(Joe Brooks)
The director and writer, Joseph Brooks, wrote this song as the theme song for his 1977 movie, which shares its name and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Kasey Cisyk originally sang it when she recorded it for the movie and it was subsequently lip-synced by Didi Conn.
Debby Boone recorded it in 1977 with the ABBA song “Hasta Manana” on the B-Side, and it immediately rose up the charts reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100, staying there for 10 weeks, and the Adult Contemporary Charts and No. 4 on the Country chart. She released it on her 1977 album of the same name. It also made it across the Atlantic when it reached No. 48 on the UK chart. This version would win Debby Boone a Grammy Award for Best New Artist, but she would never work with Joe Brooks again until 1990 as she had said that the song was about God, when that was not the case and it had been written with a completely different meaning of a girl singing it to a boy.
Kasey Cisyk’s original version was then released on 45 that same year but only managed to get to No.80 on the Billboard chart and she went un-credited as it was listed on the record as being by the “Original Cast” of the movie, which was obviously not the case.
Since then several cover versions have been made by the artists, Robert Goulet, Patti Smith, Kenny Rogers, Whitney Houston, Bianca Ryan, Loleatta Holloway and LeAnn Rimes’ 1997 version became a gold single and appeared on her album You Light Up My Life: Inspirational Songs.
Debby Boone recordings
Warner Bros. WBS 8455 (VNV 1373)S (US 45)
Sources:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Light_Up_My_Life_(song)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debby_Boone
- http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2518