Tuesday 6 December 2016

Lulu & Ronan Keating 'We've Got Tonight'

Chart Peak: 4
YouTube
Ronan fist charted back in 1994 woth 'Love Me For A Reason' and has had over 20 hit singles since - either with Boyzone or as a solo performer... This cover of Bob Seger's 'We've Got Tonght' maintained Lulu's record of having charted in every decade since the 1960s.
Notes on nomenclature: the back cover and booklet of Now 54 both clearly list Lulu's name first, but the booklet shows a photo of Keating alone and the track is attributed to Keating's album Destination.  The credit on the single cover is to Ronan Keating Featuring Lulu and indeed Keating released versions with local singers in Germany, Italy and the Philippines. However the track is also on Lulu's collaborations album together, which features such delights as her trying to rap over 'Let Em In' by Wings. Some editions of the original Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band version (which dates back to 1978 but was only made the Top 40 at the third time of asking in 1995, spell the title 'We've Got Tonite', but clearly Keating and Louis Walsh had no time for such informality. Neither indeed did Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton, who seemingly originated the idea of this song as a duet and had the first UK hit with it. And while I'm being pedantic, Lulu had already had a hit in 2000 with 'Where The Poor Boys Dance'.

The fact that I've started this post with a lengthy paragraph about other versions of the song and sleeve credits is not only a result of my verbosity but also a sign that there aren't a lot of surprises here. Two familiar singers work through a familiar AOR standard in a wholly predictable way. They do seem to play down the one-night-stand theme of the original, presumably hoping that the inattentive listener will hear it as a romantic ballad. Ronan lives up/down to his usual role as a man with a good voice who thinks he has a great one, and four minutes filled.

Ronan Keating also appears on: Now 44, 47, 48, 49, 52, 53, 55, 57, 58 (with LeAnn Rimes), 59, 60 (with Yusuf), 64 (with Kate Rusby)
Lulu also appears on: Now 24
Available on: Together

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