''Light Up the Night'' is the fourth album by the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

-based duo

The Brothers Johnson The Brothers Johnson were an American funk and R&B band consisting of American musicians and brothers George ("Lightnin' Licks") and Louis E. Johnson ("Thunder Thumbs"). They achieved their greatest success from the mid-1970s to early 1980s, ...

, released in 1980. The album topped the U.S. R&B albums chart and reached number five on the pop albums chart. The single " Stomp!" became a dance hit, reaching number one on both the R&B singles and disco charts and top ten on the pop singles chart. ''Light Up the Night'' was the final Brothers Johnson album to be produced by

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

. When Jones left A&M Records, he was contractually barred from having contact with the brothers.

Track listing

Personnel

The Brothers Johnson * George Johnson – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8) * Louis Johnson – acoustic piano,

Prophet-5 The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential (company), Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith (engineer), Dave Smith and John S. Bowen (sound designer), John Bowen in 1977, who used Microprocessor, m ...

, guitars, lead guitar (3), bass, bass solo (1), backing vocals Additional musicians *

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, singer-songwriter, and musical director based in Los Angeles, California. A prolific session musician, Phillinganes has contributed the role of keyboards to numerous alb ...

– synthesizers (1), acoustic piano, electric piano *

Rod Temperton Rodney Lynn Temperton (9 October 1949 – 25 September 2016) was an English songwriter, producer and musician. Temperton was the keyboardist and main songwriter for the 1970s pop music, disco and funk band Heatwave, writing songs including "St ...

– electric piano (1) *

Steve Porcaro Steven Maxwell Porcaro (born September 2, 1957) is an American keyboardist, songwriter, and film composer, known as one of the founding members of the rock band Toto and the last surviving Porcaro brother (after the deaths of Jeff in 1992 and M ...

– synthesizers, synthesizer programming *

John Robinson John Robinson may refer to: Academics *John Thomas Romney Robinson (1792–1882), Irish astronomer and physicist * John J. Robinson (1918–1996), historian and author of ''Born in Blood'' *John Talbot Robinson (1923–2001), paleontologist *John ...

– drums * Paulinho da Costa – percussion, vocal percussion (9) * Richard Heath – percussion, lead and backing vocals (4) *

Kim Hutchcroft Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese f ...

–

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, baritone saxophone, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone *

Larry Williams Larry Williams (born Lawrence Eugene Williams, a.k.a. Lawrence Edward Williams; May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Williams ...

– flute, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, synthesizers (7, 9) *

Bill Reichenbach Jr. William Frank Reichenbach Jr. (born November 30, 1949) is an American jazz trombonist and composer. He is the son of Bill Reichenbach, who was the drummer for Charlie Byrd from 1962 to 1973. He is best known as a session musician for television, ...

–

euphonium The euphonium is a medium-sized, 3 or 4-valve, often compensating, conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Ancient Greek word ''euphōnos'', meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced" ( ''eu'' means "well" ...

, trombone,

slide trumpet The slide trumpet is an early type of trumpet fitted with a movable section of telescopic tubing, similar to the slide of a trombone. Eventually, the slide trumpet evolved into the sackbut, which evolved into the modern-day trombone. The key dif ...

* Gary Grant – trumpet, flugelhorn *

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', ''Rock with You'', ...

– trumpet, flugelhorn,

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

Merry Clayton Merry Clayton (born December 25, 1948) is an American soul and gospel singer. She provided a number of backing vocal tracks for major performing artists in the 1960s, most notably in her duet with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones song "Gimme Sh ...

– backing vocals *

Jim Gilstrap James Earl Gilstrap (born November 10, 1946)''U.S. Public Records Index'' Vol 1 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010. is an American singer, considered one of the most prolific session musicians in the industry. He is best known for ...

– backing vocals * Susaye Greene-Brown – backing vocals *

Josie James Josephine James is a Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, and recording artist. James is best known for her performances on Burt Bacharach’s world tours, such as her feature song “ Anyone Who Had a Heart". James is also the lead vocalist o ...

– backing vocals * Valerie Johnson – backing vocals *

– backing vocals *

Scherrie Payne Scherrie Ann Payne (born November 4, 1944) is an American singer. Payne is best known as a member of the R&B/Soul vocal group The Supremes from 1973 until 1977. Because of her powerful voice and petite stature (5'2"), Payne is sometimes referred ...

– backing vocals * Alex Weir – lead and backing vocals (3) *

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

– backing vocals fills (5) Arrangements * The Brothers Johnson – rhythm arrangements * Quincy Jones – rhythm, synthesizer and BGV arrangements * Rod Temperton – synthesizer arrangements, BGV arrangements *

Johnny Mandel John Alfred Mandel (November 23, 1925June 29, 2020) was an American composer and arranger of popular songs, film music and jazz. The musicians he worked with include Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Anita O'Day, Barbra Streisand, Tony Benn ...

– synthesizer arrangements * Jerry Hey – horn and string arrangements * Bill Reichenbach Jr. – string conductor * Michael Jackson – BGV arrangements (5)

Production

* Quincy Jones – producer *

Bruce Swedien Bruce Swedien (; April 19, 1934 – November 16, 2020) was an American recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer. He was widely known for his work with Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney and Barbra Streisand. Swedien fir ...

– recording, mixing * Tim Gerrity – assistant engineer * Ralph Osborn – assistant engineer * Randy Pipes – assistant engineer * John Van Nest – assistant engineer *

Bernie Grundman Bernie Grundman is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chris Bellman, Patricia Sullivan, and Mi ...

– mastering * Chuck Beeson – art direction * Glen Wexler – art direction, cover concept, photography * Ed Eckstien – cover concept * Kurt Triffet – illustration * The Fitzgerald/Hartley Co. – direction

Charts and certifications

Charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Certifications

References

External links

Brothers Johnson - Light Up the Night at Discogs
{{Authority control 1980 albums The Brothers Johnson albums A&M Records albums Albums produced by Quincy Jones Albums recorded at A&M Studios