Baby Love

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"Baby Love"
Single by The Supremes
from the album Where Did Our Love Go
B-side	"Ask Any Girl" (Holland-Dozier-Holland)
Released	September 17, 1964
Format	7" single
Recorded	Hitsville USA (Studio A); August 13, 1964
Genre	Pop, rhythm and blues
Length	2:36
Label	Motown M 1066
Writer(s)	Holland-Dozier-Holland
Producer	Brian Holland Lamont Dozier
The Supremes singles chronology
"Where Did Our Love Go" 1964 "Baby Love" 1964 "Come See About Me" 1964

"Baby Love" clip (help·info) is a 1964 number-one hit recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland-Dozier-Holland, "Baby Love," one of the most popular songs of the late 20th century, was the Supremes' most successful single.

The song was ranked #324 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[1]

[edit] Overview

It was the number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for four weeks, from October 25, 1964 to November 21, 1964. It was also the second of five Supremes songs in a row to go to number one (the others are "Where Did Our Love Go," "Come See About Me," "Stop! In the Name of Love," and "Back in My Arms Again"). The song also reached number one on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks before being dislodged by the Rolling Stones' "Little Red Rooster".

It is no small coincidence that "Baby Love" and its immediate predecessor, "Where Did Our Love Go," sound a lot alike: producers Holland-Dozier-Holland (H-D-H) worked into the new song all of the elements that had made the previous song a big hit: Diana Ross' cooing lead vocal, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson's "baby-baby" backup, the Funk Brothers' instrumental track, and teenager Mike Valvano's footstomping. In addition, both Ballard and Wilson had brief solo ad-libs towards the end of the song on the released version (after this release Ross would be the only member to have any solos on the 1960s singles). H-D-H hoped they could make lightning strike twice and succeeded, as "Baby Love" was an even bigger hit than "Where Did Our Love Go." The group did a performance of the song which aired on the BBC program Top of the Pops on Thursday, October 15, 1964.^[2]

Beginning with "Baby Love", The Supremes became the first Motown act to have more than one number 1 single, and also became the Motown act with the most number one singles, a record they stold hold, with a total of 12 number-one singles. Stevie Wonder is currently in second place with 10 number one singles.

Chart positions:<51-26-12-6-1-1-1-1-2-5-8-15-33> 13 weeks

"Baby Love" was included on the Supremes' second studio album, Where Did Our Love Go, and was later included on the soundtrack to the 1975 feature film Cooley High. It was nominated for the 1965 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording, losing to Nancy Wilson's "How Glad I Am".

[edit] Cover versions

• Tim Curry performed a rare cover version of the song produced by Lou Adler.White Mud Blues Band from Detroit also used this as a theme song in 1969 during their demolishion of the Crows Nest East Club July 18 1969.
• On 31 March 2008, Kate Nash performed Baby Love for Virgin Radio France.

[edit] Sampling

• In 2008, Japanese singer Namie Amuro sampled Baby Love on the song New Look on her #1 single 60s 70s 80s.
• "[1-2-3]", became a hit, after having been reworked from "Ask Any Girl", the B-side of "Baby Love" sung by The Supremes.

[edit] Credits

• Lead vocals by Diana Ross
• Background (and solo ad-lib lead) vocals by Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson
• All instruments by The Funk Brothers
• Footstomps by Mike Valvano
• Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Edward Holland, Jr.
• Produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier.

[edit] Chart history

[edit] See also

• Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1964 (USA)

[edit] Notes

1. ^ "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". RollingStone.com. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6596169/baby_love/1. Retrieved on 2008-06-19. 
2. ^ [1]