Love's Theme
| "Love's Theme" | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Side-A label of the U.S. vinyl release | |||||||
| Single by The Love Unlimited Orchestra | |||||||
| from the album Rhapsody in White | |||||||
| B-side | "Sweet Moments" | ||||||
| Released | November 1973 | ||||||
| Format | 7" | ||||||
| Recorded | 1973 | ||||||
| Genre | Philly soul, disco | ||||||
| Length | 4:08 | ||||||
| Label | 20th Century/Pye International | ||||||
| Writer(s) | Barry White | ||||||
| Producer(s) | Barry White | ||||||
| Certification | Gold (RIAA) | ||||||
| The Love Unlimited Orchestra singles chronology | |||||||
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"Love's Theme" is an instrumental piece recorded by Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra and released in 1973 as an A-Side single. It is one of the few instrumental and purely orchestral singles to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, which it did in early 1974. Billboard ranked it as the No. 3 song for 1974.[1] The piece was included on two albums: 1973's Under the Influence of... Love Unlimited (by the vocal group Love Unlimited) and 1974's Rhapsody in White by Love Unlimited Orchestra.
The recording, with a large string orchestra, wah-wah guitar, and big rhythm, is considered by author Peter Shapiro to be an influence to the disco sound, which would explode in popularity the following year. The song was also popular on the Adult Contemporary chart in the U.S., where the song spent two weeks at #1. It was also used by ABC Sports for many years as the opening theme music for its golf coverage. New York television station WPIX used it as the closing music for its then-Action News franchise during the mid-1970s.[2][3] In Canada, the single saw similar success, reaching #1 on the RPM 100 National Singles Chart on March 2, 1974.[4]
In addition, "Love's Theme" was also recorded in a vocal version by Love Unlimited (on their 1974 album In Heat). Enoch Light recorded an electro-disco instrumental version of the song on his 1977 album, Disco Disque. The song is also part of Meco's instrumental medley "Hooked On Instrumentals Part I" (from the 1985 album Hooked On Instrumentals). In May 1993, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark released the single "Dream of Me (Based on Love's Theme)" (from their album Liberator, released the same year) which used a sample of this Barry White composition. This single reached #24 on the UK Singles Chart, and Barry White was given a writing credit.
This song was covered by American smooth jazz trumpeter Rick Braun and by American guitarist Chuck Loeb.
The Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways used the song for their TV advertisements. It was also featured briefly in Mean Girls, Despicable Me 2 and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.
The morning music video show Sounds Unlimited used the song as its opening and closing theme.
Chart positions
| Year | Album | Chart Positions | U.S.Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Hot 100 | U.S. R&B | UK | |||
| 1974 | "Love's Theme" | 1 | 10 | 10 | Gold |
See also
- List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1974 (U.S.)
- List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1974 (U.S.)
- List of RPM number-one singles of 1974 (Canada)
References
- The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition, 1996
- ↑ Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1974
- ↑ "Wiki for Barry White – Love's Theme". Last.fm. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
- ↑ Action News close with the Harpers, followed by Editorial Feedback, 7/10/75 on YouTube
- ↑ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.