"A World Without Love" is a song recorded by the British duo

Peter and Gordon Peter and Gordon were a British pop duo, composed of Peter Asher (b. 1944) and Gordon Waller (1945–2009), who achieved international fame in 1964 with their first single, the million-selling single "A World Without Love". The duo had several ...

and released as their first single in February 1964. It was included on the duo's debut album in the UK, and in the US on an album of the same name. The song was written by

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

and attributed to

Lennon–McCartney Lennon–McCartney was the songwriting partnership between English musicians John Lennon (1940–1980) and Paul McCartney (born 1942) of the Beatles. It is the best-known and most successful musical collaboration ever by records sold, with the ...

.Peter & Gordon - World Without Love
norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved June 4, 2018. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

was "If I Were You", written by Peter and Gordon. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, the song reached No. 1 on both the ''

Record Retailer ''Record Retailer'' was the only music trade newspaper for the UK record industry. It was founded in August 1959 as a monthly newspaper covering both labels and dealers. Its founding editor was Roy Parker (who died on 27 December 1964). The title ...

'' chartPeter and Gordon - Full Official Chart History
''

Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...

''. Accessed July 26, 2016. and the ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' chart.Hits of the World
, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', May 9, 1964. p. 30. Accessed July 26, 2016. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, "A World Without Love" topped both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' Top 100. The song also reached No. 1 on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

, No. 1 on

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's "Lever Hit Parade","Lever Hit Parade" 28-May-1964
''Flavour of New Zealand''. Accessed July 27, 2016. No. 2 in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and No. 8 on Norway's ''VG''-lista.

Background

McCartney wrote the song when he was 16. When he moved into the London home of his then-girlfriend

Jane Asher Jane Asher (born 5 April 1946)The International Who's Who of Women, 3rd edition, ed. Elizabeth Sleeman, Europa Publications, 2002, p. 29 is an English actress and author. She achieved early fame as a child actress and has worked extensively in f ...

in 1963, sharing a room with her brother

Peter Asher Peter Asher, (born 22 June 1944) is an English guitarist, singer, manager and record producer. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the pop music vocal duo Peter and Gordon before going on to a successful career as a manager and r ...

, Asher asked him if he could use the song after Asher and

Gordon Waller Gordon Trueman Riviere Waller (4 June 1945 – 17 July 2009) was a Scottish guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known as Gordon of the 1960s pop music duo Peter and Gordon, whose biggest hit was the no. 1 million-selling single "A World Wit ...

had signed a recording contract as

. McCartney described

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

's reaction to the song: "The funny first line always used to please John. 'Please lock me away –' 'Yes, okay.' End of song." Lennon said of the song that "I think that was resurrected from the past. ... I think he had that whole song before the Beatles. ... That has the line 'Please lock me away' that we always used to crack up at." McCartney did not think the song was good enough for

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

. As such, the song was never released by the Beatles, and the only known recording of the song by any member of the Beatles is the original

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

of the song performed by McCartney, which is now in the possession of Peter Asher. In January 2013, Paul McCartney's demo was posted to YouTube. The clip was played at Asher's most recent string of concerts. It is one of two songs credited to Lennon–McCartney to reach number one in the US by an artist other than the Beatles.Songs written by John Lennon
''MusicVF''.com. Accessed July 26, 2016. The other is "

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. It was written primarily by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partners ...

" (which was recorded by the Beatles but not released as a single), covered by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

in 1974. " Bad to Me", written by Lennon and McCartney in 1963, was given to

Billy J. Kramer William Howard Ashton (born 19 August 1943), known professionally as Billy J. Kramer, is an English pop singer. With The Dakotas, Kramer was managed by Brian Epstein during the 1960s and scored hits with several Lennon–McCartney composition ...

and reached number 1 in the UK, but it failed to do so in the US. Before giving the song to Peter and Gordon, McCartney offered "A World Without Love" to Kramer, who rejected it. The song was one of the seven number ones credited to Lennon-McCartney that charted in the US in 1964, an all-time songwriting record for most songs to top the US charts in a calendar year. ''

'' described it as "a tantalizing, easy-beat thumper." The lead guitarist on this recording is studio musician

Vic Flick Vic (; es, Vic or Pancracio Celdrán (2004). Diccionario de topónimos españoles y sus gentilicios (5ª edición). Madrid: Espasa Calpe. p. 843. ISBN 978-84-670-3054-9. «Vic o Vich (viquense, vigitano, vigatán, ausense, ausetano, ausonense) ...

who also played the guitar lick for the

James Bond Theme The "James Bond Theme" is the main signature theme music of the James Bond films and has featured in every Eon Productions#James Bond series, Eon Productions Bond film since ''Dr. No (film), Dr. No'', released in 1962. Composed by Monty Norman ...

. "A World Without Love" is one of

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and ...

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Bobby Rydell version

A cover version by

Bobby Rydell Robert Louis Ridarelli (April 26, 1942 – April 5, 2022), known by the stage name Bobby Rydell, was an American singer and actor who mainly performed rock and roll and traditional pop music. In the early 1960s he was considered a teen idol. His ...

released May 1964 was a strong regional hit in many markets. It reached No. 80 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 2 in a tandem ranking with the Peter and Gordon version on the ''

'' Top 100, before Rydell's name was dropped from the entry. In Canada, Rydell's version reached No. 9 co-charting with the Peter and Gordon version. In his native

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

the paired versions reached No. 1, while in the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

market Rydell's version reached No. 4 to the exclusion of the Peter and Gordon original. In

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Rydell's version reached No. 10 on the WLS "Silver Dollar Survey", in a tandem ranking with the Peter and Gordon version, while reaching No. 13 independently. Rydell's version also reached No. 5 in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

and No. 9 in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Other versions

In 1964,

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful ...

released a version of the song on the album ''

A Bit of Liverpool ''A Bit of Liverpool'', released as ''With Love (From Us to You)'' in the UK, is the third studio album by the Supremes, released in the fall of 1964 on the Motown label. It was produced by Berry Gordy with Hal Davis and Marc Gordon doing the mi ...

''. Their version was a hit in some countries in Southeast Asia, reaching No. 7 in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Del Shannon Charles Weedon Westover (December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990), better known by his stage name Del Shannon, was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known for his 1961 number-one '' Billboard'' hit " Runaway". In 1999, he was ind ...

recorded a cover on his 1964 album ''Handy Man''.

Patty Duke Anna Marie "Patty" Duke (December 14, 1946 – March 29, 2016) was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her acting career, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Aw ...

recorded a version on her 1965 debut album ''Don't Just Stand There''.

Terry Black Terry Black (February 3, 1949 – June 28, 2009) was a Canadian pop singer and teen idol, born in Vancouver, British Columbia. Career Black's debut U.S. single, " Unless You Care", was released in 1964, when Black was 15. The song was writ ...

released a version of the song on his 1965 debut album, '' Only 16''.

The Mavericks The Mavericks are an American country music band from Miami, Florida. The band consists of Raul Malo (lead vocals, guitar), Paul Deakin (drums), Eddie Perez (lead guitar), and Jerry Dale McFadden (keyboards). Malo and Deakin founded the band in ...

released a version of the song on their 1999 compilation album '' Super Colossal Smash Hits of the 90's: The Best of The Mavericks''.

Notes

References

* * *

External links

World Without Love
at JPGR.org * {{DEFAULTSORT:World Without Love, A 1964 songs 1964 debut singles Songs written by Lennon–McCartney The Beatles songs Peter and Gordon songs Terry Black songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in New Zealand Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Capitol Records singles Columbia Graphophone Company singles