Sea of Love (song)

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"Sea of Love" is a song written by John Phillip Baptiste (aka Phil Phillips) and George Khoury. Phillips' 1959 recording of the song peaked at #1 on the Billboard R&B chart and #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has been covered by a number of artists since then, most notably The Honeydrippers, whose version (from the album The Honeydrippers: Volume One) reached #3 on the Hot 100 chart in 1984.

It was the first and only Top 40 song for Phillips, who never recorded another hit.

Contents 1 Background 2 Cover versions 3 See also 4 References

[edit] Background

John Baptiste, who was working as a bellboy in Lake Charles, Louisiana, wrote "Sea of Love" for a love interest. Baptiste was soon introduced to local record producer George Khoury, who brought Baptiste into his studio to record the song. At Khoury's request, Baptiste took the stage name of Phil Phillips. The song, originally credited to "Phil Phillips with The Twilights," was released on a small record label owned by Khoury, but due to its success was eventually leased to Mercury Records. Despite the song's success, Phillips claims that he has only ever received $6,800 for recording it.

The song was also subject to the 1989 Harold Becker film Sea of Love starring Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin

[edit] Cover versions

• Iggy Pop on Party (1981)
• The Honeydrippers on Volume One (1984)
• Cat Power on The Covers Record (2000)
• Tom Waits on Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards (2006)

[edit] See also

• One-hit wonders in the United States

[edit] References

• "Sea of Love" article by Andrew Hamilton