Baby Love

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This article is about the song recorded by the Supremes. For other uses, see Baby Love (disambiguation).
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"**Baby Love**" is a 1964 song recorded by American music group the Supremes for their second studio album, *Where Did Our Love Go*, and was written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland (H–D–H).

*Baby Love* topped the *Billboard* pop singles chart in the United States from October 25, 1964 through November 21, 1964, 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.

## History

At the insistence of Berry Gordy hoping for a follow-up chart-topper, H–D–H 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. The song also reached number-one on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks before being dislodged by The Rolling Stones' "Little Red Rooster," and topped the *Cash Box* magazine's R&B chart.

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

## Personnel

* Lead vocals by Diana Ross
* Background and ad-lib vocals by Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson
* All instruments by the Funk Brothers
* Footstomps by Mike Valvano

## Cover versions

* In 1980, British singer and actress, Honey Bane covered the song at the request of EMI. The single peaked at No. 58 on the UK music charts.
* In 1989, a singer named Martina covered the song as well.
* In 2000, Erasure recorded a cover of "Baby Love" that was included in the compilation album, *Motown Mania*, but was also re-released on their own EP *Moon & the Sky*.
* In 2002, British singer Emma Bunton covered the song on *Party at the Palace* DVD.

## See also

* List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1964

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 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*. Nielsen Company. **76** (44): 18. 1964. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
3. ↑ "*Billboard* Hot 100". *Billboard*. Nielsen Company. **76** (45): 18. 1964. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
4. ↑ "*Billboard* Hot 100". *Billboard*. Nielsen Company. **76** (46): 24. 1964. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
5. ↑ "*Billboard* Hot 100". *Billboard*. Nielsen Company. **76** (47): 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. ↑ "Lever hit parades: 10-Dec-1964". *Flavour of New Zealand*.
10. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). *British Hit Singles & Albums* (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 169–72. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
11. ↑ *Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2002*
12. ↑ "Top 100 Hits of 1964/Top 100 Songs of 1964". *Musicoutfitters.com*. Retrieved 2016-09-27.
13. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-12-31. Retrieved 2016-02-02. Unknown parameter `|deadurl=` ignored (`|url-status=` suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
14. ↑ "Top 100 1964 - UK Music Charts". *Uk-charts.top-source.info*. Retrieved 2016-09-27.
15. ↑ "R&B | rareandobscuremusic". *Rareandobscuremusic.wordpress.com*. Retrieved 2016-09-27.

## External links

* Template:MetroLyrics song

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