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This song was originally written by Ivo Robic for a music festival in Split, Croatia; Robic later recorded versions of it in Croatian ("Stranci u Noci") and in German ("Fremde in der Nacht"). English lyrics about love at first sight were written by Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder.
Bert Kaempfert rewrote this for the film A Man Could Get Killed, and the song was used as the movie's theme. It won a Golden Globe Award in 1967 for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture. In addition, the song won the 1966 Grammys in 4 different categories: Record Of The Year; Best Arrangement Accompanying A Vocalist Or Instrumentalist (Ernie Freeman was the arranger); Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male; and Best Engineered Recording - Non-Classical (Eddie Brackett and Lee Herschberg were the engineers).
Other artists who have covered this song include Shirley Bassey, Hal Blaine, James Brown, Vikki Carr, Petula Clark, Engelbert Humperdinck, Brenda Lee, Peggy Lee, Barry Manilow, Al Martino, Johnny Mathis, Bette Midler, Matt Monro, Jim Nabors, Wayne Newton, Johnny Rivers, the Sandpipers, Kate Smith, the Supremes, Mel Torme, the Ventures, Andy Williams, and Young-Holt Unlimited. (thanks, Jerro - New Alexandria, PA, for above 3)
This was a big comeback song for Sinatra, becoming his first #1 Pop hit in 11 years. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)
Sinatra ad-libbed the "Dooby dooby doo" closing scat. Iwao Takamoto, the animator who created the cartoon dog Scooby-Doo, said that he got the inspiration to name his character from Sinatra's ad-lib.
Sinatra despised the song, calling it "a piece of s--t." Even though it was his biggest hit in eleven years, the singer never included this number in any of his late 1960s specials.
Legendary Country star Glen Campbell, who was then a session musician for hire, played rhythm guitar on this track. He recalled to The Daily Telegraph October 9, 2008 that he was so dumbstruck by being in the presence of the master that he couldn't stop staring at him. "Frank asked [the producer] Jimmy Bowen, 'Who's the fag guitarist over there?' I told him I'd slap him if he said that again."
Glen Campbell recalled to the Daily Mail that when this song was cut, "we did the whole song in two takes. We were all in the studio together, Frank and the band. They spliced together the best bits of both versions for the final record."
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=6663
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