"Lead Me On" is a popular song which was a hit single for

Maxine Nightingale Maxine Nightingale (born 2 November 1952) is a British Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul music singing, singer. She is best known for her hit single, hits in the 1970s, with the million seller "Right Back Where We Started From" (1975, UK #8 & 197 ...

in 1979.

Overview

The song was written by

Allee Willis Alta Sherral "Allee" Willis (November 10, 1947 – December 24, 2019) was an American songwriter, multi-media artist, collector, and art director. Willis co-wrote hit songs including "September" and "Boogie Wonderland" by Earth, Wind & Fire. She ...

and

David Lasley David Eldon Lasley (August 20, 1947 – December 9, 2021) was an American recording artist, singer, musician and songwriter. He was best known as a touring background singer for James Taylor, as a session singer on recordings by artists including ...

: (Allee Willis quote:) "David and I were just writing all the time, and there was a song out called 'Emotion' by Samantha Sang that we both really loved. So we said: 'Let’s write something in that spirit.' I was going through a huge breakup at the time, so for me Lead Me On'was just a completely autobiographical song." "Lead Me On" was introduced on ''Love Lines'' which was Nightingale's third album for

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...

. ''Love Lines'' was issued in 1978 in the UK and Europe and "Lead Me On" was the second of two non-charting singles from the album, the first being "(Bringing Out) The Girl in Me"). Although United Artists did not release "Lead Me On" or its parent album in the US, Al Teller, who had been president of United Artists when Nightingale recorded her breakout hit "

Right Back Where We Started From "Right Back Where We Started From" is a song written by Pierre Tubbs and J. Vincent Edwards, which was first recorded in the middle of 1975 by Maxine Nightingale for whom it was an international hit. In 1989, a remake by Sinitta reached No. 4 on ...

", made the US release of "Lead Me On" the debut single on Windsong Records shortly after assuming that company's presidency in January 1979; the track began to accrue interest that spring particularly in the

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

market with the #1 position on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Adult Contemporary chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by sta ...

attained that July. In all, "Lead Me On" spent seven weeks atop the AC chart (for the weeks of July 7, 14, and 21; August 4, 11, and 18; and September 1). On the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, "Lead Me On" peaked at number five, while reaching number 37 on the R&B chart. Despite the fact that it was an AC song, it enjoyed better success in Canada, where it reached number three on the

CRIA A ''cria'' (pronounced ) is a juvenile llama, alpaca, vicuña, or guanaco. Etymology The term comes from the Spanish word cría, meaning "baby". Its false cognate in English, ''crya'' (pronounced ), was coined by British sailors who explored C ...

singles chart and spent 4 non-consecutive weeks at number one on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Dance Music Chart. Nightingale herself would describe "Lead Me On" as (Maxine Nightingale quote:) " sweet, simple little song", adding that its being chosen as a single was a decision with which she had disagreed.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other versions

"Lead Me On" has also been recorded by

the Nolans The Nolans are an Anglo-Irish girl group who formed in Blackpool in 1974 as the Nolan Sisters, before changing their name in 1980. Often referred to as Ireland's ''First Family of Music'', they were the first Irish performing family to achie ...

(album ''Making Waves''/ 1980) and

Sharon Cuneta Sharon Gamboa Cuneta-Pangilinan ( , ; born January 6, 1966) is a Filipino actress, singer, television host, and socialite. Regarded as one of the most successful and highest-earning individuals in the Philippine entertainment industry, she has ...

(album ''Isn't It Romantic? Vol 2''/ 2007).

References

External links

Lyrics of this song
* 1979 songs 1979 singles Maxine Nightingale songs Songs written by Allee Willis Pop ballads Songs written by David Lasley {{1970s-pop-song-stub