Barry White - Love's Theme (20th Century Records 1973) - Video
PUBLISHED:  Nov 08, 2015
DESCRIPTION:
"Love's Theme" is an instrumental piece recorded by Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra and released in 1973 as an A-Side single. It is one of the few instrumental and purely orchestral singles to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, which it did in early 1974. Billboard ranked it as the No. 3 song for 1974. The piece was included on two albums: 1973's Under the Influence of... Love Unlimited (by the vocal group Love Unlimited) and 1974's Rhapsody in White by Love Unlimited Orchestra.

The recording, with a large string orchestra, wah-wah guitar, and big rhythm, is considered by author Peter Shapiro to be an influence to the disco sound, which would explode in popularity the following year. The song was also popular on the Adult Contemporary chart in the U.S., where the song spent two weeks at #1. It was also used by ABC Sports for many years as the opening theme music for its golf coverage. In Canada, the single saw similar success, reaching #1 on the RPM 100 National Singles Chart on March 2, 1974.

In addition, "Love's Theme" was also recorded in a vocal version by Love Unlimited (on their 1974 album In Heat), . Enoch Light recorded an electro-disco instrumental version of the song on his 1977 album, Disco Disque. The song is also part of Meco's instrumental medley "Hooked On Instrumentals Part I" (from the 1985 album Hooked On Instrumentals). In May 1993, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark released the single "Dream of Me (Based on Love's Theme)" (from their album Liberator, released the same year) which used a sample of this Barry White composition. This single reached #24 on the UK Singles Chart, and Barry White was given a writing credit.

This song was covered by American smooth jazz trumpeter Rick Braun and by American guitarist Chuck Loeb.

The Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways used the song for their TV advertisements. It was also featured briefly in Mean Girls, Despicable Me 2 and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.

Barry White (born Barry Eugene Carter; September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003) was an American composer and singer-songwriter.

A three-time Grammy Award–winner known for his distinctive bass-baritone voice and romantic image, White's greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits, "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe".

During the course of his career in the music business, White achieved 106 gold albums worldwide, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide records sales in excess of 100 million. He is one of the world's best-selling artists of all time. His influences included Rev. James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and Elvis Presley plus Motown artists The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.

The song is featured in the films Money Talks (1997; also on its CD soundtrack album, where White had recorded an alternative version, as simply "My Everything" as a duet with Faith Evans), Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004; also on its CD soundtrack album), Zookeeper (2011), and anachronistically in Tim Burton's film Dark Shadows (2012; also on its CD soundtrack album) as the film was set in 1972, two years before the song was released.

It was also in several episodes of the Fox series Ally McBeal, accompanying John Cage (Peter MacNicol) during his life most of the time. Whenever he gets into a difficult situation, he withdraws and concentrates on the song, hearing it and dancing to it, to regain strength and concentrate on whatever comes along.

The song is featured in the music video game Just Dance 4 (2012) for PlayStation 3, Wii, Wii U, and Xbox 360.
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