"Let My Love Open the Door" is a song written and performed by the English rock musician Pete Townshend from his third solo studio album Empty Glass (1980). That year,it reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100[3][4] and peaked at number five on RPM's Top 100 singles chart.[5]
Soon after the single's release,Record World anticipated that the song would "turn on pop radio to what AOR has known for weeks."[6]
Background
Although Townshend is a devotee to the Indian spiritual master Meher Baba,he claimed in the liner notes of his compilation album Anthology (2005) that "Jesus sings" on the track.[7]Cashbox called it a "joyous,blissful tune [that] features a stirring keyboard-synthesizer melody and multi-tracked high harmonies."[8]Record World called it a "timeless pop-rocker."[9]
"Let My Love Open the Door" was released as the second single from Empty Glass in Britain,where it was backed with the non-album tracks "Classified" and "Greyhound Girl." The song was a minor British hit,reaching number 46.[10] The song saw great success when it was released as the debut single from Empty Glass in America,where the song reached number nine.[11] It was Townshend's only solo top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100,but the Who's song "I Can See for Miles",which was written by Townshend,reached the same position on the chart 13 years earlier.
Initially,Townshend's manager despised the track due to it "not sounding like Townshend," and wanted it to be removed from Empty Glass.[7] However,upon the song's chart success,his manager called to apologize.
Despite the song's critical and commercial success,Townshend did not consider it one of his best songs. He told Rolling Stone in an interview that "Let My Love Open the Door" was "just a ditty," also claiming that he preferred his minor US hit "A Little Is Enough" from the same album.[7]
In 1996,Townshend released a new version of "Let My Love Open the Door",called "the E. Cola mix",turning the song into a ballad. This version appeared in different television shows and film soundtracks.[12]
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the Empty Glass liner notes.[13]
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