| Lost in Emotion | |
| Cover: | Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam Lost.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam |
| Album: | Spanish Fly |
| B-Side: | Motion Is Lost |
| Released: | July 1987 |
| Genre: | |
| Length: |
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| Label: | Columbia |
| Producer: | Full Force |
| Prev Title: | Head to Toe |
| Prev Year: | 1987 |
| Next Title: | Someone to Love Me for Me |
| Next Year: | 1987 |
"Lost in Emotion" is a song by urban contemporary band Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam that appeared on their 1987 album Spanish Fly. The song hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 17, 1987. The song was their second number-one single, after "Head to Toe" earlier in the year. The song also went to number one on the Black Singles chart,[2] and number eight on the dance chart.[3]
Full Force member Lou George describes "Lost in Emotion" as "a combination" of two Mary Wells' hits: "Two Lovers" and "You Beat Me to the Punch", an idea which occurred to George as the result of his playing Wells' Greatest Hits album on which "Two Lovers" and "You Beat Me to the Punch" were sequential tracks. George - "We didn't steal the riffs: all we did was get the flavoring...We [used] a xylophone and some bells because back in the Motown days they always used those simple instruments."[4]
The video for the song was filmed at the 116th Street Festival in Harlem. With the exception of the group dance routine, the video was filmed in a way that gave it an unrehearsed feel, meant to match the carnival setting.[5] In a 2020 interview with NJArts.net, Lisa Lisa recalled telling the director, “Look, just have the camera follow us and we’re going to have fun with this.”[6]
| Chart (1987–1989) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (Australian Music Report)[7] | 83 | |
| US Hot Black Singles (Billboard)[8] | 1 | |
| US Hot Crossover 30 (Billboard)[9] | 1 |
| Chart (1987) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Canada Top Singles (RPM)[10] | 59 | |
| US Billboard Hot 100[11] | 31 | |
| US Crossover Singles (Billboard)[12] | 3 |
