"In the Heat of the Night" is a pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 song by German singer Sandra. The song was released in November 1985 as the second single from the album The Long Play

The Long Play

The Long Play is the debut studio album from German singer Sandra, released on 9 December 1985.-Recording:Shortly after the album's release, where it reached the top 20 in her home country of Germany, Sandra moved to London for six months. Helena Shenel, a singing therapist who had worked with such...

, where it charted at #1 in Switzerland and Israel, #2 in Germany, and #8 in South Africa (in mid-1986).

The song was covered by Hong Kong pop singer

Cantopop

Cantopop is a colloquialism for "Cantonese popular music". It is sometimes referred to as HK-pop, short for "Hong Kong popular music". It is categorized as a subgenre of Chinese popular music within C-pop...

 Anita Mui

Anita Mui

Anita Mui Yim-fong was a popular Hong Kong singer and actress. During her prime years she made major contributions to the cantopop music scene, while receiving numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout most of her career, and was generally regarded as a cantopop diva...

 in 1986, by Finnish gothic metal

Gothic metal

Gothic metal or goth metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that combines the aggression of doom metal with the dark melancholy of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music...

 band To/Die/For

To/Die/For

To/Die/For is a gothic metal band from the town of Kouvola in southeast of Finland, assembled in 1993 as a hard rock band under the name Mary-Ann. In 1999, they decided to change their musical style to gothic metal, changing their band name as well...

 in 2000, and Swedish progressive rock band Odyssey in 2009. The song was also redone by a group named E-Rotic

E-Rotic

E-Rotic is a German Eurodance project. They are mostly known for their use of sexual topics and innuendo in their music. Some of the female vocalists who fronted E-Rotic over the years also fronted Missing Heart vocals.-History:...

 for PlayStation 2

PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

's Dance Dance Revolution

Dance Dance Revolution

Dance Dance Revolution, abbreviated DDR, and previously known as Dancing Stage in Europe and Australasia, is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, Dance Dance Revolution is the...

 Extreme 2. Also in 1999, a remix version of the song by Sandra was released as a promo single only in France. In 2006 Sandra recorded a new mix of this song. This mix appeared on her compilation Reflections - Reproduced Hits

Reflections - Reproduced Hits

Reflections is a remix album by German singer Sandra, released in 2006 and includes re-recorded versions of Sandra's hits from the 1980s.-Background and recording:...

(2006).

In 2007 Virgin Music France decided to release a special version of Reflections, containing three new remixes made by French DJs. "In the Heat of the Night" was planned to be released as a single in France containing four new versions of the song, in order to promote the new compilation. A few promotional copies were sent to the media; however, the commercial release was cancelled and it was only released online as a digital single.

In Sandra's first proper music video, the singer was featured in a steaming sauna filled with bare-chested men.

Formats and track lisitings

7" single

1. "In the Heat of the Night" — 3:58
2. "Heatwave" (instrumental)

12" single

1. "In the Heat of the Night" (extended mix) — 7:32
2. "Heatwave" (instrumental)

12" maxi - 1999

1. "In the Heat of the Night" (original version) — 5:07
2. "In the Heat of the Night" (remix version) — 4:28

12" maxi (French promo only) - 2007

1. "In the Heat of the Night 2007" (Superfunk remix - extended) — 6:00
2. "In the Heat of the Night 2007" (Superfunk remix - radio edit) — 3:48
3. "In the Heat of the Night 2007" (Future Vision remix - extended) — 7:12
4. "In the Heat of the Night 2007" (Future Vision remix - radio edit) — 3:19

CD single 1 (custom 'titles' sleeve) (French promo only) - 2007

1. "In the Heat of the Night 2007" (Superfunk remix - radio edit) — 3:48
2. "In the Heat of the Night 2007" (Future Vision remix - radio edit) — 3:19
3. "In the Heat of the Night 2007" (Superfunk remix - extended) — 6:00

CD single 2 (full picture sleeve) (French promo only) - 2007

1. "In the Heat of the Night 2007" (Future Vision remix - radio edit) — 3:19
2. "In the Heat of the Night 2007" (Superfunk remix - radio edit) — 3:48
3. "In the Heat of the Night 2007" (Future Vision remix - extended) — 7:12
4. "In the Heat of the Night 2007" (Superfunk remix - extended) — 6:00

Certifications

Country	Certification	Date	Sales certified
France	Silver	1985	200,000

Charts

Chart (1985)	Peak position
Austrian Singles Chart	6
French SNEP Singles Chart	5
German Singles Chart	2
Italian Singles Chart	4
Swedish Singles Chart	2
Swiss Singles Chart	2

Personnel

• Sandra – lead vocals
• Frank Peterson
  Frank Peterson
  Frank Peterson is a German music producer known for his work with Enigma and artists such as Sarah Brightman, Ofra Haza, Gregorian, Princessa and Andrea Bocelli on his first international album Romanza in 1997....
  
   – keyboards
• Steve Hall
  Steve Hall
  Steve Hall born 10 July 1979 in St Helens, Merseyside, England is a rugby league player.Hall's position of choice is on the wing. He played for London Broncos, St. Helens and Widnes Vikings in the Super League and also French club Saint-Gaudens Bears....
  
   – bass guitar
• Hubert Kemmler
  Hubert Kah
  Hubert Kah is a German synthpop band, led by Hubert Kemmler who was born 22 March 1961 in Reutlingen. Kemmler is a German musician, composer, songwriter and producer.- Biography :...
  
   – backing vocals
• Michael Cretu
  Michael Cretu
  Michael Cretu is a Romanian musician. He is known also as Curly, MC or Curly M.C. because of his fair curled hair . His peak musical activity was with the Enigma project, which was mainly based in Germany....
  
  – backing vocals