It's Gonna Take a Miracle

"It's Gonna Take a Miracle"
1986 US reissue single of the Royalettes recording
Single by The Royalettes
B-side"Out of Sight, Out of Mind"
ReleasedJuly 1965
GenreR&B[1]
LabelMGM Records
Songwriter(s)
The Royalettes singles chronology
"It's Gonna Take a Miracle"
(1965) 		"I Want to Meet Him"
(1965)

"It's Gonna Take a Miracle" is a song written by Teddy Randazzo, Bobby Weinstein, and Lou Stallman. It was first an R&B hit in 1965 for The Royalettes, which reached the Top 30 on the U.S. R&B chart and peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 37 on Cash Box.[2][3]

The most successful version of "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" was the 1982 cover by R&B and gospel singer Deniece Williams. Her version went to number 1 on the R&B chart for two weeks[4] and reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.[5]

The song was originally written and intended for Little Anthony and The Imperials, but they never recorded it due to a royalty dispute with the song's writers/label owners Teddy Randazzo and Don Costa at the group's record label, DCP (Don Costa Productions) Records.[6] Imperials member (and Double Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee) Sammy Strain recalls:

"We had a lot of hit records (with DCP) but we hadn’t received any royalties,” said Strain. “We protested and said we’re not going into the studio anymore until we get an accounting. We didn’t record for about eight or nine months. In the interim, Teddy Randazzo produced a girl group out of Baltimore called the Royalettes. He gave them a song called 'It’s Gonna Take a Miracle' which was written for Little Anthony & the Imperials. When it first came out, everybody thought it was us. He also produced Derek Martin who had a hit called 'You Better Go.' But we missed a million seller with 'Gonna Take a Miracle' when we went on strike with the record company."[6]

  1. ^ Breihan, Tom (August 19, 2020). "The Number Ones: Deniece Williams' "Let's Hear It For The Boy". Stereogum. Retrieved July 29, 2023. ...A 1982 cover of the Royalettes' 1965 R&B ballad "It's Gonna Take A Miracle," which peaked at #10.
  2. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, September 9, 1965". Archived from the original on May 10, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 503.
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 625.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference auto4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b [1] Archived 2015-02-03 at the Wayback Machine