Thunder and Lightning (Chicago song)

Last updated
"Thunder and Lightning"
Thunder And Lightning.png
Single by Chicago
from the album Chicago XIV
B-side "I'd Rather Be Rich"
ReleasedJuly 30, 1980 (1980-07-30)
Recorded1980
Genre Jazz fusion
Length3:32
Label Columbia
Songwriters
Producer Tom Dowd
Chicago singles chronology
"Street Player"
(1979)		"Thunder and Lightning"
(1980)		"Song for You"
(1980)

"Thunder and Lightning" is a song by American band Chicago. It was released on July 30, 1980, [1] as the first single from their twelfth studio album Chicago XIV and is written by keyboardist Robert Lamm and drummer Danny Seraphine. It features Lamm and Peter Cetera on vocals. It was produced by Tom Dowd.

Contents

"Thunder and Lightning" peaked at No. 56 on the Billboard Hot 100 [2] [3] and No. 46 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It is the first song to feature Chris Pinnick on guitars, who became the band's guitarist four years later.

Background

Danny Seraphine recalled in his 2011 autobiography that he wrote the lyrics to "Thunder and Lightning" after a flight from New York City to Los Angeles where the plane was struck by lightning on two different occasions. He called his original draft of lyrics "scathing", which he based on an altercation between the band and Walter Yetnikoff of CBS over the firing of Donnie Dacus and the fate of the band's recording deal. [4]

After Seraphine's initial draft was completed, Robert Lamm rewrote some of the lyrics around a lover's quarrel and composed the song's music with Peter Cetera. [4] One section of the song included a the horn section part in (5
4) time, with the drums maintaining a (4
4) groove, resulting in different placements in the backbeat across each bar. [5] Seraphine believed that the lyrical revision resulted in the song losing its original meeting and expressed disappointment that he did not advocate for some of his lyrics to be retained in the final song. [4]

Reception

Billboard thought that "Thunder and Lightning" was one of the best songs on Chicago XIV, adding that it was "embellished by Chicago's characteristic brass and percussion wizardry." [6] Record World wrote that the song's "patented horn chops, guitar stings and spirited vocals are all wrapped in Tom Dowd's magical production on this initial release from the tireless band's XIV LP." [7] Music critic Nick DeRiso of Something Else! Reviews wrote that the track "showed Chicago could still summon a spark of energy even as the band struggled for direction in the early '80s." [8]

Personnel

Chicago

Guest musicians

Charts

Chart (1980)Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100 [9] 56
US Adult Contemporary ( Billboard ) [10] 46
US Cashbox Top 100 Singles [11] 67

References

  1. ↑ "Chicago – Thunder and Lightning". Dutch Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  2. ↑ "Music: Top 100 Songs | Billboard Hot 100 Chart for September 20, 1980". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 10, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Chicago – Thunder and Lightning (single)". elpee.jp. Bee-Media. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 Seraphine, Danny (2011). Street Player: My Chicago Story. John Wiley & Sons Inc. ISBN   9780470416839.
  5. ↑ Griffith, Mark (June 2021). "Danny Seraphine: Musical Original, Drummer Pioneer, Hall of Famer". Modern Drummer . p. 8. Retrieved November 1, 2025– via Google Books.
  6. ↑ "Billboard's Top Album Picks" (PDF). Billboard . July 26, 1980. p. 68. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Record World Single Picks" (PDF). Record World . August 23, 1980. p. 14. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  8. ↑ DeRiso, Nick (February 2, 2019). "Chicago, "Thunder and Lightning" from Chicago XIV (1980): Saturdays in the Park". Something Else! Reviews. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
  9. ↑ "Chicago Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  10. ↑ "Chicago Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
  11. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2014). Cash Box Pop Hits 1952-1996 . Sheridan Books, Inc. ISBN   978-0-89820-209-0.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.