Frank Sinatra provided some of the most compelling interpretations of 20th century music. One of his best known was his masterpiece of the 1960s“Strangers in the Night”. However, Old Blue Eyes was not so keen on that piece of music. He called her “a piece of shit.”

“Strangers in the Night” was a hit single and album by Frank Sinatra

strangers in the night was a 1966 studio album by Frank Sinatra. The title track was released as a single that same year and reached number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 and Easy listening Charts.

Far Out Magazine reported that Sinatra hated it when his songs became too popular. Such was the case with ‘Strangers in the Night’, which the singer called ‘bones***’ and ‘the worst song I’ve ever heard’.

Acts of song spoke with Charles Pignone, Senior Vice President of Frank Sinatra Enterprises, who discussed the singer’s aversion to the song. “Yeah, he said it many times, he wasn’t a fan of the song.”

Pignone continued: “This is Frank’s innate ability to know what the audience wants. He would go in and out of his repertoire and often joke with the lyrics.”

“He was saying, ‘I hate this song, I hate this song,’ but he was doing it because people wanted to hear it. Yes, he said it many times, he was not a fan of the song. But that’s Frank’s innate ability to know what the audience wanted.”

“He would do it again in concert. He would go in and out of his repertoire and often joke with the lyrics.”

Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night” reached a wider audience thanks to behind-the-scenes tricks

In the 1950s and 60s, many independent record labels or music publishers frequently used unorthodox methods to promote their songs on American radio. A popular tactic was payola, bribing deejays and others to promote certain records (per Britannica).

However, since Frank Sinatra was a known commodity in the music industry, this tactic was unnecessary. But Charles Pignone told Songfacts that record producer Jimmy Bowen used some unorthodox methods to get the song wider airplay for Sinatra because singer Jack Jones had already recorded a version of the song.

“They did the recording session and then Jimmy pressed some acetates and sent them to the DJs. In fact, he paid people or flight attendants from certain cities to take these acetates on a plane and then drop them off in a city at a disc jockey.”

“He knew that Jack Jones had recorded the song and it was going to come out at some point and he wanted Frank to play it.”

Glen Campbell was a session musician on “Strangers in the Night”

When Frank Sinatra recorded “Strangers in the Night,” he used a number of well-known session musicians. One of these was Glen Campbell.

Campbell signed with Capitol Records in 1962 when he cut the song with Sinatra. In addition to Sinatra, Campbell has worked with artists such as The Beach Boys, Bobby Darin, Merle Haggard, The Mamas & the Papas, Dean Martin, Rick Nelson, Frank Sinatra and others.

One Facebook postCampbell reflected on his days working with Old Blue Eyes. He called Sinatra “amazing.”

In a 2019 social media post, two years after Campbell’s death, quotes from Sinatra’s sessions were shared to honor the song’s 53rd anniversary.

Campbell said: “I played on a lot of Sinatra sessions. It was simply wonderful. He liked to laugh and could be one of the boys when he wanted to. But he was also a very serious performer.”

“When we cut ‘Strangers In The Night’, we did the whole song in two takes. We were all in the studio together, Frank and the band. They combined the best parts of both versions for the final recording,” he recalled.

Frank Sinatra died on May 14, 1998. He was 82 years old.