Aris' Favorites: January 2010          

My pick this month is a song from Season 2 of KIDS Incorporated (1985) titled Running with the Night by Lionel Richie.  Rahsaan Patterson (Kid) often did the covers of Lionel Richie's songs and did them very well.

Kid was one of my favorite singers on the show in its run.  For someone to have such a powerhouse of a voice at his age was almost unheard of.  Even today, when they brought back Star Search briefly a few years back all the kids were just mediocre, even the Kids American Idol was a joke. The Kids on the show, especially in the first few seasons were very talented.

Lionel Richie was a successful artist back in the 70s and 80s. Today, he still has a large following and has received a number of prestigious awards given by the music industry.  KIDS Incorporated did cover a lot of his songs such as Stuck On You, All Night Long, Running with the Night, Say You Say Me, and Dancing on the Ceiling.  All were performed by Rahsaan with the exception of Say You, Say Me which was covered by Stacy.

The original version by Lionel Richie I always thought was a little too slow. What was a lot of fun is that KIDS Incorporated took elements from Lionel Richie's video and incorporated it into the dance number (including some of the dance moves!).  You can watch the original video on YOUtube here.

The KIDS Incorporated version of this song was what a cover should have been: a kicked up tempo and a way to make it your own. This was truly Kid's song on the show to do and I can't imagine anyone, even Kenny doing this song. This was a song he owned!

I have made an extended version of this song for you all to enjoy.  The original version is 2:34 and the extended version is 3:19. 

You can download Running with the Night here by right-clicking the link and saving the file. Enjoy!

                                                   Back