In 1976, Peter McCann was trying to negotiate a recording contract with Arista Records. Arista’s president, the legendary hitmaker Clive Davis, didn’t bite…but he took one of Peter’s songs and gave it to Jennifer Warnes, who was putting together her first solo album. 

The song was “Right Time of the Night.” Peter had written it with the intent of making listeners “sigh and hold hands,”

but Jennifer thought one of the verses was too masculine, so she rewrote the verse with more female-friendly lyrics.

When the single was released in 1977, it became a triple-chart hit: #1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary Chart, #6 on The Hot 100, and #16 on The Country Chart. 

(It was later used in the classic film “When Harry Met Sally.”)

Peter went on to score a contract with 20th Century Records,record his own debut album,and become a go-to songwriter for just about everyone from Crystal Gayle to Whitney Houston to Donny Osmond to Kenny Rogers–and that’s barely scratching the surface! But it all started for both Peter McCann AND Jennifer Warnes with 1977’s “Right Time of the Night”.

–Mike Cook