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"Everybody Have Fun Tonight" is a song performed by the British new wave group Wang Chung, released as a single from their album Mosaic in 1986. Collaboratively written by Jack Hues, Nick Feldman, and Peter Wolf, it reached #2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart on Christmas 1986 behind "Walk Like an Egyptian" by The Bangles. It also hit #1 on the Canada RPM Top 100 Singles chart the week of 17 January 1987. With some different lyrics, the original ballad version of the song was placed on the B-side.

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"Everybody Have Fun Tonight"
Single by Wang Chung
from the album Mosaic
B-side	"Fun Tonight: The Early Years"
Released	September 1986[1]
Recorded	1986
Genre	New wave dance-rock pop rock
Length	4:47 4:15 (7"/video version)
Label	Geffen
Songwriter(s)	Nick Feldman Jack Hues Peter Wolf
Producer(s)	Peter Wolf
Wang Chung singles chronology
"Wake Up, Stop Dreaming" (1985) "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" (1986) "Let's Go!" (1987)
Music video
"Everybody Have Fun Tonight" on YouTube

After their breakup in 1991, Wang Chung reunited in 2005 to perform this song on the television show Hit Me, Baby, One More Time.

The song is featured on numerous 1980s compilation albums and still receives some radio airplay across the United States. It has appeared in the "#2s" episode of VH1 Classic's One Hit Wonders series, even though the band is also known for "Let's Go!" and “Dance Hall Days”.

Background

Singer Jack Hues said,

Nick and I used to get together at his flat on Finchley Road in London and play each other ideas. Nick had this chorus idea of “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” which I loved, but I heard it as deeply ironic and heard a song a bit like “Hey Jude” – slowish, long chorus fade out, sort of whimsical. I wrote the version which Nick and I worked on together and demo’d at his house – we put out that version on one of the Greatest Hits albums – “Fun Tonight: The Early Years”. When we worked with Peter Wolf, he told us to ditch the irony and make a party record and really play up the “Everybody Have Fun/Everybody Wang Chung” line. We had decided we wanted a hit record, so we did as we were told for once!![2]

Reception

Billboard called it a "self-celebrating dance rocker" that "[coins] a new verb."[3]

Track listing

7" Geffen / 7-28562 (USA)

1. "Everybody Have Fun Tonight (edit)"
2. "Fun Tonight: The Early Years"

7" Geffen / GEF 13F (UK)

• Side One

1. "Everybody Have Fun Tonight (edit)"
2. "Fun Tonight: The Early Years"

• Side Two

1. "Dance Hall Days"
2. "Don't Let Go"

7" Geffen / P-2193 (JPN)

1. "Everybody Have Fun Tonight (edit)"
2. "Fun Tonight: The Early Years"

12" Geffen / 0-20551 (USA) and TA 2589 (UK)

• Side One

1. "Everybody Have Fun Tonight (12 Inches of Fun)" - 6:45
2. "Everybody Have Fun Tonight (edit)" - 3:59*

• Side Two

1. "Everybody Dub Tonight" - 6:02*
2. "Fun Tonight: The Early Years" - 4:12

*times as indicated on record label (not actual)

12" (Promo) Geffen / PRO-A-2581 (USA)

• Side One

1. "Everybody Have Fun Tonight (Edit)" - 3:59

• Side Two

1. "Everybody Have Fun Tonight (LP Version)" - 4:47

Music video

The music video, directed by Godley & Creme, features scenes of the band playing in a wood-lined room with very rapid editing between different takes of the same performance. The editing gives the video a somewhat disorienting flip book-like animation style, employing the use of visual jitter. Wang Chung, additional musicians and dancers are seen in several formations throughout the video. They are shown in close portrait and seated along a row of chairs, the seating arrangement of which was changed with each take. Each shot flips through up to four takes of the same shot, with some shots approaching up to 1/25th of a second between edits. The video was banned by the BBC from airing after its premiere due to a medical expert retained by the BBC’s screening committee claiming it could possibly trigger “epileptic fits”.[4]

Other versions

In 2020, Wang Chung released the rewrote version of the song known as "Everybody Stay Safe Tonight" featuring Valerie Day.[5] The rewrote lyrics reflects the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement.[6] It was released on June 8, 2020.[7]

A folk cover of the song was used in the game Wasteland 3 in the Cannibal Jamboree area.

Charts

Chart (1986–87)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[8]	8
Canada The Record[9]	1
Canada Top Singles (RPM)	1
UK Singles (OCC)[10]	76
US Billboard Hot 100[11]	2
US Radio & Records CHR/Pop Airplay Chart[12]	1
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[13]	4
US Album Rock Tracks (Billboard)	25

Year-end charts

Chart (1987)	Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[14]	57
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[15]	12

References

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