Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1984
You're the Inspiration
Buy You're the Inspiration now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = You're the Inspiration
| cover = Chicago inspiration.jpg
| alt =
| caption = UK vinyl single
| type = single
| artist = Chicago
| album = Chicago 17
| B-side = Once in a Lifetime
| released =
| recorded = 19831984
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Soft rock
| length = 3:50
| label = Full Moon/Warner Bros.
| writer = Peter Cetera, David Foster
| producer = David Foster
| prev_title = Hard Habit to Break
| prev_year = 1984
| next_title = Along Comes a Woman
| next_year = 1985
| misc =
}}
"'You're the Inspiration'" is a song written by Peter Cetera and David Foster for the group Chicago and recorded for their fourteenth studio album 'Chicago 17' (1984), with Cetera singing lead vocals. The third single released from that album, it reached on the US 'Billboard' Hot 100 chart in January 1985 and also climbed to the top position on the Adult Contemporary chart at the same time. The song won honors for Cetera from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), in 1986 in the most-performed songs category.
Peter Cetera re-recorded the song for his 1997 solo album 'You're the Inspiration: A Collection'. That same year he also recorded a single version with the vocal R&B group Az Yet.
History
Peter Cetera stated in a 2004 interview that "You're the Inspiration" started out as a song for Kenny Rogers:
Cetera then changed some of the words and recorded the song with Chicago for their 'Chicago 17' album.
Personnel
*Peter Cetera lead and background vocals, arrangements
*Bill Champlin guitars, keyboards, background vocals
*Robert Lamm keyboards, background vocals
*Lee Loughnane synth bass
*James Pankow keyboards
*Walter Parazaider guitar
*Chris Pinnick guitar
'Additional personnel'
*Carlos Vega drums
*Michael Landau guitar
*Paul Jackson Jr. guitar
*Mark Goldenberg guitar
*Paulinho da Costa percussion
*David Foster keyboards, synth programming, synth bass (Moog), additional arrangements
*John Van Tongeren synthesizer programming
*Erich Bulling synthesizer programming
*Marcus Ryle synthesizer programming
*Gary Grant trumpet
*Greg Adams trumpet
*Kenny Cetera background vocals
*David Foster and Jeremy Lubbock orchestration
Music video
The video depicted the band performing intercut with scenes of embracing couples of varying ages ranging from young kids to a couple resembling Billy Idol and Madonna at the time. Lead singer Peter Cetera is seen wearing a T-shirt from the British goth band Bauhaus. During his performance, Cetera is sitting the whole time. It also uses an alternate version of the song without the guitar sting between the second and third choruses.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Peter Cetera feat. Az Yet version
Track listings
# "You're the Inspiration" 4:07# "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" 3:13
Charts
Music video
The music video for "You're the Inspiration" (Peter Cetera featuring Az Yet) was directed by Steven R. Monroe and was filmed at Westward Beach (Malibu, California).See also
*List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1985 (U.S.)
References
Buy You're the Inspiration now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1984