The album was recorded live mainly on 12 & 13 August 1986 at
Le Zénith,
Paris, France (Paris is nicknamed "La Ville de Lumière" which means "The City of Light", hence the album title), on the last dates of the
Once Upon a Time world tour, with only the track "Someone, Somewhere In Summertime" recorded in late October 1986 at
Sydney Entertainment Centre in
Sydney, Australia. It features the band's 1986 touring lineup, which included second vocalist
Robin Clark and percussionist
Sue Hadjopoulos. Additional "fixing and mixing" was done at Castle Sound Studios in
Edinburgh and
Bearsville Studios in
Bearsville, New York.
Lisa Germano (at the time, a
John Mellencamp band member who would perform on Simple Minds' next studio single,
Belfast Child), contributed studio-overdubbed violin on "Someone Somewhere in Summertime" and former Simple Minds member
Derek Forbes contributed uncredited bass guitar overdubs. ==Album cover==