“Take Me Home Tonight” by Eddie Money (ft. Ronnie Spector)

Succinctly put, Eddie Money’s “Take Me Home Tonight” features the singer sensually feening for a particular female, i.e. addressee. That is to say that he strongly wants her to ‘take him home tonight’, primarily for bedroom fun purposes but also due to the fact that he spends his nights alone, in heat. 

And apparently it is only this lady who can satiate his bodily desires. Indeed certain parts of the first verse read as if Eddie may actually be stalking her.  But more to the point, as indicated by the title he is using his attraction to her as justification to, as indicated earlier, make an appeal to her to take him home. And the word “home” doesn’t necessarily read as if he is referring to her place in particular but rather just the opportunity to spend the night with her in general. And his co-star, 1960s music star Ronnie Spector, is basically backing him up to help strengthen his solicitations towards this individual.

Music Video

The music video to “Take Me Home Tonight” was shot in black-and-white and directed by Nick Morris. The video was filmed in Reno, Nevada, at the Lawlor Events Center.

Due to a financial dispute, Ronnie Spector almost did not appear in the video. Indeed Morris was prepared to use his own wife, Fiona O’Mahoney, in her stead.

But Ronnie’s decision to ultimately be featured in the video proved to be a good idea. And why? Because it got her exposure on MTV, and this recognition contributed to her career revitalization.

How Ronnie Spector became a part of “Take Me Home Tonight”

The song heavily samples the 1963 track “Be My Baby” by the Ronettes. As such Ronnie Spector’s feature on the song is due to her reprising her role from that original hit tune.

Eddie Money (1949-2019) also tried out his pal Martha Davis of The Motels as vocalist for these parts, initially believing that he could not realistically get Ronnie Spector on board. But Martha also supported the idea of bringing in Ronnie Spector.

Indeed in convincing Ronnie Spector to participate, Eddie described “Take Me Home Tonight” as a tribute to her. In fact what ultimately did convince her to participate was hearing her own name in the lyrics.

Eddie Money later admitted he was not particularly fond of “Take Me Home Tonight”. However, he still celebrates the fact that he released it since it revitalized Ronnie Spector’s career as well as getting Money’s own, which had been derailed by drug addiction, back on track.

Eddie Money’s Signature Song

Indeed “Take Me Home Tonight” turned out to be the signature song of his career. It even earned Eddie a Grammy nomination (Best Male Rock Vocal Performance) in 1987.

It went on to chart in Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States, most notably topping Billboard’s Album Rock Tracks chart.

But when was “Take Me Home Tonight” released?

Columbia Records released “Take Me Home Tonight” on 16 August 1986. The track is a part of Eddie’s sixth album, “Can’t Hold Back”.

Writing Credits for “Take Me Home Tonight”

The co-writers of this song are as follows:

• Jeff Barry
• Ellie Greenwich
• Michael Leeson
• Peter Vale
• Phil Spector

And Eddie Money co-produced the track alongside Richie Zito.