The Night Chicago Died - wikipedia The Night Chicago Died `` The Night Chicago Died '' Single by Paper Lace from the album And Other Bits of Material, Paper Lace ( US Version ) B - side `` Can You Get It When You Want It '' Released 15 June 1974 Format 7 '' single Recorded Genre Power pop, pop rock Length 3 : 30 Label Philips ( UK ), Mercury Records ( US ) Songwriter ( s ) Peter Callander, Mitch Murray Producer ( s ) Peter Callander, Mitch Murray Paper Lace singles chronology `` Billy Do n't Be a Hero '' ( 1974 ) `` The Night Chicago Died '' ( 1974 ) `` The Black Eyed Boys '' ( 1974 ) `` Billy Do n't Be a Hero '' ( 1974 ) `` The Night Chicago Died '' ( 1974 ) `` The Black Eyed Boys '' ( 1974 ) `` The Night Chicago Died '' is a song by the British group Paper Lace, written by Peter Callander and Mitch Murray. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in 1974, reached number 3 in the UK charts, and number 2 in Canada. It is about a fictional shoot - out between the Chicago Police and members of the Al Capone Syndicate. The narrator retells his mother 's anguish while awaiting news of the fate of her husband, a Chicago policeman. The song is featured in the theatrical trailer of the 2000 comedy - drama film High Fidelity. The song is also featured in the Season 1 episode of That ' 70s Show. Contents 1 History 2 Accuracy 3 Chart performance 3.1 Weekly singles charts 3.2 Year - end charts 4 Covers 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links History `` The Night Chicago Died '' was Paper Lace 's follow - up single to `` Billy Do n't Be a Hero '', a # 1 hit in the U.K. but virtually unheard in the U.S. where Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods ' cover reached # 1. Callander and Murray wrote both songs. The U.S. single received a Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America, signifying sales of at least one million copies. Though the song 's story is set in the United States, Paper Lace were unable to perform the song live in the U.S. at the height of its popularity because of contractual issues. Accuracy `` The Night Chicago Died '' is about a shoot - out between the Chicago Police and gangsters tied to Al Capone. It was inspired by the real - life Saint Valentine 's Day Massacre, although that involved Capone 's men killing seven of Bugs Moran 's gang members and had nothing to do with the police. The song 's events supposedly take place `` on the East Side of Chicago ''. Chicago has three commonly referred - to regions : the North Side, the West Side and the South Side. There is no East Side, as Lake Michigan is immediately east of Downtown Chicago. While there is an area of Chicago known as `` East Side '', it is a neighborhood on the Far South Side on the Illinois / Indiana state line. East Side is also several miles away from where Capone lived on Prairie Avenue in Chicago. Furthermore, in the 1920s, East Side was known for being a quiet, residential, and predominantly Eastern European neighborhood -- a sharp contrast from the site of the bloodbath described in the song. Songwriters Peter Callender and Mitch Murray said in interviews ( most notably on Beat Club shortly after the song 's smash success ) that they had never been to the Windy City before that time, and that their knowledge of the city and that period of its history had been based on gangster films. ( Callender defended his interpretation of Chicago 's geography by saying, `` There 's an East Side of everywhere ! '' ) As reported by History.com : ``... in England there were at least a few young men that did n't have all the facts straight, and in the 1970s their pop group from Nottingham turned their romantic misunderstanding of American history into a historically dubious yet gloriously catchy hit record. Though it was never intended for the American market, Paper Lace 's `` The Night Chicago Died '' crossed the Atlantic and became a # 1 hit on the U.S. pop charts... '' Paper Lace did send the song to Mayor Richard J. Daley, who was not impressed with the song and greatly disliked it. A member of Daley 's staff is quoted as saying that Paper Lace should `` jump in the Chicago River, placing your heads under water three times and surfacing twice. Pray tell us, are you nuts ? '' Chart performance Weekly singles charts Chart ( 1974 ) Peak position Australia Canada Ireland ( IRMA ) 5 Netherlands ( Single Top 100 ) New Zealand UK U.S. Billboard Hot 100 U.S. Hot Adult Contemporary 27 Year - end charts Chart ( 1974 ) Rank Australia Canada 26 Netherlands 25 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 46 Covers In 1974 Venezuelan singer Mirla Castellanos recorded her version of this song ( translated to Spanish by her husband at the time, Miguel Ángel Landa ) titled `` La Noche De Chicago '', which appeared on her album of the same name. Subsequently Castellanos made a new version of this song, which was included in her 1984 compilation album 16 Grandes Éxitos. Also, in 1974, Mexican group La Super Banda Macho recorded their own version of this song in Spanish titled `` La Noche Que Murió Chicago '', whose lyrics are very different from the previous version. In 1975 the Finnish singer Vicky Rosti recorded this song in Finnish language titled `` Kun Chicago kuoli '' ( When Chicago Died ), which was her debut single. The Finnish lyrics are almost verbatim translation of the English originals. In 1994 Mexican group Banda Toro recorded this song titled `` La Noche Que Chicago Murió '' in a Banda music style ( but with the same lyrics of La Super Banda Macho 's version ). This song appeared on their debut album Banda Toro. In 2004 Mexican group Banda Machos covered this song titled `` La Noche Que Murió Chicago '' - and sounds very similar at the La Super Banda Macho 's version - as part of their album Pura Pasión. Notes The Night Chicago Died is used with some irony by Fox Mulder on `` Die Hand Die Verletzt '' episode of The X-Files as an example of `` Devil 's music ''. Preceded by `` Feel Like Makin ' Love '' by Roberta Flack Billboard Hot 100 number - one single 17 August 1974 ( one week ) Succeeded by `` ( You 're ) Having My Baby '' by Paul Anka and Odia Coates Preceded by `` Evie '' by Stevie Wright Australian number - one single 23 September 1974 ( eight weeks ) Succeeded by `` I Honestly Love You '' by Olivia Newton - John Preceded by `` Band on the Run '' by Paul McCartney and Wings New Zealand number - one single 23 August 1974 ( five weeks ) Succeeded by `` Kissin ' in the Back Row of the Movies '' by The Drifters References Jump up ^ `` Paper Lace Interview - Nottingham Culture ''. Leftlion.co.uk. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 09. ^ Jump up to : `` 1974 : `` The Night Chicago Died '' by Paper Lace tops the U.S. pop charts ``. History.com. Retrieved February 15, 2017. Jump up ^ Fred Bronson. The Billboard book of number 1 hits. p. 373. Jump up ^ `` Back in the Bad Old Days ''. faithandfearinflushing.com. Retrieved 2017 - 07 - 09. ^ Jump up to : Steffen Hung. `` Forum - 1970 ( ARIA Charts : Special Occasion Charts ) ''. Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 09. Jump up ^ `` The Irish Charts -- Search Results -- The Night Chicago Died ''. Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved August 7, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Jaaroverzichten -- Single 1974 '' ( in Dutch ). Single Top 100. Hung Medien. Retrieved March 2, 2018. Jump up ^ UK Official Charts, 4 May 1974 Jump up ^ `` Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada ''. Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 09. Jump up ^ `` Jaaroverzichten -- Single 1974 '' ( in Dutch ). Single Top 100. Hung Medien. Retrieved March 2, 2018. Jump up ^ `` Top 100 Hits of 1974 / Top 100 Songs of 1974 ''. Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 09. Jump up ^ Chris Carter ( 1994 -- 1995 ). Chris Carter Talks About Season 2 : `` Die Hand Die Verletzt '' ( featurette ) format = requires url = ( help ). The X-Files : The Complete Second Season : Fox. External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Night_Chicago_Died&oldid=830144960 '' Categories : 1974 singles Paper Lace songs Billboard Hot 100 number - one singles Number - one singles in Australia Songs written by Mitch Murray Songs written by Peter Callander 1974 songs Philips Records singles Mercury Records singles Juno Award for Best Selling Single singles Hidden categories : CS1 Dutch - language sources ( nl ) Pages using citations with format and no URL Use dmy dates from August 2011 Use British English from August 2011 Articles with hAudio microformats Singlechart usages for Ireland2 Singlechart called without artist Talk Contents About Wikipedia Nederlands Polski Edit links This page was last edited on 13 March 2018, at 00 : 57. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. 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Question: who did the song the night chicago died
Answer: Paper Lace