Baby love
Baby Love is the title of the Supremes' most successful hit from 1964, written and produced by Motown's distinguished team of writers and producers, Holland – Dozier – Holland .
History of origin
On October 1, 1960, the first recording of the Supremes with the title After All , composed by Smokey Robinson , was not released. Between 1961 and 1963 they recorded 40 more songs by different composers and with different producers, 12 of which were released on six singles. It was an experimental phase for the young trio of girls around Diana Ross , because the successful sound could not yet be found. The unsuccessful singles already earned them the name "No-Hit-Supremes" at Motown Records . In November 1963 they were handed over to the writer and producer trio Brian Holland / Lamont Dozier / Edward "Eddie" Holland, who for the first time achieved a reasonably acceptable placement with the production of their composition When The Love Light Starts Shining Through His Eyes for the Supremes and received a BMI Award for this . The recipe for success for the Supremes was found.
In early 1964, Holland-Dozier-Holland Baby Love wrote about a no longer intact teenage relationship, Lamont Dozier wrote the lyrics together with Eddie Holland, Brian Holland contributed the melody. Eddie Holland had struggled with himself for weeks before putting the text on paper. It contained a simple story of a girl abandoned by her boyfriend who mourned him very much. The song was originally intended for the Marvelettes , but they turned it down. The Supremes, however, could not afford a rejection given their failures. That's why Baby Love / Ask Any Girl was created in Studio A near Motown in Detroit on August 13, 1964 with the Supremes, produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier.
The production was very much based on the previous first million seller of the Supremes Where Did Our Love Go and contains all the ingredients of the so-called Motown sound . The instrumentation came from the tried and tested Funk Brothers , who played in almost all Motown hits, namely in the line- up of Earl Van Dyke (piano), Joe Messina (guitar), James Jamerson (bass), Jack Ashford (tambourine) and Richard "Pistol “Allen (drums). Andrew "Mike" Terry plays the middle instrumental part with his baritone saxpohone. Diana Ross dominated with the soulful soprano voice, the background vocals with “baby-baby” responded in a call and response style. The unusual stomping of feet came from Mike Valvano, embedded in the drummer's rimshot technique. The chorus is constantly searching for the verses and the song bridge . Rhythmically, it is the emphasis on the second and fourth beat of a 4/4 time. After only two takes , the song was mixed on August 13, 1964 .
Publication and Success
Baby Love was initially not recorded as an independent single, but a track on the LP Where Did Our Love Go , released on August 31, 1964 . The management had decided at short notice to bring Baby Love on September 17, 1964 as a single ( Motown # M1066 ) on the market. On October 3, 1964, it entered the US pop hit parade , where it was number one for 4 weeks from October 25, 1964. At the same time it stayed at the top position in the rhythm & blues charts for four weeks , making it an enormous crossover success . In the USA alone, 3,496,000 singles went over the counter, 250,000 were sold in Great Britain, Baby Love was the first number one in a girl group there . Almost four million copies were marketed worldwide. With Baby Love they were the first of the Motown artists to post a second number one hit . In Germany, her hit was only ranked 15th. HDH wrote a total of 14 top 10 hits for the Supremes.
Cover versions and statistics
Although so extremely successful, only 16 performers dared to bring out the title as a cover version . Motown's usual cyclical song structure turned out to be a decisive obstacle for cover versions in pop music. In the year of the original's release, a similarly arranged version by Jenny & the Jewels came out on the record label HIT, which had specialized in budget imitations of big hits (HIT 153; 1964). Apart from this, Andy & David Williams did the first significant cover version in 1972; La Toya Jackson took over the track (LP Stop In The Name Of Love ; 1995), Mary Stahl in October 1999, Erasure followed in February 2001. The song received a BMI award. HDH wrote over 200 titles for Motown, including 70 top 10 hits and 50 top hits. These top hits included 13 consecutive top hits.
Individual evidence
- ↑ J. Randy Taraborelli, Motown , 1986, p 97
- ^ Fred Bronson, The Billboard Book of Number One Hits , 1985, p. 155
- ↑ Tim and Joe Rice / Paul Gambaccin, The Guinness Book of Number One Hits , 1988, p. 79
- ^ A b Fred Bronson, The Billboard Book of Number One Hits , 1985, p. 159
- ↑ Gerri Hershey, Nowhere to Run , 1985, p. 189
- ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 199
- ^ Billboard Magazine, June 20, 2009, p. 29; online on GoogleBooks