Blue Lights in the Basement

Blue Lights in the Basement
Studio album by Roberta Flack
Released	December 13, 1977
Recorded	1976–1977
Genre	R&B, soul, folk, disco, quiet storm
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Ahmet Ertegün
Roberta Flack chronology
Feel Like Makin' Love (1975) Blue Lights in the Basement (1977) Roberta Flack (1978)
Singles from Blue Lights in the Basement
"25th of Last December / Why Don't You Move in with Me" Released: December 12, 1977 "The Closer I Get to You / Love Is the Healing" Released: February 4, 1978

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

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] 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.

Track listing

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

Personnel

• Roberta Flack - keyboards, lead vocals, background vocals, musical arrangements
• Gwen Guthrie - background vocals
• James Mtume - percussion, background vocals
• Ronnie Foster - keyboards, background vocals
• Don Grolnick - keyboards
• Michael Kamen - oboe solo (track 10), musical arrangements (All tracks)
• Rob Mounsey - keyboards
• Jimmy Maelen - percussion
• Gene McDaniels - background vocals
• David Carey - percussion
• Reggie Lucas - guitar
• Errol "Crusher" Bennett - percussion
• Basil Fearrington - bass
• Steve Gadd - drums
• Jim Gilstrap - background vocals
• Paul Griffin - keyboards
• Lani Groves - background vocals
• Idris Muhammad - drums
• Anthony Jackson - bass
• Brenda White-King - background vocals
• Gary King - percussion, musical arrangements
• Howard King - drums
• Will Lee - bass
• Yvonne Lewis - background vocals
• Hugh McCracken - guitar, musical arrangements
• Jeff Mironov - guitar
• Leon Pendarvis - keyboards, background vocals, musical arrangements
• Zachary Sanders - background vocals
• Allan Schwartzberg - drums
• David Spinozza - guitar
• Harry Whitaker - keyboards, musical arrangements
• Brenda White - background vocals
• Jimmy Wong - drums
• Deniece Williams - background vocals
• John Tropea - guitar

Charts and certifications

Year	Album	Chart positions
		Billboard 200[3]	Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums[3]
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

External links