I Got You Babe

"I Got You Babe"
French 7-inch single cover
Single by Sonny & Cher
from the album Look At Us
Released	July 9, 1965
Format	7" single
Recorded	1965
Genre	Pop
Length	3:11
Label	Atco
Writer(s)	Sonny Bono
Producer	Sonny Bono
Certification	Gold (US)
Sonny & Cher singles chronology
"Love Is Strange" (1964) "I Got You Babe" (1965) "The Letter" (1965) Alternative covers

"I Got You Babe" is a 1965 #1 single by American pop music duo Sonny & Cher.

Background and composition

Sonny Bono, a songwriter and record producer for Phil Spector, wrote the lyrics to and composed the music of the song for himself and his then-wife, Cher, late at night in their basement.^{[citation needed]} Session drummer Hal Blaine performed the drums for the song. Bono was inspired to write the song to capitalize on the popularity of the term "babe,"^{[citation needed]} as heard in Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" which was a hit for The Turtles.

Upon recording and releasing the song, "I Got You Babe" became the duo's biggest single, their signature song, and a defining recording^{[citation needed]} of the early hippie countercultural movement. In August 1965, the single spent three weeks at the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and #19 on the R&B charts in the United States. The duo's single also hit #1 in the United Kingdom and was subsequently included on their debut album, Look at Us.

The song placed at #444 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of all time.

Live performances

Sonny and Cher last performed the song together during an impromptu reunion on NBC's Late Night with David Letterman on November 13, 1987. Cher performed the song with R.E.M. on February 14, 2002, at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. It was her first performance of the song without Sonny.

Chart positions

Chart (1965)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
Canadian Singles Chart	1
UK Singles Chart	1
Irish Singles Chart	1
German Singles Chart	1
Austrian Singles Chart	1
Dutch Top 40	1
Belgian Singles Chart	1
French Singles Chart	1
Swedish Singles Chart	1
Norwegian Singles Chart	1

Preceded by "I'm Henry VIII, I Am" by Herman's Hermits	Billboard Hot 100 number-one single (Sonny & Cher version) August 14, 1965 (three weeks)	Succeeded by "Help!" by The Beatles
Preceded by "Help!" by The Beatles	UK number-one single (Sonny & Cher version) August 26, 1965 (two weeks)	Succeeded by "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones

UB40 feat. Chrissie Hynde version

"I Got You Babe"
Single by UB40 feat. Chrissie Hynde
from the album Baggariddim
B-side	Theme from Labour of Love
Released	August 2, 1985
Format	7" vinyl, 12" vinyl
Recorded	1984-1985
Genre	Reggae, Synthpop
Length	3:09
Label	DEP International
Writer(s)	Sonny Bono
Producer	UB40, Pablo Falconer
UB40 feat. Chrissie Hynde singles chronology
"I'm Not Fooled So Easily" (1985) "I Got You Babe" (1985) "Don't Break My Heart" (1985)

In 1985 UB40 covered (with Chrissie Hynde) from the album Baggariddim (also appearing on The Pretenders' 1987 album The Singles). It reached #1 on the UK charts in August 1985 (#28 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100), for its 20th anniversary.

Track listing

7”-single

1. I Got You Babe 3:08
2. UB40 - Theme From Labour Of Love 3:05

12”-single

1. I Got You Babe 3:09
2. UB40 - Red Red Wine 5:21

Charts

Chart (1985)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	28
Canadian Singles Chart	4
UK Singles Chart	1
Irish Singles Chart	1
German Singles Chart	15
Austrian Singles Chart	14
Swiss Singles Chart	15
Dutch Top 40	2
French Singles Chart	29
Swedish Singles Chart	17
Australian Singles Chart	1
New Zealand Singles Chart	1

Preceded by "Into the Groove" by Madonna	UK number one single August 25, 1985 - August 31, 1985	Succeeded by "Dancing in the Street" by David Bowie & Mick Jagger
Preceded by "Into the Groove" by Madonna	Irish IRMA number-one single August 31, 1985 - September 7, 1985	Succeeded by "Dancing in the Street" by David Bowie & Mick Jagger
Preceded by "Dancing in the Street" by David Bowie & Mick Jagger	Australian Kent Music Report number one single October 21, 1985 - November 10, 1985	Succeeded by "Take on Me" by A-ha
Preceded by "Into the Groove" by Madonna	New Zealand Singles Chart 17 April 1985 – 23 April 1985	Succeeded by "Part-Time Lover" by Stevie Wonder

Cover versions and samples

The song has been frequently covered and featured in film and television, including Sonny and Cher's own The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour. "I Got You Babe" made a bit of a comeback when it was heavily featured as Phil Connor's alarm clock wake up music in the 1993 movie Groundhog Day. Upon re-release, the single re-charted in the UK, reaching #66. The song was later covered by Cher in a music video that featured Beavis and Butthead as a rapt audience to Cher's performance. In the video, the idiot pair refer to her former husband Bono as a dork and a wuss, to which Cher agrees.

Released covers

• 1967 Manfred Mann on the album The Soul of Mann
• 1968 Etta James on the album Tell Mama
• 1968 Tiny Tim on the album God Bless Tiny Tim
• 1973 David Bowie with Marianne Faithfull on The Midnight Special, released on the bootleg Dollars In Drag: The 1980 Floor Show
• 1975 The Dictators on their album The Dictators Go Girl Crazy!
• 1982 The Ramones' Joey Ramone and Holly and the Italians' Holly Beth Vincent performed the duet.
• 1991 The Cynics' cover from their tribute to Bono, Bonograph, was a Get Hip single, backed with "Bang Bang"; a music video includes photos of Sonny and Cher.
• 1993 Cher (with Beavis & Butt-Head) on the album The Beavis & Butt-Head Experience
• 1998 Merril Bainbridge feat. Shaggy for the soundtrack album to the Johnathon Schaech film Welcome to Woop Woop and the Bainbridge album Between the Days
• 2004 Avid Merrion, along with Patsy Kensit and Davina McCall, released a Christmas single which reached number 5 in the UK charts.
• 2005 Capitol Steps' parody "Sunni and Cher", on the album Four More Years in the Bush Leagues, is based on the song
• 2006 Bradley Joseph, an instrumental arrangement on the album Piano Love Songs

Movies and Television

• In a fifth season episode of the CBS sitcom Good Times, Michael Evans (Ralph Carter) and Penny Gordon (Janet Jackson) perform the song, mimicking a performance from The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.
• In The Golden Girls fifth-season episode "An Illegitimate Concern", Sophia (Estelle Getty) and Dorothy (Bea Arthur) dress up as Sonny and Cher, respectively, to rehearse for a mother-daughter talent show, singing "I Got You Babe" while Rose (Betty White) accompanies them on the piano. The episode aired February 12, 1990. Bea Arthur would often later say in interviews that this was her favorite moment from the series run.
• In a Full House episode, Uncle Jesse (John Stamos) has Michelle (one or both of The Olsen Twins) sing "I Got You Babe" as they strum on their respective guitars.
• In the Sabrina The Teenage Witch episode "What's News", Sabrina and cat Salem Saberhagen dress as Sonny and Cher to sing "I Got You Babe" in an effort to get her boss and his wife to stop fighting.
• In Harold Ramis's film Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell, it is this song to which the main character awakes each repetitive morning on the clock radio.
• Britney Spears appeared on British comedian Frank Skinner's show and performed the duet with the host.
• In Quest for Camelot, Devon and Cornwall sang the last part of "If I Didn't Have You" and Cornwall sang "I got you, babe".
• Another episode of The Frank Skinner Show featured the incongruous pairing of Ron Jeremy and Mo Mowlam.
• Then-married Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson close The Nick and Jessica Variety Hour special, already very much in the style of Sonny and Cher, singing the duet.
• The Rolling Stones don costumes and lip sync to the original version of the song.
• New York City-based television show Duets with Deni (also carried on the internet) which regularly features local songwriters and musicians, Deni Bonet and Robyn Hitchcock sing the song from Deni's apartment.
• In the Eli Stone episode "I Want Your Sex", in a vision of the title character, Taylor Wethersby (Natasha Henstridge) and Matt Dowd (Sam Jaeger) sing it. It is later revealed that Matt's cat was named Sonny Bono.
• In Delta Farce (2008), Sgt. Kilgore (Keith David) is forced to sing "I Got You Babe" with villain Carlos Santana's gay nephew, Ruben (Joe Nunez).
• In the Boy Meets World (1999) episode "Cutting The Cord", Shawn (Rider Strong) sings the song with his new girlfriend in a karaoke contest.
• In an episode of Blossom, Blossom dreams that she and Anthony are homeless on the street and playing the song for passers-by when Sonny Bono, in a cameo appearance, angry that they stole his song, takes away the money people tossed into their cup.
• In The Simpsons episode "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily", after Ned Flanders and wife Maude adopt the Simpson children, they sing a lyrically altered version to Maggie.
• In the Histeria! episode "Tribute to Tyrants", a cartoon version of Cher sings a similar song with Atilla the Hun, called "Me Got You Hun".
• In the Ugly Betty episode "In or Out", Betty Suarez and Daniel Meade sing a karaoke version.
• In Better Off Ted episode "Change We Can't Believe In", Ted and Veronica sing the song over the newly installed PA system.
• In the Mad Men season 4 finale, set in October 1965, the original recording played over the final scene of Don Draper lying awake in bed in his Greenwich Village apartment with his new fiancee Megan asleep at his side and continued to play during the closing credits.
• In S2 E4 of American Dad!, Roger wakes up via his alarm clock to "I got you babe." He then proceeds to get drunk and destroy his television.
• Appears in the film Me Without You (2001).
• In the Man from U.N.C.L.E. episode "The Hot Number Affair", the song plays under the scene where Sonny and Cher appear on screen together for the first time.
• In the episode "Chicago Hope" of Home Improvement, Tim and Jill sing "I got you Babe" on a karaoke machine in Chicago

Games

• It is featured on the video game Karaoke Revolution Volume 3.
• Is sung in the video game Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon by "Sammy and Faire", a parody of Sonny and Cher.

Other Covers

• Madonna and Sandra Bernhard performed the song at a benefit for saving rain-forests in June 1989.