Love Will Keep Us Together

Album

Dark Before Dawn

Label

A&M Records

Genre

Soul

Composer(s)

Neil Sedak;Howard Greenfield

Entered Chart

Apr 19, 1975

Peak Date

Jun 21, 1975

Released

April 1975

Recorded

1975

Catalog #

A&M 1672

B-Side

Gentle Stranger

Sung by the married couple Captain & Tennille, "Love Will Keep Us Together" is an affirmation that they will always be together, no matter what sweet-talking girl comes along. But to the writers, it had a different meaning. Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield wrote the song in 1973 during their last songwriting session together. They had been working together since their high school days, and in the late '50s and early '60s were one of the most formidable songwriting teams in New York, with huge hits for Connie Francis and for Sedaka as a solo artist. Greenfield was moving to California, so to them, the song was about their close personal and professional relationship. "We both cried after we wrote it," Sedaka said. Neil Sedaka was the first to record the song, initially releasing it as a single in France in 1973. In 1974, he included it on his popular comeback album, Sedaka's Back. Toni Tennille loved the song when she first heard it, and in 1975 Captain & Tennille released it as their first major-label single (they had just gotten a deal with A&M Records). It became the title track of their first album and their signature song. Daryl Dragon (The Captain) was formerly a keyboard player for The Beach Boys, and wanted "I Write The Songs," written by Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys, released as their first single. That song ended up on the album, but was not issued as a single. Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille kept together for nearly 40 years. Both came from musical families and had some success before they teamed up, both professionally and romantically. They did very well as a team, but in 2014 this item was posted on their website, explaining that Toni had met with a divorce attorney: The Captain & Tennille appeared to the public as them being the ideal model for a "rock-solid" married pair. But almost all people naturally evolve over time, & sometimes hidden feelings start to be uncovered when one may read, just a little more into (the popularized, substitute heading appearing just below), stating, for instance: "Music Has Kept Them Together." Neil Sedaka was enjoying a startling comeback when Captain & Tennille turned this song into a mammoth hit. When he wrote it in 1973, he hadn't cracked the Top 40 in a decade and had moved his family to England, where he was having more success. He kept writing songs, and when he had enough for an album, Elton John agreed to release it on the new label he founded, Rocket Records. That album was Sedaka's Back, and the first single was "Laughter In The Rain," which went to #1 US in February 1975. He didn't release "Love Will Keep Us Together" as a single because he had already issued it in France, and he liked his song "The Immigrant," which became the follow-up single, reaching #22 in May. Captain & Tennille's version of "Love Will Keep Us Together" shot to #1 in June, where it stayed for four weeks. Sedaka followed with "Bad Blood," which went to #1 in October. So yeah, 1975 worked out pretty well for him. His return to America was triumphant. "The next time I went to Los Angeles, it was to headline at the Troubadour," he told Bruce Pollock. "I took over the town." He added: "The crowning touch was winning the BMI award for Most Performed Song of the Year, on the Captain & Tennille's recording of 'Love Will Keep Us Together.' It was the dream of a lifetime. I mean, I'd been going to that BMI dinner since I was a kid. I got six awards in one year, including the Most Performed Song of 1975, beating out 'Rhinestone Cowboy.'" As a tribute to Neil Sedaka, Toni Tennille sings "Sedaka is back" in the fadeout of the song. >> According to Billboard, this was the biggest hit of 1975, with more weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 (four) than any other song. It was also a #1 hit for a week on the Adult Contemporary chart, and the BMI-certified most-played song on American radio. Their next four singles all topped the Adult Contemporary chart, and in 1980 they had another Hot 100 chart-topper with "Do That to Me One More Time," which was written by Toni Tennille. Toni Tennille had to bend the lyrics to make it appropriate for a girl to sing to a guy. In Sedaka's original, he sings: Think of me babe, whenever Some sweet-talking guy comes along Singing his song This won the 1975 Grammy for Record of the Year. On August 16, 1975, as the English version was going down the Hot 100 chart, Captain & Tennille had a Spanish version of the same song ("Por Amor Viviremos") enter the chart. It was the only time an act had two versions of the same song - in different languages and on different singles - simultaneously on the Hot 100. Their entire Love Will Keep Us Together album was entirely re-recorded in Spanish and released. In addition, some reissues of the English version LP had the title track in both languages. A&M identified these versions with stickers on the shrink wrap. You can tip your sailor cap to Daryl Dragon (The Captain) for the term "yacht rock," which came into vogue in the 2010s as a way to describe mellow but uplifting music from the '70s and early '80s. With his seafaring moniker and getup, he made the link between this kind of music and the yachting lifestyle - or at least the archetype. "Love Will Keep Us Together" is one of the best known songs in the genre. The seminal British group Joy Division released a song in 1980 called "Love Will Tear Us Apart," which was a take-off on this song from the perspective of a depressed individual. It was for real: the lyric was written by Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis, who was in a state of despair. Curtis killed himself before the song was released. This was the last big hit that Hal Blaine, the prolific West Coast drummer who hit the skins on tracks for Sonny & Cher, The 5th Dimension, The Mamas & The Papas, Barbra Streisand and many others, played on. Nickelback recorded a cover of this song in 2001 for the Andrew Denton Breakfast show's Musical Challenge on Sydney radio station triple M. >> This was featured in the 2001 movie Get Over It, starring Ben Foster, Kirsten Dunst, and Sisqo. It was played as the opening song to his musical dream montage. In the montage, he walks home with a box of things his recent ex-girlfriend gave him back. As he walks along, Vitamin C (the singer) starts "singing" this song and eventually more and more people continue to follow him, making a street parade. >>

Love
Love will keep us together
Think of me babe, whenever
Some sweet-talking girl comes along, singing her song
Don't mess around, you've just got to be strong, just stop
'Cause I really love you, stop
I'll be thinking of you
Look in my heart and let love keep us together

You
You belong to me now
Ain't gonna set you free now
When those girl start hanging around talking me down
Hear with your heart and you won't hear a sound, just stop (stop)
'Cause I really love you, stop (stop)
I'll be thinking of you
Look in my heart and let love keep us together

Whatever
Young and beautiful
But someday your looks will be gone
When the others turn you off
Who'll be turning you on?

I will, I will, I will
I will be there to share forever
Love will keep us together
I said it before and I'll say it again while others pretend
I need you now and I'll need you then, just stop (stop)
'Cause I really love you, stop (stop)
I'll be thinking of you
Look in my heart and let love keep us together

Whatever, ba-ba-ba-ba-ba, whatever
I will, I will, I will, I will

You better stop
'Cause I really love you, stop (stop)
I'll be thinking of you
Look in my heart and let love keep us together
Whatever, ba-ba-ba-ba-ba, whatever
I will, I will, I will, I will