(Love is Like a) Heat Wave
Encyclopedia
" Heat Wave" is a 1963 hit single
penned by the Holland–Dozier–Holland songwriting team and made popular by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas
. It was originally released in July 1963, on the Motown subsidiary label Gordy, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100
and #1 on the Billboard Hot R&B
chart. It was later covered
by rock
vocalist Linda Ronstadt
on her Platinum
-selling 1975 album Prisoner in Disguise
. Ronstadt's version of the song was also released as a single in September 1975, reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Although the song is most often referred to as "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave", the title on the label of the original 1963 single was "Heat Wave".
". The lyrics of "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave" feature the song's narrator singing about a guy who has her heart "burning with desire" and "going insane" over the feeling of his love.
Produced and composed with a gospel
backbeat, jazz
overtones and, doo-wop
call and responsive vocals, "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave" was one of the first songs to exemplify the style of music later termed as the "Motown Sound". The single was a breakthrough hit, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and at #1 on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart. It also garnered the group's only Grammy Award
nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for 1964, making The Vandellas the first Motown group ever to receive a Grammy Award Nomination.
on his 1966 album Lightnin' Strikes; labelmates The Supremes
, on their 1967 album The Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland
; The Jam
, on their 1979 album Setting Sons
; The Who
in their early concerts
and on their second album A Quick One
; Joan Osbourne, in a version done for the Funk Brothers documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown; and Bruce Springsteen
. The song was also covered by Whoopi Goldberg
in the film Sister Act
. It is also featured in the films Backdraft
and More American Graffiti
. It's been covered five times on American Idol
, by Kimberley Locke
, Jennifer Hudson
, Vonzell Solomon
, Lil Rounds
, and recently Thia Megia
. The song was also sampled by R&B singer Solange Knowles
for her 2008 single "I Decided
" and by the UK band Doves in their 2005 single "Black and White Town
." Covered in August 2010 by Phil Collins
for his album of soul covers, Going Back
.
In a 2007 DVD entitled "The Lovin' Spoonful with John Sebastian - Do You Believe in Magic," songwriter John Sebastian
explained how he sped up the three-chord intro from "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave" to come up with the intro to his 1965 hit for The Lovin' Spoonful
, "Do You Believe in Magic
."
In 2011, Chiddy Bang sampled the song for the track "Heatwave" in their mixtape "Peanut Butter & Swelly".
remade "Heat Wave" for her album Prisoner in Disguise
which was recorded at the Sound Factory in Hollywood between February and June 1975 and released that October. Ronstadt's sideman Andrew Gold
told Rolling Stone: "[her] band had been trying to get Linda to add it to her [live] set for quite awhile...one night at a Long Island club called My Father's Place we received six encores and we'd run of tunes. One of us yelled out 'Heat Wave in D' and we did it. [The band was] awfully sloppy but the crowd really liked it. So we kept the song in our set."
Michael Epstein the manager of My Father's Place states he was responsible for Ronstadt's singing "Heat Wave" at his club: when Ronstadt went backstage after advising the audience she and the band had no more material Epstein says he suggested Ronstadt perform "Heat Wave" writing down the lyrics and playing some chords on a guitar to help her band improvise.http://www.antonnews.com/manhassetpress/news/11633-epstein-inducted-into-music-hall-of-fame.html
According to the Rolling Stone article the perfectionism of Ronstadt's producer Peter Asher
"led to many, many hours of work on 'Heat Wave' in a process that would [likely] amuse the old-line Motown musicians involved in the almost assembly-line approach that resulted in hits including Martha and the Vandellas' 1963 recording of the song."http://www.ronstadt-linda.com/artheat.htm
Although Ronstadt had made her Top Ten breakthrough in 1975 with remakes of the 1960s hits "You're No Good
" and "When Will I Be Loved
", the lead single from Prisoner in Disguise was the original Neil Young
composition "Love Is a Rose
" with "Heat Wave" relegated to the B-side
of the single which was released in August 1975. However pop radio disc jockeys preferred "Heat Wave" which rose to a #5 peak in November 1975, while "Love Is a Rose" received support from C&W
radio reaching #5 on the C&W chart
in Billboard
magazine.
remade "Heat Wave" for his cover album, Going Back, with the track serving as lead single, the first Phil Collins' single release in over five years. Except for the Carole King
/Gerry Goffin
-penned title cut
and that team's "Some of Your Lovin'" - both Dusty Springfield
hits - and also Collins' take on Curtis Mayfield
's "Talking About My Baby", Going Back comprised Collins' remakes of Motown classics with the session personnel featuring three members of The Funk Brothers
, Bob Babbitt
, Ray Monette, and Eddie Willis
; Collins would say: "To be able to have three of the surviving Funk Brothers play on all the tracks was unbelievable. There was one moment when they were tracking 'Heat Wave' that I experienced a wave of happiness and wonder that this was actually happening to me!".
On 31 July 2010, Atlantic Records
unveiled the music video to support Collins' "Heat Wave" with the singer shown performing the song with a large ensemble of musicians and backing vocalists who performed with him during several showcases promoting the album in the summer of 2010.
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
penned by the Holland–Dozier–Holland songwriting team and made popular by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas were among the most successful groups of the Motown roster during the period 1963–1967...
. It was originally released in July 1963, on the Motown subsidiary label Gordy, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and #1 on the Billboard Hot R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart. It was later covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
vocalist Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
on her Platinum
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
-selling 1975 album Prisoner in Disguise
Prisoner in Disguise
Prisoner In Disguise is Linda Ronstadt's sixth solo LP release and her second for the label Asylum Records. It followed Ronstadt's Multi-Platinum breakthrough album, Heart Like A Wheel, which became her first of three #1 albums on the Billboard album chart in early 1975.This album has never been...
. Ronstadt's version of the song was also released as a single in September 1975, reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Although the song is most often referred to as "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave", the title on the label of the original 1963 single was "Heat Wave".
Overview
"(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave" was one of several songs written and produced by the Holland–Dozier–Holland songwriting and producing team. It was the second hit collaboration between Martha and the Vandellas and the team, with the first being "Come and Get These MemoriesCome and Get These Memories
"Come and Get These Memories" is an R&B song by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. Their second single released under Motown's Gordy Records subsidiary, "Memories" became the group's first hit single, reaching number 29 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart, and number-six on the Billboard...
". The lyrics of "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave" feature the song's narrator singing about a guy who has her heart "burning with desire" and "going insane" over the feeling of his love.
Produced and composed with a gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
backbeat, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
overtones and, doo-wop
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
call and responsive vocals, "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave" was one of the first songs to exemplify the style of music later termed as the "Motown Sound". The single was a breakthrough hit, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and at #1 on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart. It also garnered the group's only Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for 1964, making The Vandellas the first Motown group ever to receive a Grammy Award Nomination.
Personnel
- Lead vocals: Martha ReevesMartha ReevesMartha Rose Reeves is an American R&B and Pop singer and former politician, and was the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. During her tenure with The Vandellas, they scored over a dozen hit singles, including "Jimmy Mack", "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run"...
- Background vocals: Rosalind AshfordRosalind AshfordRosalind "Roz" Ashford-Holmes is an American soprano R&B and soul singer, famed for her work as member of the popular Motown singing group Martha and the Vandellas.-Early years:...
and Annette Sterling - Produced by Brian HollandBrian HollandBrian Holland is an American songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland. That songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound and numerous hit records by artists such as Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes, The Four Tops,...
and Lamont DozierLamont DozierLamont Herbert Dozier is an American songwriter and record producer, born in Detroit, Michigan. Dozier has either co-written or produced several US Billboard #1 hits.-Career:... - Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland, Jr.Edward Holland, Jr.Edward Holland, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter and record producer....
- Instrumentation by The Funk BrothersThe Funk BrothersThe Funk Brothers was the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972...
:- Richard "Pistol" Allen: drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- James JamersonJames JamersonJames Lee Jamerson was an American bass player. He was the uncredited bassist on most of Motown Records' hits in the 1960s and early 1970s , and he is now regarded as one of the most influential bass players in modern music history...
: double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2... - Joe HunterJoe Hunter (musician)Joseph Edward Hunter Born in Jackson, Tennessee was an African-American musician, known for his recording session work as a pianist in Motown Records' in-house studio band, the Funk Brothers. One of the original Funk Brothers, Hunter served as band director for the band from 1959 until 1964, when...
: electric pianoElectric pianoAn electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented... - Robert WhiteRobert White (guitarist)Robert Willie White was an African-American musician. Of note for being one of the main guitarists for Motown Records' in-house studio band, the Funk Brothers, White is best known for performing the familiar guitar riff on The Temptations' number-one hit single "My Girl", but played the guitar on...
: guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Eddie WillisEddie WillisEddie "Chank" Willis is an African-American musician. Willis played electric guitar and occasional electric sitar for Motown Records' in-house studio band, the Funk Brothers, during the 1960s and early 1970s....
: guitar - Thomas "Beans" Bowles: saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
solo
- Richard "Pistol" Allen: drums
Covers and influence
The success of "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave" helped popularize both Martha and the Vandellas and Holland-Dozier-Holland, while cementing Motown as a strong musical force. The song has since been covered by several acts, including Lou ChristieLou Christie
Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco , known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American singer-songwriter best known for three separate strings of pop hits in the 1960s , including his 1966 smash, "Lightnin' Strikes" and his incredible 3 octave vocal range.-Biography:Sacco was born in Glenwillard,...
on his 1966 album Lightnin' Strikes; labelmates The Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
, on their 1967 album The Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland
The Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland
The Supremes Sing Holland–Dozier–Holland is a 1967 album by The Supremes for Motown. It includes the number-one hit singles "You Keep Me Hangin' On" and "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone". As the title states: all songs on the album were written and produced by Motown's main songwriting team of...
; The Jam
The Jam
The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...
, on their 1979 album Setting Sons
Setting Sons
Setting Sons is the fourth studio album by British band The Jam. The group's critical and commercial favour, begun with their third album, All Mod Cons, continued through this album...
; The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
in their early concerts
Rock concert
The term rock concert refers to a musical performance in the style of any one of many genres inspired by "rock and roll" music. While a variety of vocal and instrumental styles can constitute a rock concert, this phenomenon is typically characterized by bands playing at least one electric guitar,...
and on their second album A Quick One
A Quick One
A Quick One is the second album by English rock band The Who, released in 1966. The American record company executives at Decca Records released the album under the title Happy Jack, rather than the sexually suggestive title of the original UK release, and due to "Happy Jack" being a top 40 hit in...
; Joan Osbourne, in a version done for the Funk Brothers documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown; and Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
. The song was also covered by Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
in the film Sister Act
Sister Act
Sister Act is a 1992 American comedy film released by Touchstone Pictures. Directed by Emile Ardolino, it features musical arrangements by Marc Shaiman and stars Whoopi Goldberg as a Reno lounge singer who has been put under protective custody in a San Francisco convent and has to pretend to be a...
. It is also featured in the films Backdraft
Backdraft (film)
Backdraft is a 1991 action thriller film directed by Ron Howard and written by Gregory Widen. The film stars Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rebecca De Mornay, Donald Sutherland, and Robert De Niro. Jason Gedrick and J. T. Walsh co-star in the film...
and More American Graffiti
More American Graffiti
More American Graffiti is the 1979 sequel film to George Lucas's hit film American Graffiti. Whereas the first film followed a group of friends during the summer evening before they set off for college, this film shows us where the characters from the first film end up a few years later.Most of the...
. It's been covered five times on American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
, by Kimberley Locke
Kimberley Locke
Kimberley Dawn Locke is an American singer-songwriter and model. She has recorded in the dance, pop and adult contemporary music genres....
, Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Kate Hudson is an American recording artist, actress and spokesperson. She came to prominence in 2004 as one of the finalists on the third season of American Idol coming in seventh place...
, Vonzell Solomon
Vonzell Solomon
Vonzell Monique Solomon , nicknamed Baby V, is an American singer and aspiring actress who finished in third place in the fourth season of the televised singing competition American Idol. She also appeared in the independent movie Still Green.-Biography:Born in Baxley, Georgia, Solomon's family...
, Lil Rounds
Lil Rounds
Lil Rounds is an American singer from Memphis, Tennessee, who was the seventh place finalist on the eighth season of American Idol. Following the conclusion of Idol, Rounds was signed to a record deal with Bungalo Records. Her debut album was to be released in 2010 but has been pushed back for a...
, and recently Thia Megia
Thia Megia
Thia Megia is an American singer from Mountain House, San Joaquin County, California. Megia finished in the top 11 of the tenth season of American Idol...
. The song was also sampled by R&B singer Solange Knowles
Solange Knowles
Solange Piaget Knowles , who performs under the mononym Solange, is an American singer-songwriter, actress, model, dancer, and DJ. Knowles was born and raised in Houston, Texas along with her older sister singer Beyoncé, a former member of R&B group Destiny's Child...
for her 2008 single "I Decided
I Decided
"I Decided" is a song by American singer Solange Knowles, written and composed by Knowles and producer Pharrell Williams for her second studio album Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams...
" and by the UK band Doves in their 2005 single "Black and White Town
Black and White Town
"Black and White Town" is the lead single on Doves' third album, Some Cities. The single was released as a promo CD on December 13, 2004, and as a full single on February 7, 2005. The song scored the band their second Top 10 hit, charting at #6 on the UK Singles Chart...
." Covered in August 2010 by Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
for his album of soul covers, Going Back
Going Back (Phil Collins album)
Going Back is Phil Collins's eighth studio album. It was released on 13 September 2010 in the United Kingdom and 28 September 2010 in the United States. and features covers of 60s Motown & Soul standards...
.
In a 2007 DVD entitled "The Lovin' Spoonful with John Sebastian - Do You Believe in Magic," songwriter John Sebastian
John Sebastian
John Benson Sebastian Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and autoharpist. He is best known as a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful, a band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000...
explained how he sped up the three-chord intro from "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave" to come up with the intro to his 1965 hit for The Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful is an American pop rock band of the 1960s, named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. When asked about his band, leader John Sebastian said it sounded like a combination of "Mississippi John Hurt and Chuck Berry," prompting his friend, Fritz Richmond, to suggest the name...
, "Do You Believe in Magic
Do You Believe in Magic (song)
-Track listings:-Release history:-Chart performance:...
."
In 2011, Chiddy Bang sampled the song for the track "Heatwave" in their mixtape "Peanut Butter & Swelly".
Linda Ronstadt version
Linda RonstadtLinda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
remade "Heat Wave" for her album Prisoner in Disguise
Prisoner in Disguise
Prisoner In Disguise is Linda Ronstadt's sixth solo LP release and her second for the label Asylum Records. It followed Ronstadt's Multi-Platinum breakthrough album, Heart Like A Wheel, which became her first of three #1 albums on the Billboard album chart in early 1975.This album has never been...
which was recorded at the Sound Factory in Hollywood between February and June 1975 and released that October. Ronstadt's sideman Andrew Gold
Andrew Gold
Andrew Maurice Gold was an American singer, musician and songwriter. His works include the Top 10 single "Lonely Boy" , as well as the singles "Thank You for Being a Friend" , and "Never Let Her Slip Away" ....
told Rolling Stone: "[her] band had been trying to get Linda to add it to her [live] set for quite awhile...one night at a Long Island club called My Father's Place we received six encores and we'd run of tunes. One of us yelled out 'Heat Wave in D' and we did it. [The band was] awfully sloppy but the crowd really liked it. So we kept the song in our set."
Michael Epstein the manager of My Father's Place states he was responsible for Ronstadt's singing "Heat Wave" at his club: when Ronstadt went backstage after advising the audience she and the band had no more material Epstein says he suggested Ronstadt perform "Heat Wave" writing down the lyrics and playing some chords on a guitar to help her band improvise.http://www.antonnews.com/manhassetpress/news/11633-epstein-inducted-into-music-hall-of-fame.html
According to the Rolling Stone article the perfectionism of Ronstadt's producer Peter Asher
Peter Asher
Peter Asher is an English guitarist, singer, manager and record producer. He first came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the vocal duo Peter and Gordon before going on to a successful career as a record producer.-Early life:He was born at the Central Middlesex Hospital, a child actor and...
"led to many, many hours of work on 'Heat Wave' in a process that would [likely] amuse the old-line Motown musicians involved in the almost assembly-line approach that resulted in hits including Martha and the Vandellas' 1963 recording of the song."http://www.ronstadt-linda.com/artheat.htm
Although Ronstadt had made her Top Ten breakthrough in 1975 with remakes of the 1960s hits "You're No Good
You're No Good
"You're No Good" is a song written by Clint Ballard, Jr. which first charted for Betty Everett in 1963 and in 1975 was a #1 hit for Linda Ronstadt....
" and "When Will I Be Loved
When Will I Be Loved (song)
"When Will I Be Loved" is a popular song, written by Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers and a #8 hit single for that duo in the summer of 1960. The track had been recorded in 1959 while the Everly Brothers were contracted to Cadence Records; by 1960 they had moved to Warner Brothers and recording...
", the lead single from Prisoner in Disguise was the original Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
composition "Love Is a Rose
Love is a Rose
"Love Is a Rose" is a song written by Neil Young in 1974 for the unreleased album Homegrown. It was later released in 1977 on the compilation Decade....
" with "Heat Wave" relegated to the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
of the single which was released in August 1975. However pop radio disc jockeys preferred "Heat Wave" which rose to a #5 peak in November 1975, while "Love Is a Rose" received support from C&W
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
radio reaching #5 on the C&W chart
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
in Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine.
Chart performance
| Chart (1975) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 5 |
| U.S. Billboard Easy Listening | 19 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 12 |
| Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary | 12 |
Phil Collins version
In 2010, Phil CollinsPhil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
remade "Heat Wave" for his cover album, Going Back, with the track serving as lead single, the first Phil Collins' single release in over five years. Except for the Carole King
Carole King
Carole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...
/Gerry Goffin
Gerry Goffin
Gerry Goffin is an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 with former songwriting partner and first wife, Carole King. he has co-written six Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers.-Career:Goffin enlisted with the Marine Corps Reserve after graduating from...
-penned title cut
Goin' Back
"Goin' Back" is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King in 1966. It describes the loss of innocence that comes with adulthood along with an attempt, on the part of the singer, to recapture that youthful innocence...
and that team's "Some of Your Lovin'" - both Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
hits - and also Collins' take on Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
's "Talking About My Baby", Going Back comprised Collins' remakes of Motown classics with the session personnel featuring three members of The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers was the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972...
, Bob Babbitt
Bob Babbitt
Bob Babbitt is an American bassist, most famous for his work as a member of Motown Records' studio band, the Funk Brothers, from 1966–1972, as well as his tenure as part of MFSB for Philadelphia International Records afterwards. Also in 1968-1970, with Mike Campbell, Ray Monette and Andrew Smith...
, Ray Monette, and Eddie Willis
Eddie Willis
Eddie "Chank" Willis is an African-American musician. Willis played electric guitar and occasional electric sitar for Motown Records' in-house studio band, the Funk Brothers, during the 1960s and early 1970s....
; Collins would say: "To be able to have three of the surviving Funk Brothers play on all the tracks was unbelievable. There was one moment when they were tracking 'Heat Wave' that I experienced a wave of happiness and wonder that this was actually happening to me!".
On 31 July 2010, Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
unveiled the music video to support Collins' "Heat Wave" with the singer shown performing the song with a large ensemble of musicians and backing vocalists who performed with him during several showcases promoting the album in the summer of 2010.
Track listing
- "(Love Is Like a) Heatwave" – 2:53
- "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" – 2:59
Personal
- Phil CollinsPhil CollinsPhilip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
: Vocals, Drums, Percussion, Keyboards - Bob BabbittBob BabbittBob Babbitt is an American bassist, most famous for his work as a member of Motown Records' studio band, the Funk Brothers, from 1966–1972, as well as his tenure as part of MFSB for Philadelphia International Records afterwards. Also in 1968-1970, with Mike Campbell, Ray Monette and Andrew Smith...
: Bass - Eddie WillisEddie WillisEddie "Chank" Willis is an African-American musician. Willis played electric guitar and occasional electric sitar for Motown Records' in-house studio band, the Funk Brothers, during the 1960s and early 1970s....
: Guitar - Ray Monette: Guitar
- Connie Jackson & Lynne Fiddmont: Backing Vocals
- Phil Todd: Bari Sax Solo
- John Aram : Trombone
- Guy BarkerGuy BarkerGuy Barker is an English jazz trumpeter and composer. Barker was born in Chiswick, London, the son of an actress and a stuntman. He started playing the trumpet at the age of twelve, and within a year had joined the National Youth Jazz Orchestra...
& Tom Rees-Roberts: Trumpet - Graeme Blevin: Tenor Sax
Chart Performance
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Japan Hot 100 (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
37 |