By the mid-1980s, Eddie Money had reached a low point in his recording career after several years of drug abuse. Columbia Records still wanted to keep Money on its roster, but restricted his creative control over his work. Record producer
Richie Zito brought Money the song "Take Me Home Tonight". Money would later say, "I didn't care for the demo [but] it did have a good catch line. When I heard [a snippet of] 'Be My Baby' in it I said: 'Why can't we get Ronnie Spector to sing it?'" The reply was, "That's impossible." Money invited his friend
Martha Davis, lead vocalist of
The Motels, to rerecord the lines from "Be My Baby" for "Take Me Home Tonight". However, Davis encouraged him to try to recruit Spector. Money was eventually able to reach Spector by phone at her home in northern California. Recalled Money, "I could hear clinking and clanking in the background... She said: 'I'm doing the dishes, and I gotta change the kids' bedding. I'm not really in the business anymore, Eddie. Phil Spector and all that, it was a nightmare'... I said 'Ronnie, I got this song that's truly amazing and it's a tribute to you. It would be so great if you... did it with me.'" Money has stated that recording the song "helped Ronnie out and it helped me get some of my other material on the album across, so now I'm happy I did it." The song's success encouraged Spector to resume her singing career, and she released her second solo album,
Unfinished Business, in 1987. ==Music video==