Baby Love

"Baby Love" is a 1964 song recorded by American music group the Supremes for the Motown label.[1]

Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland (H–D–H), the song topped the Billboard pop singles chart in the United States from October 25, 1964 through November 21, 1964,[3][4][5][6] and in the United Kingdom pop singles chart concurrently. 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.[7]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Overview 2 Personnel 3 Chart history 3.1 Weekly charts 3.2 Year-end charts 4 Cover versions

History
Overview

At the insistence of Berry Gordy hoping for a follow-up chart-topper, H–D–H produced "Baby Love" was produced to sound elementarily like "Where Did Our Love Go;" elements 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 were reincorporated into the single. 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). The group made their debut television performance in the United Kingdom on the popular BBC program Top of the Pops on Thursday, October 15, 1964.[8]

It was also 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.[9] 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.[10] 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; Stevie Wonder is currently in second place with ten number-one singles.

"Baby Love" was included on the Supremes' second studio album, Where Did Our Love Go, and was later included on the soundtrack to the 1975 feature film Cooley High. It was nominated for the 1965 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording, losing to Nancy Wilson's "How Glad I Am".

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

Chart history
Weekly charts

Chart (1964-65)

Peak position

U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [11] 1 U.S. Cash Box R&B Singles Chart 1 U.S. Cash Box Pop Singles Chart 1 UK Singles Chart[12] 1 Norwegian VG-lista 5 Dutch MegaCharts 7

Year-end charts

Chart (1965)

Rank

U.S. Billboard [13] 10 U.S. Cash Box [14] 100 UK [15] 28

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[16] covered the song as well. In 2000, Erasure recorded a cover of Baby Love that was included in the album Motown Mania and later rerealesed in their EP Moon & the Sky. In 2002, British singer Emma Bunton covered the song on Party at the Palace DVD.