Piano in the Dark

"Piano in the Dark"
Single by Brenda Russell
from the album Get Here
Released	February 2, 1988
Format	Single
Recorded	1987
Genre	R&B, soul, quiet storm adult contemporary
Length	5:20 (album version) 4:20 (single version)
Label	A&M
Writer(s)	Brenda Russell, Jeff Hull, Scott Cutler
Producer(s)	Brenda Russell, Jeff Hull

5:20 (album version)

"Piano in the Dark" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Brenda Russell (featuring backing vocals by Joe Esposito). It was the first single to be taken from Russell's 1988 album, Get Here. On the 45 rpm single of the song, the title is listed as "Piano In The Dark" and also as "Cry, Just A Little" in parentheses, which may be the complete title of the song. "Cry Just A Little" is a line that is repeated in the song's refrain portion.

"Piano in the Dark" was released in early 1988, nine years after Russell's previous charting single on the Billboard Hot 100 (1979's "So Good, So Right"). The song gained heavy airplay and became Russell's biggest hit, peaking at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 8 on the R&B Chart and number 3 on the Adult Contemporary Chart. The song was also a moderate hit in the UK, peaking at 23.

The song earned Russell two Grammy Award nominations in 1989, including one for Song of the Year.

There are two music videos. The first version, filmed in black-and-white, shows Brenda looking depressed in her apartment as she tosses cards in a derby and thinks about her lover, a long-haired blond man playing on the piano. The second video was filmed in color and mostly shown in the US where a smiling Brenda is shown performing with her band (including Joe Esposito) in a dimly lit nightclub with many people during a thunderstorm at night.

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Wikipedia