Song · Depeche Mode
“But Not Tonight” by Depeche Mode
From the album Black Celebration (1986)
“But Not Tonight” by Depeche Mode appears on 16 radio countdowns from 5 stations between 1986 and 2003. It was first released in 1986 on the album Black Celebration. Its best result is #2 on the Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1986. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #13 alternative song of 1986, #1,366 alternative song of all time and #229 of the '80s.
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"But Not Tonight" comes from Black Celebration, Depeche Mode's fifth album, released in March 1986, and in America it got a promotion: it was released there as a single in place of "Stripped". Martin Gore wrote the words and the music, and Dave Gahan sings lead.
The band produced it with Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones on a record made in London and West Berlin. At Miller's urging they tried to "live the album", an ethos borrowed from the film director Werner Herzog, and the tension it caused between the band and its two co-producers ran deep enough that neither Miller nor Jones worked on another Depeche Mode album.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 13 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1986 | 107 |
| 1986 | 2 | Live 105 San Francisco, CA | Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1986 | 10 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | 190 | WLIR / WDRE | WLIR Top 200 Songs of the 1980s | 200 |
| 1988 | 177 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988) | 496 |
| 1988 | 72 | WLIR / WDRE | WLIR Top 200 Songs of All-Time (1988) | 200 |
| 1989 | 267 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) | 495 |
| 1990 | 150 | Live 105 | Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1990) | 299 |
| 1991 | 87 | Live 105 | Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1991) | 302 |
| 1991 | 343 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) | 1002 |
| 1992 | 58 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) | 500 |
| 1992 | 243 | Live 105 | Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992) | 299 |
| 1994 | 432 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) | 497 |
| 1994 | 144 | Live 105 | Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) | 500 |
| 1998 | 395 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) | 488 |
| 2002 | 224 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 1683 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
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