Frank Sinatra Called His 1966 Hit ‘Strangers in the Night ‘A Piece of S***’

Frank Sinatra delivered some of the most compelling renditions of music in the 20th century. One of his best known was his 1960s masterpiece, “Strangers in the Night.” However, Old Blue Eyes wasn’t that fond of that particular piece of music. He called it “a piece of s***.”

‘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 hit 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. This was the case with “Strangers in the Night” which the singer called “a piece of s***” and “the worst f***ing song I’ve ever heard.”

Songfacts spoke to Charles Pignone, Senior Vice President of Frank Sinatra Enterprises, who discussed the singer’s aversion to the song. “Yes, he said it many times, he was not a fan of the song.”

Pignone continued, “This is that innate ability of Frank of knowing what the audience wanted. It would come in and out of his repertoire, and a lot of times he would joke with the lyrics.”

“He would say, ‘I hate this song, I detest this song,’ but he would do it because the people wanted to hear it. Yes, he said it many times, he was not a fan of the song. But this is that innate ability of Frank of knowing what the audience wanted.”

“He would do that again in concert. It would come in and out of his repertoire, and a lot of times he would joke with the lyrics.”

Frank Sinatra’s ‘Strangers in the Night’ reached a wider audience due to behind-the-scenes tricks

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

However, as Frank Sinatra was a known commodity in the music industry, this tactic wasn’t needed. But Charles Pignone told Songfacts that record producer Jimmy Bowen utilized some unorthodox methods for getting the song wider airplay for Sinatra as singer Jack Jones had already recorded a version of the tune.

“They did the recording session, and then Jimmy actually pressed some acetates and sent them out to disc jockeys. He actually paid people or stewardesses in certain cities to take these acetates on a plane and then drop them off at a city to disc jockeys.”

“He was aware that Jack Jones had recorded the song, and it was going to come out in a specific time, and he wanted Frank to get airplay on it.”

Glen Campbell was a session musician on ‘Strangers in the Night’

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

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

In a Facebook post, Campbell reflected on the days he worked with Old Blue Eyes. He called Sinatra “awesome.”

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

Campbell said, “I played on a lot of Sinatra sessions. He was simply awesome. He liked to laugh, and he could be one of the boys when he wanted. 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 spliced together the best bits of both versions for the final record,” he recalled.

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