Saturday Night (Bay City Rollers song)

"Saturday Night" is a song recorded by the Scottish pop rock band Bay City Rollers, taken from their debut album Rollin' (1974). Written and produced by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter, it was originally released in June 1973 in the United Kingdom, followed by a North American release in August 1975. Despite a lack of commercial success in the United Kingdom, following its release in North America, it performed strongly on both the American and Canadian singles charts.

"Saturday Night"
Dutch single of 1974 re-recording
Single by Bay City Rollers
from the album Rollin'
B-side	"Marlina"
Released	29 June 1973 (UK)[1] August 1975 (US)[2]
Recorded	1973
Genre	Bubblegum[3][4] power pop[5]
Length	2:56
Label	Arista
Songwriter(s)	Bill Martin, Phil Coulter
Producer(s)	Bill Martin, Phil Coulter
Bay City Rollers singles chronology
"Love Me Like I Love You" (1975) "Saturday Night" (1973) "Money Honey" (1976)
Music video
"Saturday Night" (TopPop, 1976) on YouTube

Background and legacy

The song is an upbeat rock number with a memorable hook, in which the word "Saturday" is spelled out in a rhythmic, enthusiastic chant. 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. In 2021, Billboard credited the song as being a "timeless weekend anthem".^[7] In the same year, Gold Radio ranked the song as the 6th best Bay City Rollers song of all time.^[8]

Release

"Saturday Night" was originally released in the United Kingdom in June 1973, but failed to match the commercial success of the bands previous singles including "Keep On Dancing", "Remember (Sha-La-La-La)" and "Shang-a-Lang". It was later released in the United States in August 1975 and became a commercial success for the bands in the American market, reaching number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles charts where it remained for one week, and spending a combined total of seventeen weeks within the Hot 100 charts.^[9] It was subsequently certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales in excess of one million copies.^[10] Like in the United States, it reached number one in Canada, and too was certified Gold by Music Canada for sales in excess of 75,000 copies.^[11]

Bill Martin, who had been a frequent collaborator of the band, claimed that "Saturday Night" had sold over 12 million copies globally.^[12]

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1974–1976) Peak position Canada Top Singles (RPM)[13] 1 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[14] 2 South Africa (Springbok)[15] 16 US Billboard Hot 100[16] 1 West Germany (GfK)[17] 10

Year-end charts Chart (1975) Rank Canada[18] 106 Chart (1976) Rank Canada[19] 33 US Billboard Hot 100[20] 64

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[21]	Gold	75,000^
United States (RIAA)[22]	Gold	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

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.

MMP (Miguel Matute Project) recorded a hard rock version for their 2021 album "Bajo Cubierta". 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^[23] while Jane's Party and Shawnee Kish covered the second for the 2021–2022 season.^[24]

Sampling

The 'Hey! Ho! Let's Go' chant in "Blitzkrieg Bop" by the Ramones was, according to Tommy Ramone, inspired by "Saturday Night".^[25]

Down With Webster's "Saturday Night" and Simple Plan's "Saturday" interpolate the opening "S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night" chant.^[26][27]

Credits and personnel

• Production – Bill Martin & Phil Coulter (track A), Phil Wainman (track B)