View source for Love Child (song)

{{For|other songs|Love child (disambiguation){{!}}Love child}}
{{Infobox song
| name       = Love Child
| image      = Love child diana ross and the supremes Canadian single.png
| alt        = side-A label
| caption    = Side A of the Canadian single
| type       = single
| artist     = [[The Supremes|Diana Ross & the Supremes]]
| album      = [[Love Child (The Supremes album)|Love Child]]
| B-side     = Will This Be the Day
| released   = September 30, 1968
| recorded   = [[Hitsville U.S.A.]] (Studio A); September 17, September 19, and September 20, 1968
| studio     =
| genre      = 
* [[Psychedelic soul]]<ref name= "Sacher 2017">{{cite web|first= Andrew|last= Sacher|title= 30 essential psychedelic soul songs|website= [[BrooklynVegan]]|date= March 2, 2017|url= https://www.brooklynvegan.com/30-essential-psychedelic-soul-songs/|accessdate= September 28, 2024}}</ref>
* [[psychedelic pop]]<ref name= "Sacher 2017"/>
| length     = 2:54 (album/single version)<br>3:14 (2003 remix)
| label      = [[Motown]]<br> <small>M 1135</small>
| writer     = [[R. Dean Taylor]], [[Frank Wilson (musician)|Frank Wilson]], [[Pam Sawyer]], [[Deke Richards]]
| producer   = The Clan<br>(R. Dean Taylor, Frank Wilson, Pam Sawyer, Deke Richards) and [[Henry Cosby]]
| prev_title = [[Some Things You Never Get Used To]]
| prev_year  = 1968
| next_title = [[I'm Gonna Make You Love Me]]
| next_year  = 1968
| misc       = {{Extra track listing
 | album  = [[Love Child (The Supremes album)|Love Child]]
 | type   = single
 | tracks = {{Love Child track listing}}
}}
{{External music video|header=External media|{{YouTube|RNCkah42w6Q|"Love Child" (audio)}}}}
{{External music video|header=no|{{YouTube|lqakDo11cPQ|"Love Child" (''The Ed Sullivan Show'', January 5, 1969)}}}}
}}

"'''Love Child'''" is a 1968 song released by the [[Motown]] label for [[The Supremes|Diana Ross & the Supremes]]. The second single and title track from their album ''[[Love Child (The Supremes album)|Love Child]]'', it became the Supremes' 11th number-one single in the [[United States]], where it sold 500,000 copies in its first week and 2 million copies by year's end.<ref name="Million Selling Records"/>

The record took just three weeks to reach the Top Ten of [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'''s Hot 100]] pop chart, which eventually it topped for two weeks (issues dated November 30 and December 7, 1968),<ref>{{cite magazine |year=1968 |title=''Billboard'' Hot 100 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |volume=80 |issue=48 |page=90 |publisher=[[Nielsen Company]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G0UEAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA90 |access-date=10 May 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |year=1968 |title=''Billboard'' Hot 100 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |volume=80 |issue=49 |page=60 |publisher=[[Nielsen Company]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oyIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA60 |access-date=10 May 2011 }}</ref> before being dethroned by an even bigger Motown single, [[Marvin Gaye]]'s "[[I Heard It Through the Grapevine]]". "Love Child" also performed well on the soul chart — where it spent three weeks at no. 2 (behind [[Johnnie Taylor]]'s "[[Who's Making Love]]") — and paved new ground for a major pop hit with its then-controversial subject matter of [[Legitimacy (family law)|illegitimacy]].<ref name=pc50>{{cite web|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19831/m1/ |title=Show 50 - The Soul Reformation: Phase three, soul music at the summit. [Part 6&#93; : UNT Digital Library |website=[[University of North Texas]] |access-date=2016-10-02}}</ref> It is also the single that finally knocked [[the Beatles]]' "[[Hey Jude]]" off the top spot in the United States after its nine-week run. The Supremes debuted the dynamic and intense song on the season premiere of the [[CBS]] [[variety show|variety]] [[television programme|program]] ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' on Sunday, September 29, 1968.<ref>[[Fred Bronson|Bronson, Fred]]: ''The [[Billboard magazine|Billboard]] Book of Number 1 Hits'', page 248. Billboard Books, 2003.</ref><ref>{{Cite episode |title = Jefferson Airplane, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Red Skelton |url = http://www.tv.com/jefferson-airplane---diana-ross-and-the-supremes---red-skelton/episode/107429/summary.html? |series= [[The Ed Sullivan Show]] |network= [[CBS]] |station= [[WCBS-TV|WCBS]] |location= [[New York City]] |airdate= 29 September 1968 |season= 22 |number= 1}}</ref> In ''Billboard'''s special 2015 chart of the Top 40 Biggest Girl Groups of All Time on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]], "Love Child" ranked highest among the Supremes' six entries.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6070107/top-40-girl-group-songs-of-all-time?page=0%2C1|title=Top 40 Girl Group Songs Of All Time|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|publisher=Nielson Business Media, Inc|first=Jason|last=Lipshutz|date=2014-04-28|access-date=2015-02-28}}</ref>

==History==

===Recording===
In 1967, Diana Ross & the Supremes dropped [[Florence Ballard]], engaged new member [[Cindy Birdsong]] and added Ross's name to the billing. Following this string of changes, the Supremes had mixed success on the pop charts. "[[Reflections (The Supremes song)|Reflections]]" peaked at no. 2 on the ''Billboard'''s Hot 100 and "[[In and Out of Love (The Supremes song)|In and Out of Love]]" peaked at 9, but the group's next two singles did not reach the Top 20.

This prompted Motown label chief [[Berry Gordy]] to hold a special meeting in a room at the Pontchartrain Hotel in Detroit, which was attended by a team of writers and producers at the label, including [[R. Dean Taylor]], [[Frank Wilson (musician)|Frank Wilson]], [[Pam Sawyer]], [[Deke Richards]], and [[Henry Cosby]].  The group, calling themselves the Clan, set to work on a hit single for Diana Ross & the Supremes. Instead of composing another love-based song, the team decided to craft a tune about a woman who is asking her boyfriend not to pressure her into [[sexual intercourse|sleeping]] with him, for fear they would conceive a "[[Legitimacy (family law)|love child]]". The woman, portrayed on the record by Diana Ross, is herself a love child, and, besides not having a father at home, had to endure wearing rags to school and growing up in an "old, cold, run-down tenement [[slum]]." The background vocals echo this sentiment, asking the boyfriend to please "wait/wait won't you wait now/hold on/wait/just a little bit longer."

As was nearly always the case on singles released under the "Diana Ross & the Supremes" name, Supremes members [[Mary Wilson (singer)|Mary Wilson]] and [[Cindy Birdsong]] do not perform on the record; Motown [[session singer]]s [[The Andantes]] performed the background vocals.  All lead vocals were by Diana Ross, who would leave the group in a year for a solo career.

===Reaction and response===
The public responded immediately to "Love Child" when it was released as a single on September 30, 1968, reaching number one on ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard's]]'' Hot 100 and becoming the third biggest selling Supremes' single behind "[[Baby Love]]" and "[[Someday We'll Be Together]]." The feat was repeated in Canada, where it also reached number one in the ''[[RPM (magazine)|RPM 100]]'' national singles chart.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.5830&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=25q34bgck2obn02l8qiut07601 |title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |publisher=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |access-date=2015-10-30}}</ref> In the UK singles chart, the record peaked at no. 15, and no. 3 in Australia. Given that the single spent a then lengthy 11 weeks in the Top Ten of ''Billboard'''s Hot 100 (the longest of any Supremes hit), its 1968 year-end [[Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1968|ranking of 27]] is low-seeming. But the ranking, which covers the period up to and including the issue dated December 14, 1968, is based on only nine of its 16 weeks on the Hot 100 (and four of the unused seven weeks were spent in the Top Ten). The track's parent LP ''[[Love Child (The Supremes album)|Love Child]]'' was released on November 13, 1968.

''[[Cash Box]]'' said that "Diana Ross clicks with a contemporary narrative message which (accompanied by up-tempo beat and pop arrangements) open up a new top forty image for the act."<ref>{{cite magazine |title=CashBox Record Reviews |date=October 12, 1968 |page=20 |access-date=2022-01-12 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1968/CB-1968-10-12.pdf |magazine=Cash Box}}</ref>

==Track listing==
*'''7" single (30 September 1968)''' (North America/United Kingdom)
#"Love Child" – 2:59
#"Will This Be the Day" – 2:50

*'''7" single (1968)''' (Netherlands)
#"Love Child" – 2:59
#"Misery Makes Its Home in My Heart " – 2:52

==Personnel==
* Lead vocals by [[Diana Ross]]
* Background vocals by [[the Andantes]]: Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps
* Instrumentation by [[the Funk Brothers]] and the [[Detroit Symphony Orchestra]]

==Chart history==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}

===Weekly charts===
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"|Chart (1968–1969)
!scope="col"|Peak<br>position
|-
!scope="row" | Australia (''[[Go-Set]]'')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.poparchives.com.au/gosetcharts/1969/19690122.html|title=Go-Sets National Top 40|work=[[Go-Set]]|date=22 January 1969|access-date=1 January 2020}}</ref>
|align="center"| 4
|-
!scope="row" | Australia ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.top100singles.net/2013/02/every-amr-top-100-single-in-1968.html#show|title=Every Unique AMR Top 100 Single of the 1968|website=Top 100 Singles|access-date=31 December 2020}}</ref>
|align="center"| 2
|-
!scope="row" {{single chart|Canadatopsingles|1|artist=The Supremes|chartid=5830}}
|-
!scope="row" {{single chart|Ireland2|12|artist=The Supremes}}
|-
!scope="row" | Japan ([[Oricon]])<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/77757/rank/single/|title=ホームシュープリームスシングル売上TOP1作品 {{!}} ORICON NEWS|language=Japanese|work=[[Oricon]]|accessdate=December 4, 2022}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|23
|-
!scope="row" {{single chart|Dutch40|18|artist=Supremes The|song=Love Child}}
|-
!scope="row" {{single chart|Dutch100|19|artist=Diana Ross & The Supremes|song=Love Child}}
|-
!scope="row" | New Zealand (''[[New Zealand Listener|Listener]]'')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20listener&qsongid=1732#n_view_location |title=Flavour of New Zealand: Diana Ross and The Supremes - Love Child" (1968) NZ Listner charts |website=Flavourofnz.co.nz |access-date=2016-10-02}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
!scope="row" | Sweden (''[[Kvällstoppen]]'')<ref name="Kvällstoppen">{{cite web|url=https://www.nostalgilistan.se/diana-ross-and-the-supremes-14223|title=Diana Ross And The Supremes - Se alla lȧtar och listplaceringer - NostalgiListan|work=[[Kvällstoppen]]|via=nostalgilistan.se|language=Swedish|accessdate=January 30, 2022}}</ref>
| align="center"| 7
|-
!scope="row" {{single chart|Switzerland|7|artist=Diana Ross & The Supremes|song=Love Child}}
|-
!scope="row" {{single chart|UKsinglesbyname|artistid=11282|15|artist=Supremes|song=Love Child}}
|-
!scope="row" | [[UK R&B Chart|UK R&B]] (''[[Record Mirror]]'')<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-UK/Music/Archive-Record-Mirror-IDX/IDX/60s/Record-Mirror-1968-12-07-IDX-11.pdf#search=%22bubbling%20under%20supremes%22|title=BRITAIN'S TOP R&B SINGLES|magazine=[[Record Mirror]]|page=11|date=December 7, 1968|via=worldradiohistory.com|accessdate=October 31, 2021}}</ref>
| align="center"| 1
|-
!scope="row" {{single chart|Billboardhot100|1|artist=The Supremes}}
|-
!scope="row" {{single chart|Billboardrandbhiphop|2|artist=The Supremes}}
|-
!scope="row" |[[Cashbox (magazine)|US ''Cashbox'' Top 100]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/19681207.html |title=CASH BOX Top 100 Singles|work=[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cashbox]]|date=December 7, 1968|access-date=31 December 2020}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
!scope="row" |[[Cashbox (magazine)|US ''Cashbox'' R&B]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cashboxmagazine.com/archives-r/60s_files/19681130R.html |title=The CASH BOX Top 50 In R&B Locations|work=[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cashbox]]|date=November 30, 1968|access-date=31 December 2020}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
!scope="row" | US [[Record World|''Record World'' 100 Top Pops]]<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Record-World-IDX/IDX/60s/68/RW-1968-12-14-OCR-Page-0029.pdf#search=%22supremes%20love%20child%22 |title=100 TOP POPS: Week of December 14, 1968|magazine=[[Record World]]|publisher=worldradiohistory.com|date=December 14, 1968|access-date=29 January 2021}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
!scope="row" | US [[Record World|''Record World'' Top 50 R&B]]<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Record-World-IDX/IDX/60s/68/RW-1968-12-14-OCR-Page-0035.pdf#search=%22top%20r%20b%20love%20child%22 |title=TOP 50 R&B: Week of December 14, 1968|page=35|magazine=[[Record World]]|publisher=worldradiohistory.com|date=December 14, 1968|access-date=29 January 2021}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|}
{{col-2}}

===Year-end charts===
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Chart (1968)
! Rank
|-
!scope="row" | Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.top100singles.net/2013/11/amr-top-singles-of-1968.html#show|title=Top 100 Singles: AMR Top Singles of 1968|website=Top 100 Singles|access-date=6 August 2021}}</ref>
|align="center"| 19
|-
!scope="row"| Canada Top Singles (''RPM'')<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.5867&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.5867.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.5867 |title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |work=[[RPM (magazine)|RPM]]|date=17 July 2013 |publisher=[[Library and Archives Canada]] |access-date=1 January 2020}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|61
|-
!scope="row"| US ''Billboard'' Hot 100<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1968.htm |title=Top 100 Hits of 1968/Top 100 Songs of 1968 |website=Musicoutfitters.com |access-date=2016-10-02}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|27
|-
! Chart (1969)
! Rank
|-
!scope="row"| Canada Top Singles (''RPM'')<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.6104&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.6104.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.6104 |title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |work=[[RPM (magazine)|RPM]]|date=17 July 2013 |publisher=[[Library and Archives Canada]] |access-date=1 January 2020}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|93
|-
!scope="row"| Japan Foreign Hits (''Billboard'')<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mSkEAAAAMBAJ&q=billboard+supremes+japan&pg=RA1-PA16|title=FOREIGN HITS IN JAPAN 1960-1969|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|page=J-32|date=December 19, 1970|access-date=2016-09-27}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|21
|-
!scope="row"| US ''Cashbox'' Top 100<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/1969YESP.html|title=The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1969|work=[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cashbox]]|access-date=31 December 2020|archive-date=5 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130305115129/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/1969YESP.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|30
|-
!scope="row"| US ''Cashbox'' R&B<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cashboxmagazine.com/archives-r/60s_files/1969YESR.html |title=The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1969|work=[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cashbox]]|access-date=31 December 2020}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|19
|}

===All-time charts===
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Chart (1958–2018)
! Position
|-
!scope="row"| US ''Billboard'' Hot 100<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100-60th-anniversary|title=Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart|magazine=Billboard|access-date=10 December 2018}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|285
|}
{{col-end}}

==Certifications==
{{certification Table Top}} 
{{certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|artist=Supremes|title= |award=|relyear=|certyear=|nocert=yes|id=|salesamount=2,000,000|salesref=<ref name="Million Selling Records">{{cite book|author=Joseph Murrells   |title= Million Selling Records from the 1900s to the 1980s: An Illustrated Directory  |isbn=0-7134-3843-6|publisher= [[B.T. Batsford]] |location=London|date= 1984 |page=272 }}</ref>}}
{{end}}

==Notable cover versions==
* It was covered in 1990 by [[Sweet Sensation (trio)|Sweet Sensation]]. Their cover peaked at number 13 in May 1990 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/281206/sweet+sensation/chart |title=Sweet Sensation - Chart history |publisher=Billboard |access-date=2015-10-30}}</ref>

==Use in popular culture==
In 2010 Korean-born American professional skateboarder [[Daewon Song]] recreated the first part of his ''Love Child'' run trick-for-trick for a [[DVS Shoes]] promotional video.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.skateboardermag.com/features/daewon-songs-recreated-love-child/ |title=TransWorld SKATEboarding &#124; Skateboard News, Videos, Photos and Events |publisher=Skateboardermag.com |access-date=2015-10-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140115125830/http://www.skateboardermag.com/features/daewon-songs-recreated-love-child/ |archive-date=2014-01-15 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1968 (U.S.)]]
* [[Illegitimacy in fiction#Music|Illegitimacy in fiction]]

==Bibliography==
* Chin, Brian and Nathan, David (2000). "Reflections Of..." [[The Supremes (2000 box set)|The Supremes]] [CD Box Set]. New York: Motown Record Co./Universal Music.
* Posner, Gerald (2002). Motown : Music, Money, Sex, and Power. New York: Random House. {{ISBN|0-375-50062-6}}.
* [[Mary Wilson (singer)|Wilson, Mary]] and Romanowski, Patricia (1986, 1990, 2000). [[Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme|Dreamgirl & Supreme Faith: My Life as a Supreme]]. New York: Cooper Square Publishers. {{ISBN|0-8154-1000-X}}.

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://secondhandsongs.com/work/5446/versions List of cover versions of "Love Child"] at SecondHandSongs.com
* {{YouTube|RNCkah42w6Q|The Supremes - Love Child}}

{{The Supremes}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:1968 singles]]
[[Category:The Supremes songs]]
[[Category:Sweet Sensation songs]]
[[Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles]]
[[Category:Cashbox number-one singles]]
[[Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles]]
[[Category:Number-one singles in New Zealand]]
[[Category:Songs written by Pam Sawyer]]
[[Category:Songs written by R. Dean Taylor]]
[[Category:Songs written by Frank Wilson (musician)]]
[[Category:Songs written by Deke Richards]]
[[Category:Motown singles]]
[[Category:Psychedelic soul songs]]
[[Category:Songs about parenthood]]
[[Category:1968 songs]]