"When You're Young and in Love" is a song composed by
Van McCoy
Van Allen Clinton McCoy (January 6, 1940 – July 6, 1979) was an American musician, record producer, arranger, songwriter, singer and orchestra conductor. He is known for his 1975 internationally successful song " The Hustle". He has approximat ...
which first became a
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 single for
the Marvelettes
The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who wa ...
in 1967: a remake by
the Flying Pickets
The Flying Pickets is a British '' a cappella'' vocal group which had a Christmas number one hit in 1983 on the UK Singles Chart with their cover version of Yazoo's track " Only You".
History
The band of six was founded by Brian Hibbard in 19 ...
would reach the UK Top Ten in 1984.
Original version: Ruby & the Romantics
Background
The first recording of the song was by
Ruby & the Romantics
Ruby & the Romantics were an Akron, Ohio-based American R&B group in the 1960s, comprising Ruby Nash, George Lee, Ronald Mosely, Leroy Fann and Ed Roberts.
The group had several pop and R&B hit records, topping the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 c ...
; like all the group's singles on
Kapp Records
Kapp Records was an independent record label started in 1954 by David Kapp, brother of Jack Kapp (who set up American Decca Records in 1934). David Kapp founded his own label after stints with Decca and RCA Victor. Kapp licensed its records to L ...
the track was produced by label a&r head Allen Stanton. Released in September 1964, "When You're Young
..." reached the Top Five in Honolulu but otherwise failed to register strongly in any US market reaching #48 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 in November 1964. Ruby & the Romantics scored one subsequent Hot 100 placing, with "Does He Really Care For Me" (#87). However, "When You're Young
..." was a bigger hit 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 ...
, peaking at #25 on the
RPM
Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines.
Standards
ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...
"Top Tracks".
Personnel
*Lead vocal by
Ruby Nash
Ruby Nash Garnett
(born June 15, 1934) is an American singer who led the rhythm and blues group Ruby & the Romantics.
Career
Born in Akron, Ohio, Nash did not start singing until she was a senior in high school. She joined a group of male singe ...
*Background vocals by Ed Roberts, George Lee, Ronald Mosley, and Leroy Fann
*Instrumentation by Unknown
The Marvelettes version
Background
The song was covered in 1967 by the
Marvelettes
The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who w ...
with the track - produced by James Dean and
William Weatherspoon William Henry Weatherspoon (February 11, 1936 – July 17, 2005) was an American songwriter and record producer, best known for his work for Motown Records in the 1960s. He co-wrote "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted", an international hit for ...
- reaching #23 on the Hot 100 that June; its R&B peak was #9. Although not one of the Marvelettes' very biggest US hits, "When You're Young and in Love" became the only record by the group to achieve hit status in the UK with a #13 peak in July 1967. The track is also one of the last Marvelettes' singles to feature
Gladys Horton
The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who wa ...
although the lead is by
Wanda Young
Wanda LaFaye Young (August 9, 1943 – December 15, 2021), also known as Wanda Rogers, was an American singer, known for being a member of the Motown all-female singing group the Marvelettes, and after 1965, the lead singer.
Early life
Youn ...
; Horton would only appear, and lead, on the following two B-Sides. Besides Horton and veteran Marvelette Katherine Anderson, Rogers' vocal backing on "When You're Young
..." features Motown's premier session singers
the Andantes
The Andantes were an American female session group for the Motown record label during the 1960s. Composed of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps, the group sang background vocals on numerous Motown recordings, including songs by Mar ...
while the original instrumental backing on the track by
the Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972.
Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...
was augmented by the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. Jader Bignamini is the current music d ...
.
Personnel
*Lead vocal by
Wanda Young Rogers
*Background vocals by
Gladys Horton
The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who wa ...
and
Katherine Anderson
The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who wa ...
and
The Andantes
The Andantes were an American female session group for the Motown record label during the 1960s. Composed of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps, the group sang background vocals on numerous Motown recordings, including songs by Mar ...
: Marlene Barrow, Jackie Hicks and Louvain Demps
*Instrumentation by
The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972.
Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...
and the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. Jader Bignamini is the current music d ...
Charts
Flying Pickets version
The song had its strongest chart impact via a 1984 cover version by
the Flying Pickets
The Flying Pickets is a British '' a cappella'' vocal group which had a Christmas number one hit in 1983 on the UK Singles Chart with their cover version of Yazoo's track " Only You".
History
The band of six was founded by Brian Hibbard in 19 ...
, produced by John Sherry. It reached number 7 in the UK.
This version of the song was featured in Netflix's
Sex Education (TV series)
''Sex Education'' is a British comedy-drama streaming television series created by Laurie Nunn for Netflix. It follows the lives of the students, staff and parents of the fictional Moordale Secondary School as they contend with various persona ...
.
Other versions
*In the autumn of 1975 competing versions of "When You're Young and in Love" by
Ralph Carter
Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf").
The most common forms ...
and
the Choice Four
The Choice Four were the most consistent of the male American soul/vocal groups produced by Van McCoy. They were from Washington, D.C., recorded for RCA Records and had three albums. Several of the group's members had previously sung in The Love T ...
charted R&B with the Carter version reaching #37 on the R&B charts where the Choice Four peaked at #45; both versions were also minor Hot 100 crossovers with respective peaks of #95 (Carter) and #91 (Choice Four). Ralph Carter would promote his version with a performance on the April 3, 1976 episode of his ''
Good Times
''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was television's first African ...
'' sitcom; his recording was produced by
Norman Bergen
Norman Bergen (born May 17, 1945 in Brooklyn, New York, United States) is an American pianist, arranger, record producer, band leader, musical director, and vocalist.
Biography Early years
Norman Bergen comes from a musical family. He is th ...
and Reid Whitelaw. The Choice Four version was produced by the song's composer Van McCoy.
*A 1979 remake of "When You're Young and in Love" is notable as the debut single for
Stacy Lattisaw
Stacy Lattisaw Jackson (née Lattisaw; born November 25, 1966) is an American R&B singer from Washington, D.C., United States.
Career
The 1979 song "Ring My Bell" was originally written for then twelve-year-old Lattisaw, as a teenybopper song ...
and also for being produced by composer
Van McCoy
Van Allen Clinton McCoy (January 6, 1940 – July 6, 1979) was an American musician, record producer, arranger, songwriter, singer and orchestra conductor. He is known for his 1975 internationally successful song " The Hustle". He has approximat ...
; however the McCoy produced album ''Young and in Love'' proved neither a critical or commercial success upon release in July 1979 - the month of McCoy's death - with the "When You're Young
..." single barely registering on the R&B charts at #91.
*
Gitte made a recording of "When You're Young and in Love" on 23 October 1964.
*The song has also been recorded by
Donny and
Marie
Marie may refer to:
People Name
* Marie (given name)
* Marie (Japanese given name)
* Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973
* Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tr ...
- as "(When You're) Young and in Love"
*
The Jets recorded it, for their 1987 album ''
Magic
Magic or Magick most commonly refers to:
* Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces
* Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic
* Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
''.
References
{{Authority control
1964 singles
1967 singles
The Marvelettes songs
Songs written by Van McCoy
1984 singles
The Flying Pickets songs
1979 debut singles
Stacy Lattisaw songs
Ruby & the Romantics songs
Tamla Records singles
1964 songs