When the Lights Go Out (song)

"When the Lights Go Out"
The band members are in a white room and contrast it by wearing black and do poses. The band's logo are above their heads.
Single by Five
from the album Five
B-side
Released2 March 1998 (1998-03-02)
StudioSteelworks (Sheffield, England)
GenrePop
Length4:11
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Eliot Kennedy
  • Tim Lever
  • Mike Percy
Five singles chronology
"Slam Dunk (Da Funk)"
(1997)
"When the Lights Go Out"
(1998)
"Got the Feelin'"
(1998)
Music videos
"When the Lights Go Out" on YouTube
"When the Lights Go Out" (US version) on YouTube

"When the Lights Go Out" is the second single released from British group Five's debut studio album, Five (1998). It was released in early 1998. The song was co-written by the group alongside Eliot Kennedy, Tim Lever and Mike Percy (from the band Dead or Alive), and John McLaughlin. It was co-produced by Kennedy, Lever and Percy, with the US version receiving additional production from Cutfather & Joe.

"When the Lights Go Out" is the band's only top ten hit in the United States. An alternate version of the song, in which J's rap is replaced by Abz's rap, was made exclusively for the US release; there are separate videos for each version. Five's biggest hit to date internationally, "When the Lights Go Out" is considered somewhat to be their debut single in most countries (except in the UK), peaking at number two in Australia, reaching the Top 30 in the US on 23 June 1998 and eventually spending seven nonconsecutive weeks at its peak of number 10, starting 21 July 1998. The song also spent six months on the US Billboard Hot 100, and sold 800,000 copies in the US alone.[1]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Billboard1998 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).