1966 Songs: Strangers in the Night

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I told you the Chairman of the Board would be around in reference and in actuality this month. While I skipped him on “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” this is his song. Let’s go back half a century to one of the great easy listening classics…and a funny story. Strangers in the Night - Frank Sinatra This song is quintessentially Frank, right? It’s been recorded over 100 times, but “Strangers in the Night” and Frank Sinatra go hand in hand. Well…Sinatra HATED this song. He called it “a piece of [bleep]” and “the worst [bleeping] song that I have ever heard.” Sinatra went so far as to joke with Dean Martin that the song was about two gay guys in a bar. Well, let me tell you something. For someone who thought it was a piece of excrement, Sinatra sure delivered the goods. He may have stuck that now-legendary “do be do be do” at the end to show his disdain, but (much like Elvis “deliberately” sabotaging “Blue Christmas” with the background singers) it backfired into one of Sinatra’s biggest hits. In fact, this was his final solo #1 hit (he would hit #1 again later in the 60s singing “Somethin’ Stupid” with daughter Nancy). Oh, and that “do be do be do” part? Fred Silverman was listening to this song on a flight and decided to name a cartoon dog in its honor: Scooby Doo. If you listen to the opening of the theme song, you’ll hear a direct rip-off of “do be do be do.” It turned out all right! Strangers in the Night Written by Charles Singleton, Eddie Snyder, and Bert Kaempfert Recorded by Frank Sinatra From Strangers in the Night, 1966 Lovers at first sight: