On this day (September 26) in 1975, Ronnie Milsap was at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with “Daydreams About Night Things,” giving him his fourth No. 1. At the time, Milsap was at the beginning of a long string of top 10 hits that stretched from 1947 to 1991.
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John Schweers wrote the song, and Milsap released it as the lead single from his album Night Things. The song is about a man who is at work, but can’t stop thinking about getting home to his girlfriend. However, when Schweers wrote the song, he was at home and his wife was at work.
John Schweers Recalls Writing a Ronnie Milsap Classic
John Schweers told the story behind the song and how Ronnie Milsap came to record it during a 2023 interview published by The Tennessean.
“I just heard of somebody interviewing Olivia Newton-John. When he interviewed her, his comment was, ‘Boy, when we were talking, I was having daydreams about night things.’ And then I thought, ‘Well, man, that’s a song idea!’” Schweers recalled. “Later on, I got married, and my wife was working in the bank, and I was at home writing songs. So, she comes in one day. She says, ‘Well, let me hear what you wrote today while I was in town working.’”
He played the song for his wife, and she liked it. Believing he had a good song in his pocket, he recorded a rough demo. Then, he sent that demo to publisher Tom Collins, who pitched it to Ronnie Milsap.
At the time, Schweers was a real estate agent. One evening, he was showing a house for one of his relatives. As he was showing the house to a prospective buyer, his relative told him someone was on the phone for him.
“Man, I love that song,” Milsap told Schweers when he picked up the phone. “I want to do it. Don’t pitch it to anybody else,” he added.
Featured Image Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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