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Baby Love

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This article is about the song recorded by the Supremes. For other uses, see Baby Love (disambiguation).
"Baby Love"
File:Supremes Baby love.png
Single by The Supremes
from the album Where Did Our Love Go
B-side"Ask Any Girl"
ReleasedSeptember 17, 1964
RecordedHitsville U.S.A. (Studio A);
August 13, 1964
Genre
Length2:36
LabelMotown
M 1066
Songwriter(s)Holland–Dozier–Holland[1]
Producer(s)Brian Holland
Lamont Dozier
The Supremes singles chronology
"Where Did Our Love Go"
(1964) 		"Baby Love"
(1964) 		"Come See About Me"
(1964)
Audio sample

"Baby Love" is a song recorded by the American music group the Supremes in 1964 for their second studio album titled, Where Did Our Love Go. It was written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland.[1] It was released on 17th September 1964.

Baby Love topped the Billboard pop singles chart in the United States from October 25, 1964 through November 21, 1964,[2][3][4][5] and in the United Kingdom pop singles chart concurrently. Beginning with "Baby Love", The Supremes became the first Motown act to have more than one American number-one single, and by the end of the decade, would have more number-one singles than any other Motown act (or American pop music group) with 12, a record they continue to hold.

It was nominated for the 1965 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording, losing to Nancy Wilson's "How Glad I Am". It is considered one of the most popular songs of the late 20th century, "Baby Love" was ranked #324 on the Rolling Stone list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[6]

History

At the insistence of Berry Gordy hoping for a follow-up chart-topper, Holland–Dozier–Holland produced "Baby Love" to sound like "Where Did Our Love Go". Elements were reincorporated into the single such as Diana Ross's cooing lead vocal and oohing, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson's "baby-baby" backup, the Funk Brothers' instrumental track, and teenager Mike Valvano's footstomping. Further, 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).

It was the second of five Supremes songs in a row to go to number-one in the United States, reaching the top spot of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart on October 31, 1964, and staying there for four weeks.[7] The song also reached number-one on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks before being dislodged by The Rolling Stones' "Little Red Rooster",[1] and topped the Cash Box magazine's R&B chart.[8]

"Baby Love" was later included on the soundtrack to the 1975 feature film Cooley High.

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[19] Silver 250,000‡
United States (RIAA)[20] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

  • In 1980, British singer and actress, Honey Bane covered the song at the request of EMI.[21] The single peaked at No. 58 on the UK music charts.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. pp. 85–6. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  2. ^ "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. 76 (44). Nielsen Company: 18. 1964. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  3. ^ "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. 76 (45). Nielsen Company: 18. 1964. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  4. ^ "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. 76 (46). Nielsen Company: 24. 1964. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  5. ^ "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. 76 (47). Nielsen Company: 22. 1964. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  6. ^ "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". RollingStone.com. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
  7. ^ Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits. New York: Billboard Books. p. 159. ISBN 0823076776. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  8. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 558.
  9. ^ https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jul/15/how-we-made-baby-love-the-supremes
  10. ^ Flory, Andrew. ‘I Hear a Symphony: Motown and crossover R&B’, University of Michigan Press, 2017, USA, p222
  11. ^ a b "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Baby Love". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  12. ^ "Lever hit parades: 10-Dec-1964". Flavour of New Zealand.
  13. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 169–72. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  14. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2002
  15. ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1964/Top 100 Songs of 1964". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-09-27.
  16. ^ "Top 100 Year End Charts: 1965". Cashbox Magazine. Archived from the original on 2012-10-05. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
  17. ^ "Top 100 1964 - UK Music Charts". Uk-charts.top-source.info. Retrieved 2016-09-27.
  18. ^ "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  19. ^ "British single certifications – Supremes – Baby Love". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 9, 2018. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Baby Love in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  20. ^ "American single certifications – Diana Ross & The Supremes – Baby Love". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  21. ^ Honey Bane - "Baby Love" (1980) single releases & credits at Discogs
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