Running with the Night

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"Running with the Night"
Single by Lionel Richie
from the album Can't Slow Down
A-side Running with the Night
B-side Serves You Right
Released November 1983
Format 7" (45 rpm)
Length 4:05 (single version)
6:02 (album version)
Label Motown
Writer(s) Lionel Richie
Cynthia Weil
Producer(s) Lionel Richie
James Anthony Carmichael
Lionel Richie singles chronology
"All Night Long (All Night)"
(1983)		 "Running with the Night"
(1983)		 "Hello"
(1984)

"Running with the Night" was the second single released from Lionel Richie's multi-platinum and Grammy Award-winning 1983 album, Can't Slow Down. Richie co-wrote the song with songwriter Cynthia Weil and co-produced it with James Anthony Carmichael.

Recording

The electric guitar solo on "Running with the Night" was played by Steve Lukather, best known as a member of the rock band Toto.[1] Lukather sat down in the studio and the engineer played the basic tracks of the song, for him to hear for the first time, so he could plan his part. As the music played, he jammed along on his instrument. At the conclusion of the tune, he said to the engineer, "Okay, I'm ready for a take." The producer replied, "That was a take."[2] Some adult contemporary stations edited out Lukather's guitar solo.[1] Singer Richard Marx added backing vocals on the track as a session singer; he had also lent his vocals to Richie's "All Night Long (All Night)" and "You Are".

Reception

Released as the follow-up single to Richie's hit "All Night Long (All Night)", "Running with the Night" became another Billboard Hot 100 top ten for the singer, peaking at #7 in early 1984.[3] The song also reached the top ten on two other Billboard charts that year, topping out at #6 on both the adult contemporary and R&B charts.[1] "Running with the Night" also made the top ten on the UK Singles Chart, reaching #9 in January 1984.[4]

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by Bob Giraldi and features Richie and a group of dancers crashing a wedding and beginning a choreographed dance routine with all of the participants.

Samples

  • Rihanna sampled this song on "Push Up On Me", a track from her 2007 album Good Girl Gone Bad. Both Richie and Weil are given songwriter credit.
  • The song can be heard in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on the in-game radio station Flash FM but was removed from later versions of the game.

Other uses in media

  • For a time until 1988; Houston NBC affiliate KPRC-TV used the song as a theme for a community relations show as well as for station promos.[5]

Charts

Chart (1983/1984) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 7
U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles 6
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 6
UK Singles Chart 9

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Hyatt, Wesley (1999). The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits (Billboard Publications), page 279.
  2. ↑ GuitarPlayer Steve Lukather Bonus Interview Outtakes August 2013
  3. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 529.
  4. ↑ UK Singles Chart info from chartstats.com Retrieved 24 March 2009.
  5. ↑ http://www.southernmedia-nmsa.com/#3,1,470

External links

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