1983 · Behind the Songs
A one-take guitar solo and a future pop star on backing vocals.
“Running with the Night” was the second single from Can’t Slow Down (1983), released in November 1983 with “Serves You Right” on the B-side. It was co-written by Lionel Richie and Cynthia Weil, and co-produced by Richie and James Anthony Carmichael. The electric guitar solo came from Toto’s Steve Lukather, who cut it in nearly a single take while warming up — the engineer kept that take. Some adult contemporary stations edited the solo out. Backing vocals came from session singer Richard Marx, who also sang on “All Night Long” and “You Are.”
It reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1984, No. 6 on both the Adult Contemporary and R&B charts, and No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1984. Bob Giraldi directed the video, which opens at a wedding with Sheila E. as a bridesmaid. The song lived on: Rihanna sampled it on “Push Up On Me” from Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), crediting Richie and Weil, and it turned up in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on the in-game station Flash FM.