Tony Romeo
Tony Romeo (December 25, 1938 – June 23, 1995) was an American songwriter. (obituary), ''The New York Times'', June 26 ...
, written as the debut
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
for fictional musical TV family
the Partridge Family
''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a music career. It ran from Se ...
, released in August 1970, a month prior to the debut of the ABC-TV musical sitcom ''
The Partridge Family
''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a music career. It ran from Se ...
'' starring
Shirley Jones
Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as ''Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel'' (1956), and ''The M ...
and featuring
David Cassidy
David Bruce Cassidy (April 12, 1950 – November 21, 2017) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was best known for his role as Keith Partridge, the son of Shirley Partridge (played by his stepmother, Shirley Jones), in t ...
, both of whom appear on the record, with Cassidy as lead vocalist. The single topped ''Billboard'''s
Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
for three weeks in November and December 1970 and later was certified by
NARM NARM was the National Association of Recording Merchandisers, now renamed as the Music Business Association. NARM may also refer to:
*North American Reciprocal Museums
*North American Registry of Midwives, a certifying organization for Midwifery#Ce ...
as the best-selling single of 1970.
The single also reached number one in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
on the ''
RPM 100
''RPM'' ( and later ) was a Canadian music-industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. ''R ...
'' national Top Singles chart in November 1970, and in 1971 peaked at number one in Australia.
Background and release
The single, which was produced by
Wes Farrell
Wes Farrell (December 21, 1939 – February 29, 1996) was an American musician, songwriter and record producer, who was most active in the 1960s and 1970s.
Career
Farrell was born in New York, United States. Farrell's catalogue includes clos ...
and issued on
Bell Records
Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny ...
, featured twice on the TV show during the record's seven-week climb to number one on ''Billboard'''s Hot 100. Cassidy lip-synched his performance, as he did for all songs throughout the four-year series. As with all of the Partridge Family's studio output, the single features musicians associated with iconic Los Angeles-based session players " the Wrecking Crew":
Dennis Budimir
Dennis Matthew Budimir (June 20, 1938 – January 2023) was an American jazz and rock guitarist. He was considered to be a member of The Wrecking Crew.
Biography
Budimir learned to play piano and guitar in his youth and first played professio ...
,
Louie Shelton
William Louis Shelton (born April 6, 1941) is an American guitarist and music producer.
Biography
During the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s Shelton was a session musician working in recording studios around Hollywood. Among his more notable session wo ...
,
Tommy Tedesco
Thomas Joseph Tedesco (July 3, 1930 – November 10, 1997) was an American guitarist and studio musician in Los Angeles and Hollywood. He was part of the loose collective of the area's leading session musicians later popularly known as The Wrec ...
,
Joe Osborn
Joseph Osborn (August 28, 1937 – December 14, 2018Max Bennett,
Larry Knechtel
Lawrence William Knechtel (August 4, 1940 – August 20, 2009) was an American keyboard player and bassist who was a member of the Wrecking Crew, a collection of Los Angeles-based session musicians who worked with such renowned artists as Simon ...
,
Mike Melvoin
Mike Melvoin (May 10, 1937February 22, 2012) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He served as chairman and president of The Recording Academy and worked as a prolific studio musician, recording with Frank Sinatra, John Lennon, ...
, and
Hal Blaine
Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. ...
. And members of overlapping studio groups the
Ron Hicklin Singers
The Ron Hicklin Singers were a group of Los Angeles studio singers contracted and organized by Ron Hicklin. They are mostly known as the real singers behind the background vocals on The Partridge Family recordings.
In Los Angeles studio circles i ...
and
the Love Generation
The Love Generation was an American pop rock band from the 1960s. The band was together from 1967 to 1969.
History
The Love Generation was founded by brothers John Bahler and Tom Bahler. The group was active from 1967 to 1969. John and Tom were ...
– brothers
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
and
Tom Bahler
Thomas Lee Bahler (also spelled Bähler; born June 1, 1943) is an American singer, composer, songwriter, arranger, producer, and author. He is the younger brother of singer, arranger, conductor and composer John Bahler. Bahler is most known for ...
(also spelled Bähler),
Ron Hicklin
The Ron Hicklin Singers were a group of Los Angeles studio singers contracted and organized by Ron Hicklin. They are mostly known as the real singers behind the background vocals on The Partridge Family recordings.
In Los Angeles studio circles i ...
, and
Jackie Ward
Jackie Ward (born Jacqueline McDonnell, 1941), better known as Robin Ward, is an American singer, regarded as a "one-hit wonder" of 1963 million-selling song "Wonderful Summer". However, using her real name she was highly accomplished and s ...
– feature as backing vocalists, as they do on all successive Partridge Family recordings.
''
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 ...
'' said of the song that "attractive sound side and material curries favorable attention from all types of pop programmers."
Four million copies of the single release were sold.
The Partridge Family version of the song is used prominently throughout the 2020
DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division ...
Tenacious D
Tenacious D is an American comedy rock duo formed in Los Angeles, California in 1994. It was founded by actors Jack Black and Kyle Gass, who were members of The Actors' Gang theater company at the time. The duo's name is derived from "tenacio ...
being performed during the film's ending credits.
Chart performance
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
All-time charts
Voice of the Beehive version
In 1991, Anglo-American
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
band
Voice of the Beehive
Voice of the Beehive are an English American, Anglo-American Alternative rock, alternative pop rock band formed in London in 1986.
The group featured Californian lead vocalist sisters Tracey Bryn and Melissa Brooke Belland (daughters of The ...
recorded "I Think I Love You" for their second studio album, '' Honey Lingers'' (1991). Issued through
London Records
London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...
, it was released as the second single from the album on September 16, 1991, and was produced by
Don Was
Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was, is an American musician, record producer and record executive. Primarily a bass player, Was co-founded the funk-rock band Was (Not Was). In later years he produced s ...
. Their version of the song peaked at number 25 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
in October 1991. The single also reached number 12 on the
Australian Singles Chart
The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
in March 1992.
Track listings
7-inch and cassette single, Australasian CD single
# "I Think I Love You"
# "Something About God"
12-inch single
:A1. "I Think I Love You" (Orgy mix)
:A2. "Say It"
:A3. "
Don't Call Me Baby
"Don't Call Me Baby" is a song by Australian house music duo Madison Avenue, taken as the first single from their only studio album, ''The Polyester Embassy'' (2000). Written by Cheyne Coates, Andy Van Dorsselaer, Duane Morrison, and Giuseppe ...
"
:B1. "VB – Goddess of Love"
CD single
# "I Think I Love You" (7-inch)
# "I Think I Love You" (Don Was' Guilty Pleasure mix)
# "VB – Goddess of Love" (vocal mix)
# "Something About God"