Baby Love

This article is about the song recorded by the Supremes. For other uses, see Baby Love (disambiguation).

"Baby Love"
Side A of the Australian single
Single by the Supremes
from the album Where Did Our Love Go
B-side	"Ask Any Girl"
Released	September 17, 1964
Studio	Hitsville U.S.A. (Studio A)
Genre	Pop rhythm and blues
Length	2:34
Label	Motown
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
file help

"Baby Love" is a song by the American music group the Supremes from their second studio album, Where Did Our Love Go. It was written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland^[1] and was released on September 17, 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 singles hitting the top slot 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 number 324 on the Rolling Stone list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[6] It dropped to number 499 on the 2021 update of the list.^[7] The BBC ranked "Baby Love" at number 23 on The Top 100 Digital Motown Chart, which ranks Motown releases by their all time UK downloads and streams.^[8]

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".^[9] 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 consecutive Supremes songs 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.^[10] 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.^[11] "Baby Love" and Roy Orbison's "It's Over and "Oh, Pretty Woman" are the only American singles that topped the UK charts between 1963 and 1965.^[9]

Billboard stated that "the swinging harmony style keeps [the song] rolling all the way through."^[12] Cash Box described it as "a heartfelt, steady beat thumper...that the femmes deliver in ultra-commercial fashion."^[13]

"Baby Love" was later included on the soundtrack to the 1975 feature film Cooley High.^[9]

Personnel

• Lead vocals by Diana Ross
• Backing and ad-lib vocals by Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson
• All instruments by the Funk Brothers^[14][15]
  • Earl Van Dyke – piano
  • Eddie Willis – guitar
  • James Jamerson – bass
  • Richard "Pistol" Allen – drums
  • Jack Ashford – vibraphone
  • Henry Cosby – tenor saxophone
  • Mike Terry – baritone saxophone solo^[16][17]
• Footstomps by Mike Valvano

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1964-1965) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[18] 26 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[19] 13 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[20] 18 Canada (RPM)[21] 2 Germany (GfK)[22] 15 Ireland (IRMA)[23] 2 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[24] 8 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[25] 7 New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)[26] 1 Norway (VG-lista)[27] 5 Singapore (Billboard)[28] 1 South Africa (Billboard)[29] 3 Sweden (Kvällstoppen)[30] 7 UK Singles (OCC)[31] 1 US Cash Box Top 100[32] 1 US Cash Box R&B[33] 1 US Billboard Hot 100[34] 1 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[35] 1 US Record World 100 Top Pops[36] 1 US Record World Top 40 R&B[37] 1 Chart (1974) Peak position Ireland (IRMA)[23] 16 UK Singles (OCC)[31] 12 Chart (2012) Peak position UK Physical Singles (OCC)[38] 6

Year-end charts Chart (1964) Rank Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[39] 77 UK Singles (OCC)[40] 28 US Billboard Hot 100[41] 33 Chart (1965) Rank Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[42] 79 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[43] 71 US Cash Box Top 100[44] 100 US Cashbox R&B[45] 45

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[46] Sales since 2004	Platinum	600,000^‡
United States (RIAA)[49]	Gold	1,000,000[47][48]
^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

• In 1981, British singer and actress, Honey Bane covered the song with record label Zonophone (EMI).^[50] The single peaked at #58 on the UK music charts.^[51]
• In 1986, Serbian and Yugoslav singer Bebi Dol released a cover of the song on the 12-inch single "Rudi".^[52]

See also

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

References

1. 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. Vol. 76, no. 44. Nielsen Company. 1964. p. 18. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
3. "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Vol. 76, no. 45. Nielsen Company. 1964. p. 18. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
4. "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Vol. 76, no. 46. Nielsen Company. 1964. p. 24. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
5. "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Vol. 76, no. 47. Nielsen Company. 1964. p. 22. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
6. "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. RollingStone.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved June 19, 2008.
7. "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. September 15, 2021.
8. "The Top 100 Digital Motown Chart". BBC. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
9. Hogan, Ed. "Baby Love". Allmusic. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
10. Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits. New York: Billboard Books. p. 159. ISBN 0823076776. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
11. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 558.
12. "Singles Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. September 26, 1964. p. 18. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
13. "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. October 3, 1964. p. 12. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
14. Simpson, Dave (July 15, 2014). "The Supremes: how we made Baby Love". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
15. Liner notes. The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 4: 1964, Hip-O Select – B0005946-02, USA, February 24, 2006
16. "The Supremes: how we made Baby Love". The Guardian. July 15, 2014.
17. Jones, Laurence (January 20, 2019). "The Middle Finger Of Mike Terry: 40 Tunes Beating Motown At Their Own Game".
18. "Every Unique AMR Top 100 Single of the 1964". Top 100 Singles. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
19. "The Supremes – Baby Love" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
20. "The Supremes – Baby Love" (in French). Ultratop 50.
21. "TOP 40 &5" (PDF). RPM. November 23, 1964. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 12, 2023. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
22. "The Supremes – Baby Love" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
23. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – The Supremes". Irish Singles Chart.
24. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Supremes The" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
25. "The Supremes – Baby Love" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
26. "Lever hit parades: 10-Dec-1964". Flavour of New Zealand.
27. "The Supremes – Baby Love". VG-lista.
28. "Billboard HITS OF THE WORLD". Billboard. January 16, 1965. p. 19.
29. "Billboard HITS OF THE WORLD". Billboard. January 23, 1965. p. 22.
30. "Supremes - Se alla lȧtar och listplaceringer - NostalgiListan". Kvällstoppen (in Swedish). Retrieved January 30, 2022 – via nostalgilistan.se.
31. "Supremes: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
32. "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles". Cashbox. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
33. "The CASH BOX Top 50 In R&B Locations". Cashbox. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
34. "The Supremes Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
35. "The Supremes Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.
36. "100 TOP POPS: Week of November 7, 1964" (PDF). Record World. worldradiohistory.com. November 7, 1964. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
37. "TOP 40 R&B: Week of November 7, 1964" (PDF). Record World. worldradiohistory.com. November 7, 1964. p. 85. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
38. "Official Physical Singles Chart on 8/7/2012 | Official Charts". Official Charts Company. July 8, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
39. "Jaaroverzichten 1964". Ultratop. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
40. "Top 100 1964 - UK Music Charts". Uk-charts.top-source.info. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
41. "TOP RECORDS OF 1964". Billboard. January 2, 1965. p. 6. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
42. "Jaaroverzichten 1965". Ultratop. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
43. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1965". Dutch Top 40 (in Dutch). Retrieved January 30, 2022.
44. "Top 100 Year End Charts: 1965". Cashbox Magazine. Archived from the original on October 5, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
45. "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1965". Cashbox. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
46. "British single certifications – Supremes – Baby Love". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
47. Joseph Murrells (1984). Million Selling Records from the 1900s to the 1980s: An Illustrated Directory. B.T. Batsford. p. 199. ISBN 9780713438437. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
48. Make It Big - First girl vocal trio to make million-seller record list with three consecutive hits. Ebony. Vol. 20. Johnson Publishing Company. June 1965. p. 81. ISSN 0012-9011. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
49. "American single certifications – Diana Ross & The Supremes – Baby Love". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
50. "Biography". Honey Bane - Official Website. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
51. "Honey Bane Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 27, 2022.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
52. Janjatović, Petar (2024). Ex YU rock enciklopedija 1960–2023. Belgrade: self-released / Makart. p. 30.

External links

• The Supremes - Baby Love on YouTube