Night was a band that originally came together under the name Filthy McNasty in 1979. The band was a loose aggregation that performed at the Bridge House, a live venue in London. The band was originally pulled together by former Manfred Mann’s Earthband vocalist Chris Thompson following his split from the Earthband in 1979 following the recording of the album Angel Station.
Another key member of the band was vocalist Stevie Lange who was an in-demand session vocalist and had sang on sessions for the Earthband. Another member of the band was guitarist Robbie McIntosh who had previously been a member of the Foster Brothers, a band that released one album for Elton John’s Rocket Records label.
The other members of the band were bassist Billy Kristian and keyboardist Derek Austin. At the point of the band becoming Night Nicky Hopkins was probably one of the most famous members having played with The Rolling Stones on many albums not to mention albums from John Lennon and George Harrison amongst many others. He was also a member of the Jeff Beck Group and Quicksilver Messenger Service.
The band was initially a covers band or what would be described as a “Bar Band” in America. The band managed, however, to secure a recording deal with Planet Records in America the label owned by record producer Richard Perry. The self-titled album was recorded in Los Angeles and the perception of many was that Night was an American band when in fact the band was almost a “United nations” with Lange coming from South Africa and Thompson, Hopkins and McIntosh being English. This probably arose due to the fact that band were actually based in Los Angeles.
Long Distance is the second album from Night and this album features material mainly written or co-written by front-man Chris Thompson although there is a cover of the Todd Rundgren song You Cried Wolf. The line-up had changed as well with the departure of both drummer Rick Morotta and keyboardist Nicky Hopkins. Recorded in London at Battery Studio, the album was produced by Tim Friese-Greene who also played on the album.
This release is the first time this album has been made available as a single album; previously it was part of a double set with the first album. This release also includes bonus tracks from Chris Thompson’s personal archive.
