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"Welcome Back" | ||||
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![]() German cover | ||||
Single by John Sebastian | ||||
from the album Welcome Back | ||||
B-side | "Warm Baby" | |||
Released | March 1976 | |||
Recorded | 1975 | |||
Genre | Folk rock, blues rock | |||
Length | 2:51 | |||
Label | Reprise | |||
Songwriter(s) | John Sebastian | |||
Producer(s) | Steve Barri, John Sebastian | |||
John Sebastian singles chronology | ||||
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Official audio | ||||
"Welcome Back" on YouTube |
"Welcome Back" is a popular record that was the theme song of the 1970s American television sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter . [1] Written and recorded by former Lovin' Spoonful frontman John Sebastian, it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in May 1976, after only five weeks on the chart, and also topped the adult contemporary chart [2] (the show itself had become an instant ratings success upon its premiere the previous fall). It also reached No. 93 on the country chart.
TV producer Alan Sachs wanted a Lovin' Spoonful-like theme song for a new ABC sitcom entitled Kotter.
Chart (1976) | Peak position |
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Australia (Kent Music Report) [3] [4] | 24 |
Canadian RPM Top Singles [5] | 2 |
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary [6] | 1 |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [7] | 1 |
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks [2] | 1 |
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks [7] | 93 |
U.S. Cashbox Top 100 [8] | 1 |
Chart (1976) | Rank |
---|---|
Canada RPM Top Singles [9] | 42 |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [10] | 58 |
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening [11] | 28 |
U.S. Cash Box [12] | 19 |
The song is featured twice in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023). It is first used in an opening montage depicting Scott Lang's (portrayed by Paul Rudd) life following the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), and it is used again in a similar montage at the end of the film after Lang and his family escape from the Quantum Realm and defeat Kang the Conqueror (portrayed by Jonathan Majors). [13]