This LP generated worldwide sales of only about 350,000 copies, though a single from the album called "Heartaches" managed to reach #60 on the U.S. charts and cracked the Top 40 in Canada.

The band used multiple outside songwriters on Rock n' Roll Nights, including Jim Vallance of Prism and Bryan Adams (who penned the song, "Wastin' Time").

The band played two songs — "Heartaches", the last BTO single to chart, and "Jamaica"—live on American Bandstand in February 1979 to support the Rock n' Roll Nights album release.

During an interview segment on the show, Dick Clark discusses concerns with the band about the increasing and dominating popularity of disco music at the time.

The song "Rock and Roll Hell" would later be re-recorded, with new verses and a new arrangement, by Kiss in 1982, for the album Creatures of the Night.