"Leave a Light On" is a song written by

Rick Nowels Richard Wright Nowels Jr. is an American songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and arranger. He has co-written and co-produced over 90 hit singles with multiple artists Ellen Shipley Ellen Shipley (born March 24, 1949 in New York City, New York, United States) is an American musician and songwriter. Career At sixteen years old, Shipley got a NYC Cabaret license. She performed a duo act in Greenwich Village in the early 70's ...

, produced by Nowels for American rock singer

Belinda Carlisle Belinda Jo Carlisle ( ; born August 17, 1958) is an American singer. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, the most successful all-female rock band of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a solo artist. Raised in ...

's third solo album, ''

Runaway Horses is a 1969 novel by Yukio Mishima, the second in his ''Sea of Fertility'' tetralogy. Mishima did much research to prepare for this novel, visiting locations recorded in the book and studying historical information about the Shinpūren Rebellio ...

'' (1989). Released as a single, it narrowly missed the top 10 in the United States, peaking at number 11. It fared better elsewhere, reaching the top five in several countries, including Australia, Austria, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

Overview

Released at the end of 1989 on CD,

7-inch In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...

vinyl, and

12-inch The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

vinyl, "Leave a Light On" became a top-ten hit in Australia, Austria, Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. In the United States "Leave a Light On" peaked at number 11, affording Carlisle her final US top-twenty hit. "Leave a Light On" features

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

; Carlisle recalls: "Rick owelssaid we should get someone cool and with a distinctive style to play the lead guitar part. I thought for a moment and said 'What about George Harrison?' I had met George briefly a few years earlier in San Remo Italy and Morgan ason, Carlisle's husbandthrough his work on '' Sex Lies and Videotape''" - a film Mason had produced for Harrison's

HandMade Films HandMade Films was a British film production and distribution company. Notable films from the studio include ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'', ''Time Bandits'', ''The Long Good Friday'' and ''Withnail and I''. History Foundation HandMade Fil ...

- "knew someone who was close to arrisonand able to get word to him. George responded right away, saying he'd love to help out." There are four versions of the song. The album version and the 7" Edit were mixed by

Shelly Yakus Sheldon Gershon "Shelly" Yakus (born November 1945) is an American music engineer and mixer. Formerly chief engineer and vice president of A&M Records, he was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. Yakus is referenced ...

and Steve McMillan. The other two, mixed by

Jason Corsaro Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He w ...

, are the Extended Mix and an edit of this titled the Kamikazee Mix; the latter is included on Carlisle's "Vision of You" CD single.

Music video

The music video was directed by

Peter Care Peter Alan Care (born 28 April 1953) is an English director of music videos, commercials and film. He has directed music videos for Cabaret Voltaire, R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen, Roy Orbison, Depeche Mode and New Order, amongst others. Biogr ...

Track listings

* US and Canadian 7-inch single # "Leave a Light On" — 4:15 # "Shades of Michaelangelo" — 5:52 * UK CD single # "Leave a Light On" (7-inch version) # "Shades of Michaelangelo" # "Leave a Light On" (extended mix) * UK 12-inch single :A1. "Leave a Light On" (extended mix) :B1. "Leave a Light On" (7-inch version) :B2. "Shades of Michaelangelo"

Personnel

* Produced by

Rick Nowels Richard Wright Nowels Jr. is an American songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and arranger. He has co-written and co-produced over 90 hit singles with multiple artists Vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production i ...

s by

Slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

* Guitar by Rick Nowels and X.Y. Jones *

Keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

s by Charles Judge *

Twelve string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

by Ben Schultz * Bass by John Pierce *

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

by Rudy Richman * Background vocals by Ellen Shipley,

Maria Vidal Maria Elena Vidal (born August 1, 1960) is an American singer songwriter. She is known for her hit single "Body Rock", which reached No. 8 on the US Dance Charts, No. 48 on the Hot 100, No. 5 on the Springbok Charts in South Africa, and No. 11 i ...

Donna De Lory Donna De Lory is an American singer, dancer and songwriter. Part of a musical family, De Lory has been performing since a young age. Her voice can be heard on albums by Carly Simon, Ray Parker Jr., Kim Carnes, Santana, Martika, Laura Branigan, Be ...

and

Bekka Bramlett Rebekka Ruth Lazone Bramlett (born April 19, 1968) is an American singer and session background singer. She is the daughter of Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, of the music duo Delaney & Bonnie. She has been a member of Mick Fleetwood's band the Z ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Cover versions

* Grant & Forsyth ( nl) recorded "Leave a Light On" as part of a medley on their 1990 album ''Country Love Songs''. *A eurotrance cover version of the song by Dream Factory featuring Jessica Palmer was released in 2007. *A

Hi-NRG Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a music genre, typified by fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the ...

version of "Leave a Light On" was recorded in 2013 by

Nicki French Nicki is a given name, and may refer to: Film and television * Nicki Aycox (1975-2022), American actress best known for her roles as Syl on the series ''Dark Angel'' and Stella Vessey on the dramedy ''Ed'' * Nicki Chapman (born 1967), English tel ...

. *In 2013, retro synthpop producer/remixer Yisraelee produced a cover version of the track. *In 2016, South African four-piece band 4Werke (4Warm) released a cover version on their self-titled album.

Popular culture

*The single can be heard in a 1991 episode of the TV sitcom '' Out of This World'' entitled "I Want My Evie TV".

References

{{Authority control 1989 singles 1989 songs Belinda Carlisle songs MCA Records singles Song recordings produced by Rick Nowels Songs written by Ellen Shipley Songs written by Rick Nowels Virgin Records singles