"Look of Love" is a song written by

Ellie Greenwich Eleanor Louise Greenwich (October 23, 1940 – August 26, 2009) was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Be My Baby", "Maybe I Know", " Then He Kissed Me", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" ...

and

Jeff Barry Jeff Barry (born Joel Adelberg; April 3, 1938) is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer. Among the most successful songs that he has co-written in his career are " Do Wah Diddy Diddy", " Da Doo Ron Ron", " Then He Kiss ...

, which was a 1964

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

hit for

Lesley Gore Lesley Sue Goldstein (May 2, 1946 – February 16, 2015), known professionally as Lesley Gore, was an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. At the age of 16, she recorded the pop music, pop hit "It's My Party (Lesley Gore song), I ...

. The song was one in a long line of successful "Brill Building Sound" hits created by composers and arrangers working in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Brill Building The Brill Building is an office building at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. It was built in 1931 as t ...

at 1619 Broadway. Pop songwriting stars Barry and Greenwich had previously scored hits with songs such as "

Be My Baby "Be My Baby" is a song by American girl group the Ronettes that was released as a single on Philles Records in August 1963. Written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector, the song was the Ronettes' biggest hit, reaching number 2 in ...

" and "

Baby, I Love You "Baby, I Love You" is a song originally recorded by the Ronettes in 1963 and released on their debut album ''Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes'' (1964). The song was written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector, and produced by Spect ...

" (

The Ronettes The Ronettes were an American girl group from Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett (later known as Ronnie Spector), her older sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley. The ...

), and "

Then He Kissed Me "Then He Kissed Me" is a song written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry. The song, produced by Spector, was initially released as a single on Philles Records (#115) in July 1963 by The Crystals. The lyrics are a narrative of a young ...

" and "

Da Doo Ron Ron "Da Doo Ron Ron" is a song written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector. It first became a popular top five hit single for the American girl group The Crystals in 1963. American teen idol Shaun Cassidy covered the song in 1977 and his ...

" (

The Crystals The Crystals are an American vocal group that originated in New York City. Considered one of the defining acts of the girl group era in the first half of the 1960s, their 1961–1964 chart hits – including " There's No Other (Like My Baby)", ...

). In the US, "Look of Love" peaked at #27 on the

Billboard charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

Background

The most commercially successful solo singer to be identified with the girl group sound, Lesley Gore hit the number one spot with her first release, "It's My Party," in 1963. "Look of Love" was produced by

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

, who amped up the teenager's sound with double-tracked vocals and intricate backup vocals and horns. "Irresistibly melodic... it remains a classic archetype of female adolescent yearning." ''

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 ...

'' said of the song that it is "in the vein of ore'searly hits," predicting that it "will he a fast chart climber." ''

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 ...

'' described it as "a most attractive multi-voiced reading of a handclappin' jump'er that's sure to make the teeners sit up and take notice real quick" with a "standout

Claus Ogerman Claus Ogerman (born Klaus Ogermann; 29 April 1930 – 8 March 2016) was a German arranger, conductor, and composer best known for his work with Billie Holiday, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Frank Sinatra, Michael Brecker, and Diana Krall. Life and wo ...

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

Chart performance

Cover versions

*The song has been covered by other artists, notably Pattie D'Arcy, Ellie Greenwich, and The Copycats.

References

1964 singles Songs written by Ellie Greenwich Songs written by Jeff Barry Lesley Gore songs Song recordings produced by Quincy Jones Brill Building songs 1964 songs Mercury Records singles {{1960s-single-stub