Right in the Night

"Right in the Night (Fall in Love with Music)" is a song by German electronic music duo Jam & Spoon, released by 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. Its music video was directed by Matt Broadley.

Release
In the 2017 book Stars of 90's Dance Pop: 29 Hitmakers Discuss Their Careers by James Arena, writer of the song Nosie Katzmann told, "I always felt "Right in the Night" was one of the best songs I've ever written, but the record company and A&R people who came to my place to listen to new songs for the project just thought of "Right" as being average. Some other individuals from A&R asked, "Where's the hook—the punchline?" I really hated to play the song for the record company, and a week before it came out I thought for sure it would be a flop because the label people just didn't hear the hit in it. And just like most times, the label people were wrong." In 2020, Jam El Mar told about how the duo found Plavka, "Mark Spoon knew Plavka from the very first Love Parade. He was clever enough to ask for her number so, when we were about to record Right In The Night, he opened his magic book of secret telephone numbers." Regarding the lyrics of the song, Spon 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."

In 2013, the song was released in a new remix, by Jam & Spoon vs. David May & Amfree.

Critical reception
Barry Walters from The Advocate wrote that the song "distills Jam & Spoon's most accessible aspects into one flawlessly girly flamenco-style hi-NRG anthem." Larry Flick from Billboard 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." James Masterton wrote in his weekly UK chart commentary, "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!" Phil Hartnoll 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 rated 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 declared it as an "excellent Madonna-ish Balearic throbber".

Chart performance
"Right in the Night" peaked at number one in Finland, Greece and Spain and charted within the top 10 in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, as well as on the Eurochart Hot 100, where it peaked at number four. In the UK, it reached number 10 following a re-release in 1995, and on the UK Dance Chart, it peaked at number six. Additionally, it was a top-20 hit in Ireland. Outside Europe, "Right in the Night" climbed to the number-one position on the RPM Dance chart in Canada, number two in Australia, number three on the US Billboard Dance Club Play chart and number nine in New Zealand. It earned a gold record in Germany and a platinum record in Australia.

Music video
The accompanying music video of "Right in the Night" was directed by Swedish-based director Matt Broadley. It received heavy rotation on MTV Europe and was A-listed on Germany's VIVA. 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.

Track listings

 * 12-inch, UK and Europe
 * 1) "Right in the Night (Fall in Love with Music)" (Full Length Mix) – 6:05
 * 2) "Right in the Night (Fall in Love with Music)" (Love Mix) – 5:37
 * 3) "Follow Me!" – 12:28


 * CD single, Europe
 * 1) "Right in the Night" (Radio Edit) – 3:47
 * 2) "Right in the Night" (Instrumental) – 6:51


 * CD maxi 1, Germany
 * 1) "Right in the Night (Fall in Love with Music)" – 6:05
 * 2) "Right in the Night (Fall in Love with Music)" (Instrumental) – 6:51
 * 3) "Follow Me!" – 12:28
 * 4) "Right in the Night (Fall in Love with Music)" (Radio Edit) – 3:47


 * CD maxi 2, Germany
 * 1) "Right in the Night (Fall in Love with Music)" (Jam & Spoon Remix) – 5:45
 * 2) "Right in the Night (Fall in Love with Music)" (Microbots-Remix) – 6:23
 * 3) "Right in the Night (Fall in Love with Music)" (Arpeggiators – Tripomatic Fairytales Mix) – 6:27
 * 4) "Right in the Night (Fall in Love with Music)" (DJ Kid Paul Mix) – 5:52

Whigfield cover
Danish recording artist Whigfield covered "Right in the Night" in 2007. It was released on 10 July 2008 as the second single from her greatest hits album All in One.

Track listing

 * 1) "Right in the Night" (Favretto & Battini Remix Radio Edit) – 3:37
 * 2) "Right in the Night" (F&A Factor Remix Radio Edit) – 3:48
 * 3) "Right in the Night" (Doing Time Remix Radio Edit) – 3:29
 * 4) "Right in the Night" (Original) – 4:32
 * 5) "Right in the Night" (Favretto & Battani Remix Extended) – 7:46
 * 6) "Right in the Night" (F&A Factor Remix Extended) – 7:56
 * 7) "Right in the Night" (Doing Time Remix Extended) – 5:18

2013 version
On 26 April 2013, a remix version by David May and Amfree entitled "Right in the Night 2013" was released by Epic Records.

Track listings

 * CD single
 * 1) "Right in the Night 2013" (featuring Plavka vs. David May and Amfree) (featuring Nate) (radio edit) – 3:30
 * 2) "Right in the Night 2013" (featuring Plavka vs. David May and Amfree) (Groove Coverage remix) – 5:28


 * Digital download
 * 1) "Right in the Night 2013" (featuring Plavka vs. David May and Amfree) (featuring Nate) (radio edit) – 3:29
 * 2) "Right in the Night 2013" (featuring Plavka vs. David May and Amfree) (Bodybangers remix) – 5:24
 * 3) "Right in the Night 2013" (featuring Plavka vs. David May and Amfree) (Groove Coverage remix) – 5:28
 * 4) "Right in the Night 2013" (featuring Plavka vs. David May and Amfree) (Michael Mind Project remix) – 5:42
 * 5) "Right in the Night 2013" (featuring Plavka vs. David May and Amfree) (radio edit without rap) – 3:13
 * 6) "Right in the Night 2013" (featuring Plavka vs. David May and Amfree) (extended mix) – 5:20
 * 7) "Right in the Night 2013" (featuring Plavka vs. David May and Amfree) (classic mix 2K13) – 4:08