"A Lover's Concerto" | ||||
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Single by The Toys | ||||
from the album The Toys Sing "A Lover's Concerto" and "Attack!" | ||||
B-side | "This Night" | |||
Released | August 1965 (US) October 1965 (UK) | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 2:36 | |||
Label | DynoVoice | |||
Songwriter(s) | Sandy Linzer, Denny Randell, Christian Petzold | |||
Producer(s) | Linzer and Randell | |||
The Toys singles chronology | ||||
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"A Lover's Concerto" is a pop song written by American songwriters Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell, based on the 18th century composition by Christian Petzold, "Minuet in G major", and recorded in 1965 by the Toys. "A Lover's Concerto" sold more than two million copies and was awarded gold record certification by the RIAA. [1]
Their original version of the song was a major hit in the United States and United Kingdom (among other countries) during 1965. It peaked on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 2. [2] "A Lover's Concerto" reached number 1 both on the US Cashbox chart (Billboard's main competitor), and in Canada on the RPM national singles chart. It peaked at number 5 in the UK Singles Chart. [3]
Linzer and Randell used the melody of the familiar "Minuet in G major" (BWV Anh. 114), which first appeared in J.S. Bach's Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach . [2] The only difference is that the "Minuet in G major" is written in 3
4 time, whereas "A Lover's Concerto" is arranged in 4
4 time. Although often attributed to Bach himself, the "Minuet in G major" is now generally accepted as having been written by Christian Petzold. [4] [5] [6]
The melody had been popularized by bandleader Freddy Martin in the 1940s, in a recording that was released under the title "A Lover's Concerto". [7]
Critic Dave Thompson wrote of the Toys' version: "Few records are this perfect. Riding across one of the most deceptively hook-laden melodies ever conceived ... 'A Lover's Concerto' marks the apogee of the Girl Group sound." [2] The song also has an unusual structure that blurs the differences between its verses and choruses. [2] Add to this, it was also popularized by Sarah Vaughan under Mercury label in the late ‘60s. The lyrics begin:
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The title Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach refers to either of two manuscript notebooks that the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach presented to his second wife, Anna Magdalena. Keyboard music makes up most of both notebooks, and a few pieces for voice are included.
The Toys were an American pop girl group from Jamaica, New York, which was formed in 1961 and disbanded in 1968. Their most successful recording was "A Lover's Concerto" (1965), which sold more than two million copies and reached the number-two spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Sandy Linzer is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer, who is best known for his songwriting collaborations with Denny Randell and Bob Crewe in the 1960s and 1970s. He co-wrote hits including "A Lover's Concerto", "Let's Hang On!", "Working My Way Back to You", "Breakin' Down the Walls of Heartache", "Native New Yorker", and "Use It Up and Wear It Out". He was nominated with Randell for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) in 2012.
Denny Randell is an American songwriter and record producer, who is best known for his songwriting collaborations with Sandy Linzer and Bob Crewe in the 1960s and 1970s. He co-wrote hits including "A Lover's Concerto", "Let's Hang On!", "Working My Way Back to You", and "Native New Yorker", and was nominated with Linzer for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) in 2012.
Christian Petzold was a German composer and organist. He was active primarily in Dresden, and achieved a high reputation during his lifetime, but his surviving works are few. It was established in the 1970s that the famous Minuet in G major, previously attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach, was in fact the work of Petzold. The sprightly melody was used in the 1965 pop music hit "A Lover's Concerto" by the American group The Toys.
Robert Stanley Crewe was an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, and record producer. Crewe co-wrote and produced a string of Top 10 singles with Bob Gaudio for the Four Seasons.
I Hear a Symphony is the eighth studio album released by American girl group the Supremes on the Motown label in 1966.
"I'll Never Fall in Love Again" is a popular song by composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David that was written for the 1968 musical Promises, Promises. Several recordings of the song were released in 1969; the most popular versions were by Dionne Warwick, who took it to number 6 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 and spent three weeks topping the magazine's list of the most popular Easy Listening songs, and Bobbie Gentry, who topped the UK chart with her recording and also peaked at number 1 in Australia and Ireland, number 3 in South Africa and number 5 in Norway.
"Let's Hang On!" is a song composed by Bob Crewe, Sandy Linzer, and Denny Randell that was popularized by the Four Seasons in 1965.
"Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'bout Me)" is a song composed by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell and recorded by The Four Seasons in 1966 for their album Working My Way Back to You.
"Lover, Come Back to Me" is a popular song composed by Sigmund Romberg with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II for the Broadway show The New Moon, where the song was introduced by Evelyn Herbert and Robert Halliday. The song was published in 1928.
The Minuets in G major and G minor, BWV Anh. 114 and 115, are a pair of movements from a suite for harpsichord by Christian Petzold, which, through their appearance in the 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, used to be attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach. These minuets, which are suitable for beginners on the piano, are among the best known pieces of music literature. The 1965 pop song "A Lover's Concerto", of which millions of copies were sold, is based on the first of these Minuets.
"Song Sung Blue" is a 1972 hit song written and recorded by Neil Diamond, inspired by the second movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto #21. It was released on Diamond's album Moods, and later appeared on many of Diamond's live and compilation albums. The song was a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States for one week, the week of July 1, and it spent twelve weeks in the Top 40. It also reached #14 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Any Day Now" is a popular song written by Burt Bacharach and Bob Hilliard in 1962. It has been recorded by numerous artists over the years, including notable versions by Chuck Jackson in 1962, Alan Price in 1965, Elvis Presley in 1969, Scott Walker in 1973 and Ronnie Milsap in 1982. In the lyrics, the singer predicts the imminent demise of a romantic relationship and describes the sadness this will leave.
"Yes, My Darling Daughter" is a 1940 song by Jack Lawrence first introduced by Dinah Shore on Eddie Cantor's radio program on October 24, 1940. It was Shore's first solo record, released by Bluebird, and peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard magazine chart.
The Toys Sing “A Lover's Concerto” and “Attack!” is the sole album by the girl group The Toys. It was released in 1966 right after the success of the group's first two hits, both of which are mentioned in the album's title.
"Can't Get Enough of You Baby" is a song written by Denny Randell and Sandy Linzer and first recorded by the Four Seasons in 1965 for their album Working My Way Back to You and More Great New Hits. The protopunk band? and the Mysterians recorded it in 1967 for their second album Action. Their version reached No. 56 on the Billboard Hot 100 when it was released as a single.
Switched-On Bach II is a musical album by Wendy Carlos in 1973 on Columbia Records and produced by Carlos and Rachel Elkind and is a sequel to the 1968 album Switched-On Bach.
Hooked on Classics, produced by Jeff Jarratt and Don Reedman, is a multi-million selling album recorded by Louis Clark and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, published in 1981 by K-tel and distributed by RCA Records, part of the Hooked on Classics series.
The singles discography of American Jazz artist Sarah Vaughan contains 89 singles, two promotional singles and seven other charted songs. Vaughan recorded her first singles in 1946, with her first release being "If You Could See Me Now". Soon after, she saw her first major chart success on the Billboard pop list with "Tenderly" and "It's Magic." Moving to Columbia Records, she had further pop hits in the late 1940s with covers of "Black Coffee" and "Nature Boy." She had her second top ten hit in 1950 with "(I Love the Girl) I Love the Guy." Vaughan moved to Mercury Records during the 1950s and recorded more pop music. At Mercury, she had her biggest chart success, with the top ten hits "Make Yourself Comfortable" and "Whatever Lola Wants." In 1959, Vaughan's single "Broken Hearted Melody" reached number seven on the Billboard pop chart and became an international success, becoming the biggest single of her career.