Tonight and the Rest of My Life

Tonight and the Rest of My Life
Studio album by Nina Gordon
Released	June 27, 2000
Recorded	1998
Genre	Rock
Length	50:39
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Bob Rock
Nina Gordon chronology
Eight Arms to Hold You with Veruca Salt (1997) Tonight and the Rest of My Life (2000) Bleeding Heart Graffiti (2006)
Singles from Tonight and the Rest of My Life
"Tonight and the Rest of My Life" Released: 2000[1] "Now I Can Die" Released: January 23, 2001[2] "2003" Released: August 15, 2001[2]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Rolling Stone	link

Tonight and the Rest of My Life is the debut album from Veruca Salt co-founder, Nina Gordon. The album was recorded with Bob Rock at his Maui recording studio.

Track listing

All songs written by Nina Gordon, except where noted.

Personnel

• Nina Gordon - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals
• Bob Rock - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar
• Jim Shapiro - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, mellotron
• Jon Brion - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, pedal steel, bass guitars, organ, chamberlin
• John Webster - acoustic guitar, Wurlitzer electric piano, chamberlin, mellotron, organ
• Scott Riebling - bass guitar
• Stacy Jones - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums, percussion

Chart performance

The album peaked at #123 on the Billboard 200 chart, remaining on the chart for 10 weeks.^[3] The album also peaked at number one on Billboard's Heatseekers Albums chart,^[4] remaining for 26 weeks and into 2001.^[5] The album was very popular in the Northeast, staying on Billboard's Northeast Heatseekers chart for 16 weeks.^[6] "Tonight and the Rest of My Life" was played very heavily on Adult Top 40 and Top 40 radio stations throughout the Northeast. It stayed on Billboard's Pacific Heatseekers chart for 8 weeks,^[7] Billboard's West North Central Heatseekers chart for 13 weeks,^[8] Billboard's Mountain Heatseekers chart for 14 weeks,^[9] and Billboard's Middle Atlantic Heatseekers chart for 9 weeks.^[10] The album went on to sell 350,000 copies in America.

Singles

In 2000, "Tonight and the Rest of My Life" peaked at #7 on Billboard's Adult Top 40 chart.^[11] It also peaked at #9 on Billboard's Adult Top 40 Recurrent chart. The single charted on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart in September 2000 for 4 weeks and was played on pop radio heavily in the late summer/early fall of 2000. MTV and VH1 put the video for "Tonight and the Rest of My Life" into constant rotation around the same time.

In 2001, "Now I Can Die" peaked at #29 on Billboard's Adult Top 40 chart and remained on the chart for 10 weeks.^[11] VH1 also played the music video.

Non-album tracks

These tracks were recorded for the album but were not included in the final release.^[12]

• "Alone With You"
• "Black and Blonde (Original Edit)"
• "Like It Happens Everyday"
• "Unsafe At Any Speed"

These can be heard on Nina's official website,^[12] and "Alone With You" can be found on the compilation album Abrazos 2005.^[13]

Tonight and the Rest of My Life was recorded while Nina was signed to Outpost Records, a label owned by Geffen Records, following her departure from Veruca Salt in 1998. In 1999, Outpost Records folded and Nina was left without a label. Shortly after, Nina was signed to Warner Bros. Records.

The original Tonight and the Rest of My Life tracklist on Outpost Records was:

1. "Tonight and the Rest of My Life" (Gordon) – 5:15
2. "Now I Can Die" (Gordon) – 3:07
3. "2003" (Gordon) – 4:05
4. "Badway" (Gordon) – 3:08
5. "Horses in the City" (Gordon) – 4:08
6. "Hold on to Me" (Gordon) – 4:05
7. "New Year's Eve" (Gordon) – 3:28
8. "Fade to Black" (Gordon) – 4:07
9. "Number One Camera" (Gordon) – 2:58
10. "Got Me Down" (Gordon) – 4:05
11. "Black and Blonde" (Gordon) – 4:23
12. "Too Slow To Ride" (Gordon) – 3:49
13. "Hate Your Way" (Gordon) – 4:46

"Black and Blonde" was removed from the album because Nina felt it was a mean song about someone she didn't want to be mean to anymore.^[12] "The End of the World," a last-minute recording Nina did while recording with then boyfriend Stacy Jones' band American Hi-Fi, replaced it. A new recording of this song with revised lyrics was included on Ghost Notes, the 2015 album by the reunited Gordon/Post/Lack/Shapiro lineup of Veruca Salt.^[14][15]

The singles for Tonight and the Rest of My Life also changed numerous times. When Outpost Records was in the initial stages of promoting the album and Nina, they stated that the first single would be "Horses in the City." After Nina moved to Warner Bros. Records, promo singles were circulated for the song "Now I Can Die" the March before the album's June 27 release date.^[1] One month later, Nina stated that the first single would be "Tonight and the Rest of My Life," which shortly after was released as the first single from the album.^[1]

"Hold on to Me" and "Now I Can Die" were the lead contenders for second single, but "2003" and "Got Me Down" were also being considered.

References