Editor’s note: Web Is Jericho writer B.J. Lisko is digging into his archives from more than a decades worth of work as an entertainment writer for The Canton Repository and The Akron Beacon Journal for a new series, “Stories Behind The Songs.” Keep an eye out for many more articles like this right here on Web Is Jericho!
Night Ranger’s most iconic and successful songs all seem to have a common thread. Band co-founder Jack Blades revealed the secret behind Night Ranger’s multi-platinum accomplishments.
“The best thing you come up with usually happen really quickly,” Blades told Web Is Jericho’s B.J. Lisko back in 2016 for an interview with The Canton Repository. “They just sort of happen. A lot of the time with the greatest songs, you’re almost channeling something. You just sit down and they come out. The songs you struggle with and have to work on, those are sometimes not the best tunes.”
“Sister Christian,” taken from Night Ranger’s 1983 album “Midnight Madness,” is perhaps the band’s biggest hit, and in the decades since its release has found a special place in the hearts of rock fans around the world.
“Night Ranger has always tried to focus on songs,” Blades said. “‘Sister Christian’ is just a good song. When it came out in 1984, we filmed a video in a day and a half after we got off the road after the label told us we had to. The song was about (drummer) Kelly’s little sister, and the video was the Catholic school girl that graduates. We released it at the end of April/early May, and it sort of became the graduation song for every high school across the country. It’s one of those songs that has just entered into the collective consciousness of the nation, and we feel very fortunate about that. Every time we play it, people go crazy, so it makes us feel like we’re playing it for the very first time. The whole thing is just wonderful. That’s the amazing thing about a song that becomes iconic. — U2 ’s ‘With or Without You.’ Sting’s ‘Every Breath You Take.’ Elton John’s ‘Tiny Dancer.’ Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing.’ I’m not saying ‘Sister Christian’ is like exactly like those songs, but it’s similar in that just about everybody has heard it or ends up hearing it. Some bands don’t get songs like that. We were lucky enough to hit on one.”
