"Rise" is a song written by Andy Armer and Randy Badazz
Alpert, and first recorded by trumpeter Herb Alpert. The
instrumental track was included on Alpert's solo album
Riseand released as a single in 1979. It reached number
one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in October of that year and
remained in the top position for two weeks. Herb Alpert thus
became the first (and only) artist to reach the top of the Hot
100 with a vocal performance ("This Guy's in Love with You",
1968) as well as an instrumental performance. "Rise" also spent
one week atop the adult contemporary chart. "Rise" was
successful on the other charts: It peaked at number four on the
soul chart. . and number seventeen on the disco chart. .The
recording also received a Grammy Award for Best Pop
Instrumental Performance.
"Rise" was originally recorded as an uptempo dance song,
however, Herb and Randy tried slowing the tempo down to 100bpm.
Upon release, the song received an unexpected burst of
promotion: Jill Phelps, musical director of the ABC soap opera
General Hospital, decided to use "Rise" as the musical
backdrop for the rape of Laura Webber by Luke Spencer. For
several weeks afterward, the recording was played on the show
to evoke the memory of Luke's act. The added exposure in an
extremely popular program boosted sales to the point of selling
more than one million copies.
Shortly after "Rise" became a hit in the United States, it
became a hit in the United Kingdom when British disk jockeys
were playing import copies of the record at the wrong speed
(American 12-inch singles are played at 33 revolutions per
minute, the same as an LP, while British and European 12-inch
singles are played as 45 RPM).
In the 1981 Hindi movie
Yaaranastarring Amitabh Bachchan and Neetu Singh, Neetu
Singh teaches Amitabh some dance moves to this song. The song
almost plays full length as Amitabh masters disco dancing.
A sample of "Rise" is the entire musical groove of the 1997
#1 world-wide hit song, "Hypnotize", recorded by The Notorious
B.I.G. and co-produced by Sean "Puffy" Combs. The sample is
credited on both the single, "Hypnotize" and in the liner notes
for the Notorious B.I.G's album, "Life After Death".
In 1999, Brazilian saxophonist Leo Gandelman did a remake of
"Rise" for his album "Brazilian Soul".
