Love Hangover
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"Love Hangover" was a very successful and popular single for legendary Motown diva Diana Ross when it was released in 1976. It rose to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Soul Singles and Hot Dance Club Play charts simultaneously.
The song was written by Pamela Sawyer and Marilyn McLeod and had been originally recorded by Sylvester. While Sylvester's version was becoming an underground club smash, the song was given to The Fifth Dimension as a disco number. However, when the Motown staff got a hold on it, they insisted that it would be perfect if Ross recorded it. Ross, like most of her soul contemporaries Aretha Franklin and fellow Motown label mate Marvin Gaye, resented the new musical movement until finally agreeing at the eleventh-hour to record the song.
In order to get into the song, she and the producer loosened up in the studio by drinking alcoholic beverages. As the song changed from being a ballad to uptempo, Ross became more comfortable with herself and the material; she hummed, sang bit parts, laughed, danced around and even imitated Billie Holiday. [1] The carefree and sensual nature of Ross' vocals and the music's direction helped to sell the song.
When The Fifth Dimension and Ross went toe-to-toe with the song (releasing it at the same time), Ross charted higher. By the time "Love Hangover" went to number one, Ross had reinvented herself as a disco diva and the 5th Dimension's version had peaked at number eighty. It won Ross a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Female Vocal Performance.
[edit] Other versions
As well as the Fifth Dimension covering it, the song was also released as a single by the Associates, a British New-wave band. It reached #21 on the UK chart in 1982.
The song would become part of the hip-hop lexicon via sampling by everyone from Will Smith to Monica to Janet Jackson.
| Preceded by: "Silly Love Songs" by Wings |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single May 29, 1976 |
Succeeded by: "Afternoon Delight" by Starland Vocal Band |
