"The Night Chicago Died" is a song by the British group Paper Lace, written by Peter Callander and Mitch Murray. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in 1974, reached number 3 in the UK charts, and number 2 in Canada. It is about a fictional shoot-out between the Chicago Police and members of the Al CaponeSyndicate. The narrator retells his mother's anguish while awaiting news of the fate of her husband, a Chicago policeman. The song is featured in the theatrical trailer of the 2000 comedy-drama film High Fidelity, and featured in a Season 1 episode of That '70s Show. This song begins with an electronic synthesizer sound impersonating a police siren. The first four lines in the Intro are spoken by the group. It also features the sound of a ticking clock, heard in the third verse.
"The Night Chicago Died" was Paper Lace's follow-up single to "Billy Don't Be a Hero", a No. 1 hit in the U.K. but virtually unheard in the U.S. where Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods' cover reached No. 1. Callander and Murray wrote both songs.
The U.S. single received a Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America, signifying sales of at least half a million copies. Though the song's story is set in the United States, Paper Lace were unable to perform the song live in the U.S. at the height of its popularity because of contractual issues.[1]
Accuracy
"The Night Chicago Died" is about a shoot-out between the Chicago Police and gangsters tied to Al Capone. It was inspired by the real-life Saint Valentine's Day Massacre,[2] although that involved Capone's men killing seven of Bugs Moran's gang members and had nothing to do with the police. No confrontation large enough to leave around one hundred police deaths ever happened. Al Capone was arrested in 1932 for income tax evasion.
The song's events supposedly take place "on the East Side of Chicago". Chicago has three commonly referred-to regions: the North Side, the West Side and the South Side. There is no East Side, as Lake Michigan is immediately east of Downtown Chicago. While there is an area of Chicago known as "East Side", it is a neighborhood on the Far South Side on the Illinois/Indiana state line. East Side is also several miles away from where Capone lived on Prairie Avenue in Chicago. Furthermore, in the 1920s, East Side was known for being a quiet, residential, and predominantly Eastern European neighborhood—a sharp contrast from the site of the bloodbath described in the song.
Songwriters Peter Callender and Mitch Murray said in interviews (most notably on Beat Club shortly after the song's smash success) that they had never been to Chicago before that time, and that their knowledge of the city and that period of its history had been based on gangster films. (Callender defended his interpretation of Chicago's geography by saying, "There's an East Side of everywhere!")
As reported by History.com:
"...in England there were at least a few young men that didn’t have all the facts straight, and in the 1970s their pop group from Nottingham turned their romantic misunderstanding of American history into a historically dubious yet gloriously catchy hit record. Though it was never intended for the American market, Paper Lace’s "The Night Chicago Died" crossed the Atlantic and became a #1 hit on the U.S. pop charts..."[2]
Paper Lace sent the song to the mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley, who greatly disliked it.[3] A member of Daley's staff is quoted as saying that Paper Lace should "jump in the Chicago River, placing your heads under water three times and surfacing twice. Pray tell us, are you nuts?”[4]
In 1974 Venezuelan singer Mirla Castellanos recorded her version of this song (translated into Spanish by her husband at the time, Miguel Ángel Landa) titled "La Noche De Chicago", which appeared on her album of the same name. Subsequently, Castellanos made a new version of this song, which was included in her 1984 compilation album 16 Grandes Éxitos.
Also, in 1974, Mexican group La Super Banda Macho recorded their own version of this song in Spanish titled "La Noche Que Murió Chicago", whose lyrics are very different from the previous version.
In March 1975 the Finnish singer Vicky Rosti recorded this song in Finnish titled "Kun Chicago kuoli" (When Chicago Died), which was her debut single. She reached the number one position in Finnish charts with the single by Midsummer.[17][18] The Finnish lyrics are almost verbatim translation of the English originals.
In 1994 Mexican group Banda Toro recorded this song titled "La Noche Que Chicago Murió" in a Banda music style (but with the same lyrics of La Super Banda Macho's version). This song appeared on their debut album Banda Toro.
In 2004 Mexican group Banda Machos covered this song titled "La Noche Que Murió Chicago" -and sounds very similar at the La Super Banda Macho's version- as part of their album Pura Pasión.
In 2006, Korean group Super Junior-K.R.Y. released a cover of this song entitled "The Night Chicago Died" in the Korean language, for the 2006 Korean drama "Hyena (soundtrack)". Their cover has the same melody, but the lyrics were entirely revised.
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The Night Chicago Died is a song by the British group Paper Lace written by Peter Callander and Mitch Murray The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in 1974 reached number 3 in the UK charts and number 2 in Canada It is about a fictional shoot out between the Chicago Police and members of the Al Capone Syndicate The narrator retells his mother s anguish while awaiting news of the fate of her husband a Chicago policeman The song is featured in the theatrical trailer of the 2000 comedy drama film High Fidelity and featured in a Season 1 episode of That 70s Show This song begins with an electronic synthesizer sound impersonating a police siren The first four lines in the Intro are spoken by the group It also features the sound of a ticking clock heard in the third verse The Night Chicago Died Belgian sleeveSingle by Paper Lacefrom the album And Other Bits of Material Paper Lace US Version B side Can You Get It When You Want It Released15 June 1974Recorded1974GenrePop rockLength3 30LabelPhilips UK Mercury Records US Songwriter s Peter Callander Mitch MurrayProducer s Peter Callander Mitch MurrayPaper Lace singles chronology Billy Don t Be a Hero 1974 The Night Chicago Died 1974 The Black Eyed Boys 1974 Contents 1 History 2 Accuracy 3 Chart performance 3 1 Weekly singles charts 3 2 Year end charts 4 Covers 5 Notes 6 References 7 External linksHistory Edit The Night Chicago Died was Paper Lace s follow up single to Billy Don t Be a Hero a No 1 hit in the U K but virtually unheard in the U S where Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods cover reached No 1 Callander and Murray wrote both songs The U S single received a Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America signifying sales of at least half a million copies Though the song s story is set in the United States Paper Lace were unable to perform the song live in the U S at the height of its popularity because of contractual issues 1 Accuracy Edit The Night Chicago Died is about a shoot out between the Chicago Police and gangsters tied to Al Capone It was inspired by the real life Saint Valentine s Day Massacre 2 although that involved Capone s men killing seven of Bugs Moran s gang members and had nothing to do with the police No confrontation large enough to leave around one hundred police deaths ever happened Al Capone was arrested in 1932 for income tax evasion The song s events supposedly take place on the East Side of Chicago Chicago has three commonly referred to regions the North Side the West Side and the South Side There is no East Side as Lake Michigan is immediately east of Downtown Chicago While there is an area of Chicago known as East Side it is a neighborhood on the Far South Side on the Illinois Indiana state line East Side is also several miles away from where Capone lived on Prairie Avenue in Chicago Furthermore in the 1920s East Side was known for being a quiet residential and predominantly Eastern European neighborhood a sharp contrast from the site of the bloodbath described in the song Songwriters Peter Callender and Mitch Murray said in interviews most notably on Beat Club shortly after the song s smash success that they had never been to Chicago before that time and that their knowledge of the city and that period of its history had been based on gangster films Callender defended his interpretation of Chicago s geography by saying There s an East Side of everywhere As reported by History com in England there were at least a few young men that didn t have all the facts straight and in the 1970s their pop group from Nottingham turned their romantic misunderstanding of American history into a historically dubious yet gloriously catchy hit record Though it was never intended for the American market Paper Lace s The Night Chicago Died crossed the Atlantic and became a 1 hit on the U S pop charts 2 Paper Lace sent the song to the mayor of Chicago Richard Daley who greatly disliked it 3 A member of Daley s staff is quoted as saying that Paper Lace should jump in the Chicago River placing your heads under water three times and surfacing twice Pray tell us are you nuts 4 Chart performance EditWeekly singles charts Edit Chart 1974 PeakpositionAustralia Kent Music Report 5 1Canada RPM Top Singles 6 2France IFOP 7 35Ireland IRMA 8 5Netherlands Single Top 100 9 2New Zealand 1South Africa Springbok 10 3UK 11 3U S Billboard Hot 100 1U S Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary 27U S Cash Box Top 100 12 1 Year end charts Edit Chart 1974 RankAustralia 4Canada 13 26Netherlands 14 25U S Billboard Hot 100 15 46U S Cash Box 16 19Covers EditIn 1974 Venezuelan singer Mirla Castellanos recorded her version of this song translated into Spanish by her husband at the time Miguel Angel Landa titled La Noche De Chicago which appeared on her album of the same name Subsequently Castellanos made a new version of this song which was included in her 1984 compilation album 16 Grandes Exitos Also in 1974 Mexican group La Super Banda Macho recorded their own version of this song in Spanish titled La Noche Que Murio Chicago whose lyrics are very different from the previous version In March 1975 the Finnish singer Vicky Rosti recorded this song in Finnish titled Kun Chicago kuoli When Chicago Died which was her debut single She reached the number one position in Finnish charts with the single by Midsummer 17 18 The Finnish lyrics are almost verbatim translation of the English originals In 1994 Mexican group Banda Toro recorded this song titled La Noche Que Chicago Murio in a Banda music style but with the same lyrics of La Super Banda Macho s version This song appeared on their debut album Banda Toro In 2004 Mexican group Banda Machos covered this song titled La Noche Que Murio Chicago and sounds very similar at the La Super Banda Macho s version as part of their album Pura Pasion In 2006 Korean group Super Junior K R Y released a cover of this song entitled The Night Chicago Died in the Korean language for the 2006 Korean drama Hyena soundtrack Their cover has the same melody but the lyrics were entirely revised Notes Edit The Night Chicago Died is used with some irony by Fox Mulder on Die Hand Die Verletzt episode of The X Files as an example of Devil s music 19 On download and streaming sites Paper Lace s recording is miscredited to the 1980s dance group Pretty Poison References Edit Paper Lace Interview Nottingham Culture Leftlion co uk Retrieved 9 October 2016 a b 1974 The Night Chicago Died by Paper Lace tops the U S pop charts History com Archived from the original on 7 June 2015 Retrieved 15 February 2017 Fred Bronson The Billboard book of number 1 hits p 373 Back in the Bad Old Days faithandfearinflushing com Retrieved 9 July 2017 Kent David 1993 Australian Chart Book 1970 1992 illustrated ed St Ives N S W Australian Chart Book p 228 ISBN 0 646 11917 6 RPM Top Singles PDF RPM 10 August 1974 Retrieved 19 April 2020 Toutes les Chansons N 1 des Annees 70 in French InfoDisc 20 August 1974 Retrieved 22 December 2019 The Irish Charts Search Results The Night Chicago Died Irish Singles Chart Retrieved 7 August 2017 Jaaroverzichten Single 1974 in Dutch Single Top 100 Hung Medien Retrieved 2 March 2018 SA Charts 1965 March 1989 Retrieved 5 September 2018 UK Official Charts 4 May 1974 Cash Box Top 100 Singles August 10 1974 Image RPM Weekly Library and Archives Canada Bac lac gc ca 17 July 2013 Retrieved 9 October 2016 Jaaroverzichten Single 1974 in Dutch Single Top 100 Hung Medien Retrieved 2 March 2018 Top 100 Hits of 1974 Top 100 Songs of 1974 Musicoutfitters com Retrieved 9 October 2016 Cash Box Year End Charts Top 100 Pop Singles December 28 1974 Rockin korkeat korot LP Edel Records 2004 0154442ERE Liner notes Rockin Korkeat Korot 2004 CD Discogs Chris Carter 1994 1995 Chris Carter Talks About Season 2 Die Hand Die Verletzt The X Files The Complete Second Season Fox External links EditListen to The Night Chicago Died on YouTube Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Night Chicago Died amp oldid 1113684345, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
