Rock and Roll Love Letter (song)

"Rock and Roll Love Letter"
German single picture sleeve
Single by Bay City Rollers
from the album Rock n' Roll Love Letter
B-side	"Shanghai'd in Love"
Released	April 1976
Genre	Power pop [1]
Length	2:52
Label	Arista 0185
Songwriter(s)	Tim Moore
Producer(s)	Colin Frechter
Bay City Rollers singles chronology
"Money Honey" (1976) "Rock and Roll Love Letter" (1976) "I Only Want to Be with You" (1976)

"Rock and Roll Love Letter" is the second single from American Tim Moore's second album, Behind the Eyes . Tim Moore's original version was not successful. It was later covered by the band Bay City Rollers, and that version became a Top 40 hit. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5]}

Bay City Rollers version

This version was released as a single in 1976 and was successful, reaching number 6 in Canada ^[6] and number 28 in the United States. ^[7] The single was not released in the UK.

Chart performance

Weekly charts Chart (1976) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report) [8] [9] 9 Canada (RPM) Top Singles [6] 6 Germany (Media Control Charts) [10] 13 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [11] 34 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [7] 28 U.S. Cash Box Top 100 [12] 30

Year-end charts Chart (1976) Rank Australia (Kent Music Report) [9] [8] 72 Canada [13] 76 U.S. Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual [14] 169 U.S. Cash Box [15] 97

Other cover versions

• The Dirty Angels covered the song in 1975, released in the U.S. only. ^[16]
• In 1977, Tina Arena and John Bowles recorded a version for their album Tiny Tina and Little John .
• Pink Lady recorded a Japanese-language version of the song in their 1977 debut album Pepper Keibu .
• The Records covered "Rock and Roll Love Letter" in 1979. It was released in the UK as a non-album single. It was later included as a CD bonus track on their Shades in Bed LP.
• In July 21st, 1988, Eri Nitta recorded a Japanese version of the song as her ninth single.

• Gary Pig Gold along with The Grip Weeds gave "Rock and Roll Love Letter" the full-on Who's Next treatment for the Bullseye Records of Canada Men in Plaid CD in 1999. It was then released in Europe as a non-album single on the Pop The Balloon label.

References

1. Cafarelli, Carl (2001). "The Bay City Rollers". In Cooper, Kim; Smay, David (eds.). Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth. Los Angeles: Feral House. pp. 157–158.
2. Davis, Clive (19 February 2013). The Soundtrack of My Life. ISBN   9781476714806 . Retrieved July 19, 2014.
3. Hallett, Bob (2010). Writing Out the Notes: Life in Great Big Sea and Other Musical Misadventures. ISBN   9781554830145 . Retrieved July 19, 2014.
4. "The 1975 American Song Festival. A lot of good things happened". Billboard . 6 November 1976. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
5. Borack, John M. (2007). Shake Some Action - The Ultimate Guide to Power Pop. ISBN   9780979771408 . Retrieved July 19, 2014.
6. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
7. "Bay City Rollers - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
8. "National Top 100 Singles for 1976". Kent Music Report. December 27, 1976. Retrieved January 15, 2022– via Imgur.
9. Steffen Hung. "Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
10. "Home - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". Officialcharts.de. 2016-09-30. Archived from the original on July 26, 2014. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
11. Steffen Hung. "Bay City Rollers - Rock And Roll Love Letter". charts.nz. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
12. "Cash Box Top 100 6/12/76". 29 July 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
13. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
14. Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 365. ISBN   0-89820-142-X.
15. "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1976". 21 October 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
16. "Dirty Angels - Rock And Roll Love Letter". 45cat.com. Retrieved 2 July 2018.

External links

• Bay City Rollers - Rock and Roll Love Letter on YouTube