Blue Lights in the Basement

Blue Lights in the Basement is the sixth studio album by American singer Roberta Flack released by Atlantic on December 13, 1977. The album was a commercial success, peaking at number eight on the US Billboard 200, becoming her third consecutive top-ten album on the chart and reaching number five on the R&B albums chart. On February 27, 1978, the album received a Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments over 500,000 copies.[2]

Blue Lights in the Basement
Studio album by
ReleasedDecember 13, 1977
Recorded19761977
GenreR&B, soul, folk, disco
LabelAtlantic
ProducerRubina Flake, Joe Ferla, Gene McDaniels
Roberta Flack chronology
Feel Like Makin' Love
(1975)
Blue Lights in the Basement
(1977)
Roberta Flack
(1978)
Singles from Blue Lights in the Basement
  1. "25th of Last December / Why Don't You Move in with Me"
    Released: December 12, 1977
  2. "The Closer I Get to You / Love Is the Healing"
    Released: February 4, 1978
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

The album features the single "The Closer I Get to You", a duet with best friend and fellow soul musician Donny Hathaway, which became the biggest hit from the album, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reaching #1 on the Hot Soul Singles chart. The collaboration with Hathaway would be one of his final singles released in his lifetime before his death in 1979.

The Blue Lights in the Basement track "After You" would be the first of several Michael Masser compositions Flack would record (with the 1983 Peabo Bryson duet "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" becoming a million-seller): in 2008 Flack would cite "After You" as one of her favorite recordings.[3]

Track listing

Track No Song title Songwriter Time
1 "Why Don't You Move in with Me" Gene McDaniels 4:51
2 "The Closer I Get to You"
Duet with Donny Hathaway
Reggie Lucas, James Mtume 4:39
3 "Fine, Fine Day" Rachel Perry 4:49
4 "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" Pat Grant, Gwen Guthrie 4:23
5 "25th of Last December" Gene McDaniels 4:31
6 "After You" Michael Masser, Ron Miller 3:55
7 "I'd Like to Be Baby to You" Morgan Ames 4:27
8 "Soul Deep" Wayne Carson 2:22
9 "Love Is the Healing" Gene McDaniels 3:42
10 "Where I'll Find You" David McHugh 3:10

Personnel

Production

  • Joe Ferla – producer, engineer, remixing
  • Rubina Flake – producer
  • Gene McDaniels – producer
  • Ahmet Ertegun – executive producer
  • Brian Christian – engineer
  • Mike Moran – engineer
  • Ralph Moss – engineer
  • Phil Schier – engineer
  • Ted Spencer – engineer
  • Jack Adelman – mastering
  • Stewart Bosley – album design
  • Gazebo Group – album design
  • Dave Gahr – back photography
  • John Pinderhughes – front photography
Studios

Charts and certifications

Year Album Chart positions
Billboard 200[4] Top Soul Albums[4]
1978 Blue Lights in the Basement 8 5

Certifications

Country Certification
(sales thresholds)
United States Gold (RIAA)[2]

References

  1. Elias, Jason. Blue Lights in the Basement at AllMusic
  2. Hackensack Record 8 February 2008 "Celebrating Her Love of Love: Flack to pour her heart into Valentine's Day performance" by Ian Spelling p.15



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