"Love Hangover" | ||||
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Single by Diana Ross | ||||
from the album Diana Ross | ||||
B-side | "Kiss Me Now" | |||
Released | March 16, 1976 | |||
Recorded | 1975 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 7:48 3:46 (single edit) | |||
Label | Motown M 1392 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Marilyn McLeod, Pamela Sawyer | |||
Producer(s) | Hal Davis | |||
Diana Ross singles chronology | ||||
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Official audio | ||||
"Love Hangover" (album edit) on YouTube |
"Love Hangover" is a song by the American singer Diana Ross, recorded in 1975 and released as a single on March 16, 1976. It rose to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot-Selling Soul Singles. It also hit number one on the Record World disco charts.
Producer Hal Davis instructed the song's engineer Russ Terrana to install a strobe light so that Ross could be in the "disco" mindset.[3] As the song changed from ballad to uptempo, Ross became more comfortable with the material; she hummed, sang bit parts, laughed, danced around and even imitated Billie Holiday.[4] The distinctive bassline is played by Henry E. Davis.[5]
The song was first released on the album Diana Ross in February 1976. Motown initially promoted the album by releasing the single "I Thought It Took a Little Time". The vocal group the 5th Dimension released their own version of "Love Hangover" as a single, and Motown then issued Ross's version as a single. Both versions entered the chart the same day. By the time Ross's version of the song reached number one, Ross had reinvented herself as a disco diva and the 5th Dimension's version had peaked at number 80. It won Ross a Grammy nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. It appeared on the soundtrack of the following year's Diane Keaton movie Looking for Mr. Goodbar.
"Love Hangover" reached number one on May 29, 1976. That week, Casey Kasem reported on American Top 40 that Ross had broken the record for the most number-one hits by a female vocalist. With her fourth number one, she passed Connie Francis, Helen Reddy, Roberta Flack, and Cher, each of whom had three.
Ross performed the song on the April 4, 1980 episode of The Muppet Show during its fourth season.
The song was remixed several times. A version remixed by Eric Kupper, known as "Love Hangover 2020", hit number one on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart in March 2020.
Its extended disco metamorphosis, which accounts for more than five of the song's nearly eight-minute length, turns out to be the hair of the dog...