have no trouble making its way up the chart soon." In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton wrote, "It's combination of a brilliant pop tune and rampant flamenco rhythms should be enough to make it the biggest hit of the next few months." On the 1995 re-release he added, "Sweet music to my ears, I love this to bits and commented in these lines back in 1994 that it had the potential to be a No.1 hit – I could still be right." British duo Orbital reviewed the song for Melody Maker. Paul Hartnoll said, "Wow! Euro-disco. It sounds like Baccara. Yes sir, Jam & Spoon can boogie!" He added, "This'd be good horse-riding music. It makes me think of Army of Lovers. And ABBA. All those things."
The magazine's Jennifer Nine declared it as "another soon-to-be-everywhere groove thing from top German dancemeisters", remarking the "sparkly flamenco guitar intro" and vocalist Plavka looking "kinda handbag-Ofra Haza on the sleeve". She concluded, "A biggish, whooshy, authoritative thing". Pan-European magazine Music & Media commented, "This fast but mellow house track with ambient works so well that it should go a long way to establish this well-reputed remix and production duo as artists in their own right." Columnist Maria Jimenez described it as "alluring, yet highly commercial", adding that "this club track is poised for international success." Andy Beevers from Music Week gave it four out of five, calling it a "rather unexciting Euro house song". Wendi Cermak from The Network Forty stated, "This is signature Jam & Spoon with its ethereal trance/ambient electronic rhythms, light female vocals and their excellent guitar work on the intro". Rupert Howe from NME found that the "disposable Euro-pap" of 'Right in the Night' "measures up a mere hair's breadth away from Culture Beat." James Hamilton from the Record Mirror Dance Update named it an "excellent Madonna-ish Balearic throbber". Andrew Perry from Select viewed it as "a single which is not so much commercial as almost spitefully dreadful, riding on a daft hi-NRG beat, a female vocal from the deepest fetid pit of '80s soul and what sounds like a sample of classical rock bores Sky".
Chart performance
Commercially, "Right in the Night" peaked at number one in Finland and Spain for three and five weeks, respectively, as well as in Greece. The single was a top-10 hit in Australia, Austria, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, In North America, it reached the number-one position on the RPM Dance chart in Canada and number three on the US Billboard Dance Club Play chart. There are two different versions of the video, with one that focuses more on Plavka than the other one. There was also made a video for the 2013 remix by Jam & Spoon vs. David May & Amfree.
Legacy
"Right in the Night" earned Jam & Spoon an award in the category for Best Progressive hi-NRG Recording at the 1995 Hi-NRG Music Awards in the United States.
| 11
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!scope="row"|Europe (European Hit Radio)
| 23
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!scope="row"|Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)
| 1
|-
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!scope="row"|Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)
| 34
|-
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!scope="row"|Spain (AFYVE)
| 1
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|UK Airplay (Music Week)
| 14
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!scope="row"|UK Dance (Music Week)
| 5
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!scope="row"|UK Club Chart (Music Week)
| 20
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!scope="row"|UK Club Chart (Music Week)<br/><small>1995 re-issue</small>
| 39
|-
!scope="row"|UK Pop Tip Club Chart (Music Week)<br/><small>1995 re-issue</small>
| 27
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!scope="row"|US Dance Club Play (Billboard)
| 3
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!scope="row"|US Maxi-Singles Sales (Billboard)
| 29
|}
Year-end charts
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
!Chart (1994)
!Position
|-
!scope="row"|Australia (ARIA)
| 18
|-
!scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop)
| 48
|-
!scope="row"|Canada Dance/Urban (RPM)
| 4
|-
!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)
| 26
|-
!scope="row"|Germany (Media Control)
| 29
|-
!scope="row"|Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)
| 66
|-
!scope="row"|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)
| 96
|-
!scope="row"|Netherlands (Single Top 100)
| 87
|-
!scope="row"|Sweden (Topplistan)
| 48
|-
!scope="row"|Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)
| 25
|-
!scope="row"|US Dance Club Play (Billboard)
| 49
|}