Monday, January 23, 2017

Song #152: "Love Will Keep Us Together"--Captain & Tennille (1975)

Today, it's the story of my first major crush. And when I say major, I mean MAJOR.

The world learned that "Sedaka was back" when Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille released what would become the #1 song of 1975, dominating radio over the summer with "Love Will Keep Us Together". Neil Sedaka wrote a lot of great tunes over the decades, but I think this is his best work.

It put him back in the top songwriters conversation after being out of the loop for awhile, and happened as his solo career had rebounded with "Laughter In The Rain" and other hits, including a duet with Elton John, "Bad Blood".

If you break down today's song, the music is perfect for its time, Toni's vocals are unreal, the pacing rocks, there's just no weakness to this one. And its wild success made Captain & Tennille household figures, as they premiered their own variety show on ABC one year later.

By then, my crush on Toni was based on album covers, her voice and some TV appearances. Now, every Monday night, I got to watch her on TV for an hour. Heaven at nine years old.  :)

Looking back, I can't believe that this is the only C&T song in our countdown. There were so many other songs of theirs I listened to so many times in the mid to late 1970's, but none of the others broke out like the song that, well, broke them out and made them major stars.

This one's for you, Toni!  Thanks for the incredible music and memories.  :)

NOTE: Five months from today, we reveal the #1 song!


No comments: