"Love's Theme" is an

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

piece written by

Barry White Barry Eugene White (né Carter; September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003) was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and ...

around 1965. Recorded and released as a single by White's

Love Unlimited Orchestra The Love Unlimited Orchestra was a 40-piece string-laden orchestra formed by American singer Barry White, and serving as a backing unit for White and for female vocal trio Love Unlimited. From the early 1970s on, they also recorded several sin ...

in 1973, it was one of the few instrumental and purely

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

l singles to reach #1 on the ''

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 advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the 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), o ...

chart in the United States, which it did in early 1974. ''Billboard'' ranked it as #3 on the Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1974. The song was included on two albums: 1973's '' Under the Influence of... Love Unlimited'' (by the vocal group

Love Unlimited Love Unlimited was a female vocal trio that provided backing vocals for American singer-songwriter Barry White on his albums and concert tours. They also found success with their own recordings. Career Formed in 1969, the group included Barr ...

) and 1974's ''

Rhapsody in White ''Rhapsody in White'' is the debut studio album by the American soul group The Love Unlimited Orchestra, released in 1974. It was a huge success for the group, which backed and was led by Barry White for many singles such as "I'm Gonna Love You ...

'' by the Love Unlimited Orchestra. Love Unlimited would re-release the song for their subsequent album, ''

In Heat The estrous cycle (, originally ) is a set of recurring physiological changes induced by reproductive hormones in females of mammalian subclass Theria. Estrous cycles start after sexual maturity in females and are interrupted by anestrous phases ...

'' (1974), only this time with different orchestral arrangements and lyrics written by

Aaron Schroeder Aaron Harold Schroeder (September 7, 1926 – December 2, 2009) was an American songwriter and music publisher. Early years Born in Brooklyn, Schroeder graduated from the school now known as the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art a ...

. The recording (with a large string orchestra, modified guitar and big rhythm) is considered to be an influence on the

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

sound, which would increase in popularity the following year. The song was also popular on the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart in the United States, spending two weeks at #1, and was also a #1 on the ''Cash Box'' chart. For several years, a shortened version of the original instrumental release was used in the opening sequence of the television golf '' PGA Tour on ABC'' broadcasting program. In

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, the single was similarly successful, being a #1 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. ''RP ...

'' National Singles Chart on March 2, 1974. "Love's Theme" was sampled by the Italian group

Black Box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...

in their 1989 song " Ride on Time". In 1975–76,

WPIX-TV WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City, serving as the ''de facto'' flagship of The CW Television Network. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, the station is operated by CW majority owner Nexstar Media Group under a local marketi ...

in New York would end its 10:00pm broadcast of ''Harper News'' (later ''

Action News ''Action News'' is a local television newscast format originating in the United States. First conceived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it is characterized by a tight format with strict time limits on set packages, a focus on surrounding suburbs, ...

'') with "Love's Theme". It was also used as the boarding music for

Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, or simply Cathay Pacific, is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main airline hub, hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and its subsidiaries have schedule ...

during the 1980s and as the theme song of the Brazilian soap opera ''

Celebridade ''Celebridade'' is a Brazilian telenovela that was produced and aired by TV Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-a ...

''. Since 2000, it has been the theme song for the Italian talk show '' C'è posta per te''. The 2024

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

series ''Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution'' explores the importance of "Love's Theme" to the history of disco music.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

;The Love Unlimited Orchestra ;Andy Williams

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links