"Midnight at the Oasis" is a 1973 song written by David Nichtern. It was recorded by the singer Maria Muldaur for her self-titled album and is her best-known recording; it peaked at #6 on the BillboardHot 100 and #21 in the UK Singles Chart in the spring of 1974. Billboard ranked it as the No. 13 song for 1974. It was also nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 17th Annual Grammy Awards, held in 1975. In Canada, the song reached #2 in the RPM magazine singles charts and #45 in the year-end chart.
Description
The song is a saucy, teasing offer of a desert love affair, in a fantasy setting that owes more to Rudolph Valentino sheik movies than to real Middle Eastern deserts. AllMusic reviewer Matthew Greenwald describes the song as "so sensual and evocative that it was probably one of the most replayed records of the era and may be responsible for the most pregnancies from a record during the mid-'70s". Some of the lyrics are doubtlessly suggestive, but the tone is playful throughout. The song features an instrumental section that features the guitar work of Amos Garrett. The lyric, "Cactus is our friend", is used several times in the song, but cacti are actually New World plants, native to North America, South America, and the West Indies, and are not naturally found on the Arabian Peninsula. In 2008, Muldaur recalled that she wanted to add the song to her album as an "afterthought" at the last minute. She has acknowledged that people do approach her at her concerts or events and claim that this song has inspired sexual encounters, loss of virginity, and pregnancy.
A version of this song was recorded by the group Brand New Heavies, attributed to "Brand New Heavies featuring N'Dea Davenport". This version reached #13 in the UK in August 1994 and was their biggest hit up until the departure of Davenport, when "Sometimes" made #11. The song featured on their 1994 album Brother Sister.
Track listing
UK CD Single
"Midnight at the Oasis" –
"Midnight at the Oasis" –
UK CD Single BNHCD 05
"Midnight at the Oasis" –
"Midnight at the Oasis"
"Midnight at the Oasis"
"Midnight at the Oasis" –
Personnel
Simon Bartholomew
N'Dea Davenport – Vocals
Jan Kincaid
Richard Stilgoe
Andrew Levy
Other covers
Jazz versions of this song have been recorded by Hubert Laws on The Chicago Theme and by Freddie Hubbard on the live album Gleam and the studio albumLiquid Love.
In 2004, Muldaur's original version was featured on the CD What Is Hip: Remix Project 1, a compilation of pop songs remixed for the clubs. The single is billed as the "Cuica Remix", with the track extended from its 3:49 recording to 4:49, incorporating portions of the background vocal, strings, and instrumental break with semi-chilled out Ibiza-themed elements.
An instrumental version was used in the movie White Line Fever, as was another David Nichtern song, "Drifting and Dreaming of You".
It was performed in American Pie at the prom.
The song is sung by the lounge act at the hotel in Sofia Coppola's film Lost in Translation.
In the film The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest, Andy plays this song while sitting on the floor of his room, and Alisa comes in singing and dancing.
In Whisper, when Roxanne lulls the kidnapped boy, David Sandborn to sleep.
The song was performed by Sheila and Ron Albertson in their audition for the community theatre musical "Red, White, and Blaine" in the Christopher Guest mockumentary "Waiting for Guffman".
