Rhythm Of The Night – DeBarge | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#3) & R&B (#1); 1985
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
Lionel Richie’s 1983 party anthem All Night Long (All Night) provided the inspiration for the biggest hit from Grand Rapids family group DeBarge.
Made up of siblings El, Bunny, Mark, James, and Randy (but not Chico of Talk To Me fame or Bobby and Tommy of funk group Switch), DeBarge’s first release only reached #46 on the R&B list. However, their next three singles all made it into the R&B Top 5 – included the chart topping Time Will Reveal – and Love Me In A Special Way peaked at #11. Then came the group’s pop breakthrough, Rhythm Of The Night.
Whereas all the singles to date had been penned by a DeBarge, Rhythm came from Diane Warren, who had written it for The Last Dragon soundtrack. The immediacy of the recording was enhanced by producer Richard Perry who cut the instrumental track with live musicians and used street sounds courtesy of DeBarge. Fittingly, Rhythm followed in All Night Long‘s footsteps all the way to #1.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Richard Perry
Lyrics Written by:
- Diane Warren
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).