Peak
1
Weeks
21
Score
4,238
Chart Year
1976
Chicago's bass player Peter Cetera wrote this and sang lead. Cetera specialized in ballads, adding variety to the band's sound which featured many more rock-oriented songs, often written by Terry Kath or Robert Lamm. Cetera's ballads quickly became the band's biggest hits, with "If You Leave Me Now" their most successful song to that point, topping the charts in the US and UK. Of course, their record company wanted more of where that came from and kept pushing the Cetera songs - the big hit from their next album was his tune "Baby What a Big Surprise." The group found a new audience and became much more successful, but they also got earmarked as a soft rock group, which took the focus away from their grittier, horn-heavy songs. This became a point of contention for Chicago's famed section, especially trombone player James Pankow, who recalls constant battles to get the horns higher in the mix from that point forward. When Cetera left Chicago in 1985, his hits didn't stop: In 1986, "Glory Of Love" went to #1 US and his duet with Amy Grant, "The Next Time I Fall," made it to #4. Lyrically, this is a surprisingly simple song, but it does have an unusual structure. Depending on how you look at it, there's either no chorus, or it's all chorus. The song opens with the title line, which is also the hook: If you leave me now, you'll take away the biggest part of me The next line gives Peter Cetera a chance to show off his vocal range, and makes it clear that he is full-on pleading: Ooooh no, baby please don't go The title then returns, but with another consequence: If you leave me now, you'll take away the very heart of me The rest of the song is Cetera making his case for why the girl shouldn't leave, in very histrionic fashion. He wrote the words around the melody, which he composed first. Cetera is very good at composing songs that push emotional extremes, and these songs are well suited to his voice, which can reach the notes to accentuate these feelings. Considering their longevity and success, it's surprising how Chicago has been spurned by both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Grammys. The band's only Grammy award came for this song, when it won for Best Pop Vocal Performance By a Duo, Group or Chorus. The song also won the award for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s), which went to James William Guercio and Jimmie Haskell. This was the first Chicago single to feature an acoustic guitar lead. It was played by the band's manager, James William Guercio, who produced the track. Guercio is an accomplished musician who before working on this song had toured with The Beach Boys as a bass player. On "If You Leave Me Now," he played the acoustic guitar part as a demo, figuring their regular guitarist, Terry Kath, would put down the proper track when he was available. The band thought Guercio's part sounded great, so they left it on the record. In the UK, this was Chicago's only #1 hit. In Britain, the group had nowhere near the success they had in America. They wouldn't make the Top 40 on the UK chart again until 1982 with "Hard to Say I'm Sorry." Jimmie Haskell did the string arrangement on this song along with producer James William Guercio. Haskell had done a lot of work scoring films, and was able to bring a cinematic quality to the sound.
If you leave me now You'll take away the biggest part of me Ooh-ooh, no, baby please don't go And if you leave me now You'll take away the very heart of me Ooh-ooh, no, baby please don't go Ooh-ooh, girl, I just want you to stay A love like ours is love that's hard to find How could we let it slip away? We've come too far to leave it all behind How could we end it all this way? When tomorrow comes and we'll both regret The things we said today A love like ours is love that's hard to find How could we let it slip away? We've come too far to leave it all behind How could we end it all this way? When tomorrow comes and we'll both regret The things we said today If you leave me now You'll take away the biggest part of me Ooh-ooh, no, baby please don't go Ooh, girl, just got to have you by my side Ooh-ooh, no, baby please don't go Ooh, my, my, I just got to have your loving (hey, hey)
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aug 14, 1976 | 60 | 66 |
| 2 | Aug 21, 1976 | 28 | 98 |
| 3 | Aug 28, 1976 | 24 | 102 |
| 4 | Sep 4, 1976 | 18 | 108 |
| 5 | Sep 11, 1976 | 11 | 115 |
| 6 | Sep 18, 1976 | 9 | 117 |
| 7 | Sep 25, 1976 | 8 | 118 |
| 8 | Oct 2, 1976 | 8 | 118 |
| 9 | Oct 9, 1976 | 5 | 121 |
| 10 | Oct 16, 1976 | 4 | 122 |
| 11 | Oct 23, 1976 | 1 | 125 |
| 12 | Oct 30, 1976 | 1 | 125 |
| 13 | Nov 6, 1976 | 4 | 122 |
| 14 | Nov 13, 1976 | 7 | 119 |
| 15 | Nov 20, 1976 | 16 | 110 |
| 16 | Nov 27, 1976 | 25 | 101 |
| 17 | Dec 4, 1976 | 29 | 97 |
| 18 | Dec 11, 1976 | 37 | 89 |
| 19 | Dec 18, 1976 | 81 | 45 |
| 20 | Dec 25, 1976 | 81 | 45 |