"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 woman's encounter, romance, and eventual engagement with a young man. In 2004, this song was number 493 on '' Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

. ''Pitchfork'' placed it at number 18 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s". ''

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 ...

'' named the song number 8 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time. The song appears in the 1990 movie '' Goodfellas''.

The Crystals version

The single is one of The Crystals' best-remembered songs. It was recorded at

Gold Star Studios Gold Star Studios was an independent recording studio located in Los Angeles, California, United States. For more than thirty years, from 1950 to 1984, Gold Star was one of the most successful commercial recording studios in the world. Founded ...

in Los Angeles in April 1963. The lead vocal was sung by

Dolores "LaLa" Brooks Dolores Brooks (born June 20, 1947) is the second lead singer of the girl group the Crystals. She is best known as the lead vocalist on the Crystals' hits "Then He Kissed Me" and "Da Doo Ron Ron". Biography Brooks was the second youngest of 11 c ...

, the Wall of Sound arrangement was by Jack Nitzsche, featuring The Wrecking Crew, and Larry Levine was the engineer. In the United States the single peaked at number 6 and in the United Kingdom it peaked at number 2. It was The Crystals' third single to chart in the top ten in the United States, and their second to reach the top ten in the United Kingdom. The song was also a major hit in the Republic of Ireland, reaching number 3 in the charts there. ''

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 captivating, quick moving, full sounding romantic that sports a sensational arrangement by Jack 'Specs' Nitzsche."

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

The Beach Boys version

The song retitled "Then I Kissed Her" and released by The Beach Boys on their 1965 album '' Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)'' with Al Jardine on lead vocals and production by

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...

. Beyond title and gender changes, new lyrics were written retelling the story of the Crystals' song from the boyfriend's point of view. Two years after appearing on the album, in April 1967 the song was released as a single in the United Kingdom, appearing as a stop-gap release while work continued on the " Heroes and Villains" single. This was reportedly done against the band's wishes; Beach Boys band member Mike Love commented on May 7, 1967 "The record company didn't even have the decency to put out one of Brian’s own compositions. The reason for the hold up with a new single has simply been that we wanted to give our public the best and the best isn't ready yet." "Then I Kissed Her" charted at number 4 in the UK. 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 ...

of the single was " Mountain of Love", a song off the band's 1965 '' Beach Boys' Party!'' album.

Charts

According to contemporary national charts sourced and cited by ''Billboard'' in 1967, it reached number 2 in Sweden and South Africa and number 9 in Belgium. It was number 12 in Australia's ''Go Set'' chart and number 6 in New Zealand.

Personnel

Personnel sourced from Craig Slowinski. The Beach Boys * Al Jardine – lead vocals, electric rhythm guitar * Bruce Johnston – Hammond B-3 organ * Mike Love – harmony and backing vocals *

– harmony and backing vocals, bass guitar, grand piano, timpani *

Carl Wilson Carl Dean Wilson (December 21, 1946 – February 6, 1998) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates Brian and Dennis, and the group's ''de ...

– harmony and backing vocals, 12-string acoustic lead and rhythm guitars * Dennis Wilson – drums Session musicians and production staff *Ron Swallow – tambourine * Frank Capp – castanets

Other versions

* British band Hello included a cover titled "Then She Kissed Me" on their 1976 debut album '' Keeps Us Off the Streets''. The version appears in season 3, episode 1 of '' Sex Education''. * Kiss released a version, retitled "Then She Kissed Me", as the final track on their 1977 album ''

Love Gun ''Love Gun'' is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Kiss, released on June 30, 1977. Casablanca Records and FilmWorks shipped one million copies of the album on this date. It was certified platinum and became the band's first top ...

''. *Iranian artist

Afshin Moghaddam Afshin Moghaddam ( fa, افشین مقدم, 30 September 1945 – 23 July 1976), born Hossein Ahanian Moghaddam, was an Iranian singer. He was best known for his song "Zemestoun (''Winter'')", which came 79th in Manoto 1's "100 Greatest Iranian ...

has performed a non-english cover of the song called "Asheghaneh". *

St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...

reimagined this as a sapphic love song as part of Legacy Records'

Universal Love – Wedding Songs Reimagined ''Universal Love – Wedding Songs Reimagined'' is a 2018 album of same-sex wedding songs by various artists, promoted by MGM Resorts. It features wedding songs with gender-specific terms adjusted to refer to the same gender as the singer. On 9 ...

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

and the E Street Band performed a cover of the song to open their set at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri, on 23 August 2008. This performance was later released as part of the official Bruce Springsteen Live Archive series.

References

{{Authority control Songs about kissing 1963 songs 1963 singles 1967 singles 1977 singles Songs written by Ellie Greenwich Songs written by Jeff Barry Songs written by Phil Spector Philles Records singles The Crystals songs Kiss (band) songs Hep Stars songs The Beach Boys songs The Guess Who songs Song recordings produced by Phil Spector Song recordings with Wall of Sound arrangements Song recordings produced by Brian Wilson London Records singles Capitol Records singles