1973 song by Neil Sedaka
"
Love Will Keep Us Together
" is a song written by
Neil Sedaka
and
Howard Greenfield
. It was first recorded by Sedaka in 1973. The brother-sister duo
Mac and Katie Kissoon
also recorded a version in 1973. American pop duo
Captain & Tennille
covered it in 1975, with instrumental backing almost entirely by “Captain”
Daryl Dragon
, with the exception of drums played by
Hal Blaine
; their version became a worldwide hit.
[1]
Composition
[
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]
Sedaka admitted lifting the main chord progression from "
Do It Again
" by
The Beach Boys
and added a progression including
augmented chords
inspired by
Al Green
. The melody was written with
Diana Ross
in mind.
[2]
[3]
Greenfield wrote the lyrics as one of the two final collaborations with Sedaka (they had decided reluctantly to break off their partnership because their songs were no longer commercially viable) along with "
Our Last Song Together
," before Greenfield moved to Los Angeles with his companion Tory Damon.
[4]
Background
[
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]
"Love Will Keep Us Together" first appeared on
Neil Sedaka
's 1973 studio album
The Tra-La Days Are Over
which did not have a US release.
[5]
His version of the song made its US album debut on the 1974 compilation album
Sedaka's Back
. In
West Germany
, Sedaka's original song was also included as the
B-side
of his 1976 hit, "
Love in the Shadows
".
[6]
In 2009,
Neil Sedaka
rerecorded a spoof of his song, renaming it "Lunch Will Keep Us Together" for his first children's CD
Waking Up Is Hard to Do
.
[7]
Personnel
[
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]
Source:
[8]
- Neil Sedaka
? piano, organ, electric piano, vocals
- Lol Creme
? guitar, vocals
- Eric Stewart
? guitar, vocals, recording engineer
- Graham Gouldman
? bass, guitar, vocals
- Kevin Godley
? drums, percussion, vocals
Mac and Katie Kissoon version
[
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]
"Love Will Keep Us Together" had its first single release via a UK recording by the brother and sister vocal duo
Mac and Katie Kissoon
on September 28, 1973, but it failed to chart. This version also failed to chart in its US release in February 1974, but it did become the first hit version of "Love Will Keep Us Together" by virtue of charting in the Netherlands in the autumn of 1973, peaking at number 12 that December.
Captain & Tennille version
[
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]
"Love Will Keep Us Together" was the title cut and lead single of
Captain & Tennille
's
debut album
, although "Captain" Daryl Dragon originally hoped that honor would go to the duo's rendition of "
I Write the Songs
". The single rose to number 1 on both the
Billboard
Easy Listening
chart
[10]
and the
Billboard
pop chart
, staying atop the latter for four weeks starting June 21, 1975. It also hit the top of the
1975 year-end chart
. In the US it was the best-selling single of 1975.
[11]
"Love Will Keep Us Together" was certified gold by the
RIAA
[12]
and also won the
Grammy Award
(1975) for
Record of the Year
on February 28, 1976.
[13]
[14]
Record World
said the song "is a solid choice of material for the label to propel this duo into
Carpenter
-ish acceptance."
[15]
Dragon and Tennille acknowledged Sedaka's authorship?as well as his mid-1970s
comeback
?by working the phrase "Sedaka is back" into the song's fadeout, where the applause from the studio musicians can be heard. Their version would earn Sedaka and Greenfield a
Grammy nomination
for
Song of the Year
. Twenty years later in 1995, the duo would re-record the song for their
Twenty Years of Romance
CD.
"Por Amor Viviremos" (Spanish version)
[
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]
While "Love Will Keep Us Together" was topping the charts in the summer of 1975, Captain & Tennille released a Spanish version of the song, "Por Amor Viviremos". "Por Amor Viviremos" rose to number 49 on the
Billboard
Hot 100 chart, giving Captain & Tennille a rare feat of the identical song, in different languages and released as separate singles (rather than the
A-side and B-side
of one single), appearing simultaneously on the
Billboard
Hot 100.
Chicago
radio station
WLS AM 890
used the two versions to create a
Spanglish
version of the song for their own broadcasting use.
"Por Amor Viviremos" would later appear on their May 1976 album
Por Amor Viviremos
, a Spanish track-for-track rerecording of their album
Love Will Keep Us Together
. It also appears on the 2002
Hip-O Records
compilation album
Ultimate Collection: The Complete Hits
.
Personnel
[
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]
Chart performance
[
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]
Weekly charts
[
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]
|
Year-end charts
[
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]
Chart (1975)
|
Rank
|
Australia (
Kent Music Report
)
[21]
[22]
|
6
|
Brazil (
ABPD
)
[23]
|
19
|
Canada
RPM
Top Singles
|
1
|
Canada
RPM
Adult Contemporary
[24]
|
14
|
New Zealand
[25]
|
22
|
South Africa
[26]
|
16
|
US
Billboard
Hot 100
[27]
|
1
|
US
Billboard
Easy Listening
[28]
|
7
|
US
Cash Box
|
1
|
All-time charts
[
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]
|
Other notable versions
[
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]
- Wilson Pickett
recorded "Love Will Keep Us Together" for his 1976 studio album release
Chocolate Mountain
from which it was issued as a single. It reached number 69 on the
Billboard
R&B chart.
[
citation needed
]
- In 1978 the song was covered by
Timothy Dalton
and
Mae West
in West's final movie
Sextette
.
- In 1980
Joy Division
released "
Love Will Tear Us Apart
", the title of which "was intended as an ironic nod to the classic '70s pop song."
[30]
- 1982 featured heavily in Troma comedy “Stuck on You” performed by the band Junk Rock.
- In 1992, Mexican trio
Pandora
released a cover version titled "Pierdo el Control" on their album
Ilegal
.
- In 1979
Ginger Rogers
sang this song on
The Love Boat
in the episode "Critical Success / The Love Lamp Is Lit / Take My Boyfriend, Please / Rent a Family / The Man in Her Life: Parts 1 & 2"
- In 2001, the film
Get Over It
featured a dance to this song at the beginning by some of the cast.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Hartman, Kent (2012).
The Wrecking Crew
.
St. Martin’s Griffin
. pp.
261?263
.
ISBN
978-1-250-03046-7
.
- ^
Neil Sedaka's mini-concert, September 1, 2020
from Sedaka's official YouTube account
- ^
"Neil Sedaka Talks With Paul Shaffer About Love Will Keep Us Together And Captain & Tennille"
.
YouTube
. 28 April 2020
. Retrieved
6 November
2022
.
- ^
Today's Mini-Concert - 9/8/20
on
YouTube
from Sedaka's official YouTube channel
- ^
"The Tra-La Days Are Over/Overnight Success - Neil Sedaka | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic"
– via www.allmusic.com.
- ^
"Neil Sedaka - Love In The Shadows"
– via www.45cat.com.
- ^
"Music: Waking Up Is Hard to Do (CD) by Neil Sedaka"
.
Tower.com
.
- ^
"The Tra-La Days Are Over/Overnight Success - Neil Sedaka | Credits | AllMusic"
.
AllMusic
.
- ^
Kuge, Mara (7 February 2019).
"14 Secretly Cruel Soft Rock Love Songs"
.
Ultimate Classic Rock
.
- ^
Whitburn, Joel
(2002).
Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001
. Record Research. p. 45.
- ^
Hyatt, Wesley.
The Billboard Book of Number One Adult Contemporary Hits
, Billboard Books, 1999, p. 166.
- ^
"Captain & Tennille - Love Will Keep Us Together - RIAA Gold Certification"
.
RIAA
. July 1, 1975
. Retrieved
March 4,
2019
.
- ^
"Winners - 18th Annual GRAMMY Awards (1975)"
.
The Recording Academy
. 1975
. Retrieved
March 20,
2019
.
- ^
"Captain & Tennille Win Record Of The Year"
.
The Recording Academy
. February 28, 1976
. Retrieved
March 20,
2019
.
- ^
"Single Picks"
(PDF)
.
Record World
. March 8, 1975. p. 26
. Retrieved
2023-03-10
.
- ^
"RPM Weekly Adult Contemporary"
.
Library and Archives Canada
.
RPM
(archived). June 14, 1975
. Retrieved
February 11,
2018
.
- ^
"Toutes les Chansons N° 1 des Annees 70"
(in French). InfoDisc
. Retrieved
11 March
2019
.
- ^
"SA Charts 1965?March 1989"
. Retrieved
1 September
2018
.
- ^
"Captain & Tennille: Artist Chart History"
.
Official Charts Company
. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
- ^
Whitburn, Joel
(2003).
Top Pop Singles 1955-2002
. Record Research.
ISBN
9780898201550
.
- ^
Kent, David
(1993).
Australian Chart Book 1970?1992
(illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 427.
ISBN
0-646-11917-6
.
- ^
"National Top 100 Singles for 1975"
.
Kent Music Report
. December 29, 1975
. Retrieved
January 15,
2022
– via
Imgur
.
- ^
"Top 100 Musicas Mais Tocadas em 1975"
[Top 100 Most Played Songs of 1975]. 17 March 2018
. Retrieved
27 May
2024
.
- ^
"Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada"
.
collectionscanada.gc.ca
. 17 July 2013.
- ^
"Top Selling Singles of 1975"
.
THE OFFICIAL NZ MUSIC CHART
.
- ^
"Top 20 Hit Singles of 1975"
. Retrieved
2 September
2018
.
- ^
"Top 100 Hits of 1975/Top 100 Songs of 1975"
.
musicoutfitters.com
.
- ^
"Top 50 Adult Contemporary Hits of 1975 (+2) - 45cat"
.
www.45cat.com
.
- ^
"Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart"
.
Billboard
. Retrieved
10 December
2018
.
- ^
"Single Stories: Joy Division, "Love Will Tear Us Apart"
"
.
Rhino Records
. Retrieved
February 24,
2020
.
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