"You Light Up My Life" Songwriter Charged With Sexual Assaults

Joseph Brooks, the songwriter who won an Oscar for his 1977 hit "You Light Up My Life," was arrested and charged with 91 counts of rape and sexual assault charges yesterday in Manhattan, the New York Times reports. Brooks, now 71, allegedly advertised on Craigslist in Portland and Seattle for aspiring actresses and lured respondents back to his Upper East Side apartment, where District Attorney Robert Morgenthau says he forced them to drink wine and assaulted them. The incidents occurred between 2005 and 2008, but Morgenthau says the DAs office is also investigating other possible attacks dating back to 1970. Brooks' attorney Jeffrey C. Hoffman, said his client would plead not guilty and that the charges "look preposterous," the Times reports. "You Light Up My Life," which was penned for the film of the same name, won an Academy Award in 1978; the platinum Debby Boone cover set a Billboard record for longest time spent at Number One.

• 
  MUSIC The Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments
• 
  MOVIES & TV 'Game of Thrones': The Show Vs. the Books
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Facebook IPO vs. Shareholders
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive: Garbage Rip Through 'I Think I'm Paranoid'

Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter