Love’s Theme (Song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Love’s Theme” | |
|---|---|
| |
| Single by the Love Unlimited Orchestra | |
| from the album Under the Influence of… Love Unlimited and Rhapsody in White | |
| B-side | “Sweet Moments” |
| Released | November 1973 |
| Recorded | 1973 |
| Studio | Whitney Recording Studios (Glendale, CA) |
| Genre | Philly soulproto-disco |
| Length | 3:30 (single)4:08 (album) |
| Label | 20th Century/Pye International |
| Songwriter | Barry White |
| Producer | Barry White |
| The Love Unlimited Orchestra singles chronology | |
| “Love’s Theme“ (1973)”Rhapsody in White” (1974) | |
| Music video | |
| Love Unlimited Orchestra – Love’s Theme (live at TopPop) on YouTube | |
“Love’s Theme” is an instrumental piece written by Barry White in 1965 but recorded and released as a single by White’s Love Unlimited Orchestra in late 1973. It was one of the few instrumental and purely orchestral singles to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, which it did in early 1974. Billboard ranked it as #3 on the Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1974. Over the years, “Love’s Theme” became one of the best-selling pop instrumentals of all time.
Background and release
The song 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 the Love Unlimited Orchestra. Love Unlimited would re-release the song for their subsequent album, In Heat (1974), only this time with different orchestral arrangements and lyrics written by Aaron Schroeder.
The recording (with a large string orchestra, modified guitar and big rhythm section) is considered to be an influence on the disco sound, which would increase in popularity the following year. The song was also popular on the Adult Contemporary chart in the United States, spending two weeks at #1, and was also a #1 on the Cash Box chart.
For several years, a shortened version of the original instrumental release was used in the opening sequence of the television golf PGA Tour on ABC broadcasting program.
In Canada, the single was similarly successful, being a #1 on the RPM 100 National Singles Chart on March 2, 1974. “Love’s Theme” was sampled by the Italian group Black Box in their 1989 song “Ride on Time“.
Legacy
In 1975–76, WPIX-TV in New York would end its 10:00pm broadcast of Harper News (later Action News) with “Love’s Theme”. It was also used as the boarding music for Cathay Pacific during the 1980s and as the theme song of the Brazilian soap opera Celebridade.
Since 2000, it has been the theme song for the Italian talk show C’è posta per te, on air on Canale 5. The 2024 PBS series Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution explores the importance of “Love’s Theme” to the history of disco music.
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
| Chart (1973–1974) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Argentina | 8 |
| Australia (Kent Music Report) | 9 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) | 7 |
| Canada Top Singles (RPM) | 1 |
| Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM) | 5 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100) | 7 |
| New Zealand (Listener) | 12 |
| South Africa (Springbok Radio) | 1 |
| UK Singles (OCC) | 10 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| US Easy Listening (Billboard) | 1 |
| US Hot Soul Singles (Billboard) | 10 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (1974) | Rank |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report) | 66 |
| Canada | 25 |
| South Africa | 10 |
| US Billboard Easy Listening | 6 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 3 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA) | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
| ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Love’s Theme” | |
|---|---|
| Side-A label of the U.S. vinyl release | |
| Single by The Love Unlimited Orchestra | |
| from the album Under the Influence of… Love Unlimited and Rhapsody in White | |
| B-side | “Sweet Moments” |
| Released | November 1973 |
| Recorded | 1973 |
| Genre | Philly soulproto-disco |
| Length | (Single) 3:30 (Album) 4:08 |
| Label | 20th Century/Pye International |
| Songwriter(s) | Barry White |
| Producer(s) | Barry White |
| The Love Unlimited Orchestra singles chronology | |
| “Love’s Theme“ (1973)”Rhapsody in White” (1974) |
“Love’s Theme” is an instrumental piece written by Barry White and recorded by White’s The Love Unlimited Orchestra and released in 1973 as a single. It is one of the few instrumental and purely orchestral singles to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, which it did in early 1974. Billboard ranked it as the #3 song for 1974. 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 the Love Unlimited Orchestra.
The recording, with a large string orchestra, wah-wah guitar, and big rhythm, is considered to be an influence on 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 it spent two weeks at #1. It also was a number one on Cash Box. 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. In Canada, the single saw similar success, reaching #1 on the RPM 100 National Singles Chart on March 2, 1974.
In addition, “Love’s Theme” was also recorded in a vocal version by Love Unlimited (on their 1974 album In Heat).
Andy Williams released a vocal version in May 1974 that reached #16 on the adult contemporary chart in the United States.
| Andy Williams Chart (1974) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Adult Contemporary (Billboard) | 16 |
Enoch Light recorded an electro-disco instrumental version 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.
The Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways used the music for their TV advertisements.
It was also featured briefly in Mean Girls, Despicable Me 2, El Cantante, Goodbye Bruce Lee: His Last Game of Death and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.
Seven Network‘s music video show: Sounds Unlimited used the song as its opening and closing theme. Also, it was used as the opening theme for the Brazilian telenovela Celebridade.
LOVE’S THEME – HOLLAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Love Theme, Orquesta Real de Xalapa, Esencial
Frankie & Canthina Band – The Place Roma – Love’s Theme
Love Theme may refer to :
Music
- “Love’s Theme” by the Love Unlimited Orchestra, 1973
- “The Love Theme” by John Barry from Dances with Wolves (soundtrack), 1990
- “Love Theme” by Carmine Coppola from the soundtrack of Apocalypse Now Redux, 2001
- “Love Theme” by Danny Elfman from Batman (score), 1989
- “Love Theme” by Manfred Mann from Up the Junction (soundtrack), 1968
- “Love Theme” by Ennio Morricone from the soundtrack of Cinema Paradiso, 1988
- “Love Theme” by Shogo Sakai from the soundtrack of Mother 3, 2006
- The love theme of Romeo and Juliet (Tchaikovsky), first published in 1870 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- “Love Theme” by Vangelis from Blade Runner (soundtrack), 1994
- “Love Theme from Closer to Grey” by Chromatics, 2019
- “Love Theme from The Godfather” by Nino Rota, 1972
- “Love Theme from KISS” from Kiss (Kiss album), 1974
- “Love Theme from Oliver’s Story” by Francis Lai from the soundtrack of Oliver’s Story, 1978
- “Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet” by Nino Rota, 1969
- “Love Theme from The Sandpiper” by Jack Sheldon, 1965
- “Love Theme from A Star Is Born” by Barbra Streisand, 1976
- “Love Theme from St. Elmo’s Fire” by David Foster, 1985
- “Love Theme from Sunflower” by Henry Mancini from the soundtrack of Sunflower (1970 film)
- “Love Theme from Superman” by John Williams from the music of Superman, 1979
- “Love Theme from True Stories” by David Byrne from Sounds from True Stories, 1986
- “Love Theme from Twin Peaks” by Angelo Badalamenti from Soundtrack from Twin Peaks, 1990
- “The Man Who Married a Robot / Love Theme” by The 1975, 2018
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