"Friday Night Blues" is the title of a song co-written by Sonny Throckmorton

Sonny Throckmorton

James Fron "Sonny" Throckmorton is an American country music singer and songwriter. Known primarily for his songwriting, Throckmorton has had more than 1,000 of his songs recorded by various country singers...

 and originally recorded by him. Throckmorton's version of the song went to number 89 on the Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 charts in 1980, released on Mercury Records

Mercury Records

Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...

 with "It Always Rains on Me" on the b-side.

Only one month after Throckmorton's version charted, John Conlee

John Conlee

John Conlee is an American country music singer. Between 1978 and 2004, Conlee charted a total of thirty-two singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and recorded eleven studio albums...

 released his own rendition of the song, from his album of the same name for MCA Records

MCA Records

MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...

. Conlee's version charted at number two on Hot Country Songs.

Song content

The couple at the focus of this song is living in a dying relationship. The husband has been on the road all week on business, and tired out when he arrives home on Friday afternoon, wants to sit on the couch, watch the 6 p.m. news and relax. Meanwhile, his wife is getting dressed for a night out on the town; when she tries to ask him to accompany her, he flatly declines, leaving her with the "Friday night blues." The wife's feelings of lonliness for her oft-absent husband build through the week, as she converses with a neighbor about married life.

Chart performance

Chart (1980)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks	2
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	3