"Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life" is a song written by Michael Cleveland for American group Indeep. It features vocals from Réjane "Reggie" Magloire and Rose Marie Ramsey. The lyrics tell the story of a woman who is bored alone at home. She wants to speak to her man, but cannot reach him and considers leaving him, until a DJ plays a hot song and thereby saves her life. In the second verse, she leaves home, but does not reach her destination. The sound of squeaky wheels suggests she has an accident, but is saved by a DJ playing a good song on the radio. The song was mixed by Michael Jay at Eastern Artists Recording Studio, East Orange, NJ, and released as a single in 1982, becoming the most popular and successful hit released by its record label, Sound of New York/Becket Records. In the U.S. "Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life" reached number ten on the R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart and number two on the Club Singles chart, but could only bubble under the main Hot 100, where black crossover had become very difficult in the early 1980s as a result of the anti-disco backlash. In February 1983, it peaked at number thirteen in the United Kingdom, and in March 1983 at number two in the Dutch Top 40 and the Belgium Ultratop 50. It also made number 5 in Switzerland, number 12 in Austria and number 25 in New Zealand. In West Germany, it made it to number 10. The track appears as the third track of the namesake album released in 1983. Rolling Stone magazine declared the song "one of the greatest songs ever written about being a girl, listening to the radio, or any combination of the two," and, in 2005, editors of Blender magazine placed it at number 406 on its 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born list. The song also provided the inspiration of the title of the book Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey. Because of the limited success of Indeep's later releases, the group's first single was its only major hit and placed it into the one-hit wonder category of artists.
Charts
Covers
In 1983, South African vocalist Margino recorded a version for her album of the same name.
In 2001, American R&B singer Mariah Carey co-produced a cover of "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life" with DJ Clue and Duro, which appeared on her eighth album, Glitter. Carey's version of the song features Fabolous and Busta Rhymes, and it is heard during a scene in the film Glitter, in which Carey starred. It was released as the album's sixth and final single in 2001 in Spain on a strictly promotional basis to boost the album's slow sales, as the preceding singles from the album had performed poorly. Because of its limited release and conflict between Carey and Virgin/EMI Records, the single's music video was not released until late 2002–early 2003 through Carey's online fan club.
In 2004, UK house/trance music producerSeamus Haji made several popular remixes of the song through his own label, Big Love Records, and released them on a 12" single titled "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life ". This version reached number thirteen on the UK Singles Chart and number one on the UK Dance chart in 2006.
In 1997, King Britt included a version of this song on his album King Britt Presents Sylk 130 – When The Funk Hits The Fan.
The song was also re-released and remixed a number of times by various DJs/producers, most notably Seamus Haji, Funkagenda, and ATFC.
Dara Rolins covered the song under the title "Party DJ".
The song is sampled during Madonna's performance of her song "Music" on her Sticky & Sweet Tour.
The song "If Ya Gettin' Down" by Five features a sample of the song, alongside a take on the in the mix lyrics during the bridge.
The song "Black Betty" as covered by Tom Jones uses or samples the drum, bass, and guitar groove of this song.
The chorus of the song is sampled, as well as translated, in Quebecoissinger and songwriter Jean Leloup's song "1990". The song ends with backup singers repeatedly chanting "hier soir le D.J. a sauvé mon âme avec cette chanson".
The song was sampled in the 2015 song "Hell of a Night" by Chris Brown contained in his mixtape Before the Party.
The beat of the song was sampled in song "Nlogax" by Boards of Canada.
The song is sampled in the 2009 single "I'm Just Here for the Music" by Paula Abdul.
Other uses
The song was remixed by DJ Kambel and MC Magika in 2002, appearing on Dancemania Speed 8 with the name "Last Nite Kambel Saved My Life".
The song is featured in the 2002 video game' on "Fever 105", one of the in-game radio stations accessed while driving.
The song appears in the 2006 feature film Cashback.
Italian band Mirage performed a remix of this song on the 2007 compilation After Dark, released by the Italians Do It Better record label.
The song "Wrong Club" by The Ting Tings features an homage in the lyric "No DJ never saved my life".
