Then He Kissed Me

"Then He Kissed Me" is a song written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry. The song was released as a single in September 1963 by The Crystals. It is a narrative of a young woman's encounter, romance, and eventual marriage with a fellow youth. The single is one of The Crystals' most remembered songs. The lead vocal was sung by Dolores "LaLa" Brooks. In the United States the single peaked at number six and in the United Kingdom the single peaked at number two. The song featured production by Phil Spector. The single 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. In 2004, this song was #493 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[1] Pitchfork Media placed it at number 18 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s".^[2]

The Beach Boys

The song was re-worded to the title "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. The song was also released as a single in April 1967 in the United Kingdom, where it charted at number four. The B-side of the single was "Mountain of Love", a song off the band's 1965 Beach Boys' Party! album.

Chart performance

According to contemporary national charts sourced and cited by Billboard in 1967, it reached No. 2 in Sweden and South Africa and No. 9 in Belgium. It was No. 12 in Australia's Go Set chart and No. 6 in New Zealand.

Musicians

• Al Jardine - lead vocal
• Mike Love - vocals
• Ron Swallow - tambourine
• unknown - castanets
• Brian Wilson - piano, bass guitar, vocals
• Carl Wilson - guitar, vocals
• Dennis Wilson - drums, vocals

Other Versions

Sonny & Cher also covered the song in 1967. British glam rockers, The Hollywood Brats, covered the track in 1973. Later the song was recorded and re-titled "Then She Kissed Me" by another British glam rock band Hello for their 1975 album Keeps Us Off The Streets, and subsequently by the American rock band Kiss for their 1977 album Love Gun. Also, Swedish pop-wonder Magnus Uggla made a notorious cover in his mother tongue, called "Å, han kysste mej" (Lit, "Oh, he kissed me") (available on the album Vittring). In 1984, the experimental New Wave band The Flying Lizards released a cover on their final cover-themed album Top Ten. Country-rock singer Juice Newton released her own version of the song on her 1989 album "Ain't Gonna Cry". In September 2007, New York shoegazing band Asobi Seksu released a cover as the B-side of their single "Stay Awake". Former Asobi Seksu drummer, Bryan Greene, recorded a live version in July 2009 with his band Escape Key, incorporating both male and female vocals. Bruce Springsteen covered the song live in 1975 and revisited it again 33 years later by opening his August 23, 2008 concert in St. Louis, MO with it. Springsteen also played the song as a request during the encore at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, FL on September 13, 2009. The song has also been covered by Austin, TX based country band The Derailers as "Then She Kissed Me" on their 1999 album Full Western Dress.

Use in other media

The Crystals' version was used in its entirety in the 1990 film Goodfellas during the famous three-minute tracking shot through the Copacabana night club. The song was also used during the opening credits of the film Adventures in Babysitting, with Elisabeth Shue dancing and lip-syncing the song. It is also heard at the end of the film during the last scene and over part of the end credits. It was also used in a scene from The Simpsons episode "Homer and Marge Turn a Couple Play".

The song inspired The Sun front page headline And Then He Kissed Her on 30 July 1981, the day after the marriage of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer.^[9]

References