He wrote about a thousand songs and specialized in putting Swedish lyrics to foreign tunes like "Walkin' My Baby Back Home", "Waltz for Debby", "Dat Dere", "Take Five" and "Bachianas brasileiras" no 5.
Night Sun's origins lay in the late 1960s jazz band Take Five who were popular in the Rhine Neckar Area of Germany.
Upon his death in 1977, Desmond left the rights to royalties for performances and compositions, including "Take Five", to the American Red Cross, which has since received combined royalties of approximately $100,000 per year.