I'll Be Your Baby Tonight

Dylan's I'll Be Your Baby Tonight was the first track on the 1968 CBS budget sampler album The Rock Machine Turns You On which, in the aftermath of the 1960s British dominance of pop music, was a successful marketing exercise in introducing the UK audience to contemporary USA pop output.

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

In 1990, English singer and songwriter Robert Palmer and English reggae band UB40 released a cover version of the song. It was released as a single by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe. It appears on Robert Palmer's albums Don't Explain and on the 1995 best of The Very Best of. The song reached the top 10 in Australia, Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland, and it also secured a number-six placing in both the United Kingdom and Ireland. In New Zealand, it reached number one for a week in February 1991.

Critical reception

David Giles of Music Week described the Robert Palmer and UB40 cover version as having "a dainty reggae beat", but deemed this "uninspiring pop... never really goes anywhere" and that success would depend on the music video.^[4]

Track listings

• 7-inch single

1. "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" – 3:26
2. "Deep End" – 4:33

• CD single

1. "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" – 3:26
2. "Deep End" – 4:33

• CD maxi

1. "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" – 3:30
2. "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" (extended version) – 7:25
3. "Deep End" – 4:33

• 12-inch single

1. "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" (extended version) – 7:25
2. "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" – 3:30
3. "Deep End" – 4:33

Charts

Weekly charts

More information Chart (1990–1991), Peak position ...

Chart (1990–1991)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[5]	4
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[6]	5
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[7]	12
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[8]	58
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[9]	21
Europe (European Hit Radio)[10]	2
France (SNEP)[11]	25
Germany (GfK)[12]	14
Ireland (IRMA)[13]	6
Luxembourg (Radio Luxembourg)[14]	5
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[15]	5
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16]	4
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[17]	1
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[18]	11
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[19]	5
UK Singles (Official Charts)[20]	6
UK Airplay (Music Week)[21]	1
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[22]	24

Close

Year-end charts

More information Chart (1990), Position ...

Chart (1990)	Position
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[23]	87

Close

More information Chart (1991), Position ...

Chart (1991)	Position
Australia (ARIA)[24]	69
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[25]	26
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[26]	60
Europe (European Hit Radio)[27]	29
Germany (Media Control)[28]	48
New Zealand (RIANZ)[29]	40
Sweden (Topplistan)[30]	78
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[31]	14

Close

Release history

More information Region, Date ...

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label	Ref.
United Kingdom	October 22, 1990	7-inch vinyl 12-inch vinyl CD cassette	EMI	[32]
Australia	November 26, 1990	Cassette		[33]
	December 17, 1990	12-inch vinyl		[34]

Close

• List of European number-one airplay songs of the 1990s