Cherish (The Association song)

"Cherish"
Single by The Association
from the album And Then... Along Comes the Association
B-side	"Don't Blame It On Me" (Addrissi/Addrissi)
Released	1966
Format	7" single
Genre	Pop music
Length	3:25 (album) 3:13 (single)
Label	Valiant Records V-747 (Warner Bros. Records)
Writer(s)	Terry Kirkman
Producer	Curt Boettcher
The Association singles chronology
"Along Comes Mary" (1966) "Cherish" (1966) "Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies" (1966)

"Cherish" is a pop song written by Terry Kirkman and recorded by The Association.^[1] Released in 1966, the song reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in September of that year and remained in the top position for three weeks. In Canada, the song also reached number one. The single version was slightly edited by removing one of the two "And I do cherish you" lines near the end of the song. This edit was done as a means of keeping the track from exceeding the three minute mark, as radio programmers then frowned upon songs that went beyond three minutes. However, even with the edit, the song still ran over. Instead of editing further, producer Curt Boettcher intentionally listed 3:00 on the label as the song's running time.

Session musician Doug Rhodes, also member of The Music Machine, played the Celesta on the recording. Producer Curt Boettcher added some vocals, most notably the high-pitched "told you" and "hold you" on the final verse.

David Cassidy recorded his own version on his 1972 album Cherish. His version reached number nine on the Hot 100 chart, spent one week at number one on the Adult Contemporary chart, ^[2], peaked at number three in Canada and hit number one in both Australia and New Zealand.

Other artists to have covered the song include Nina Simone, Petula Clark (Colour My World album), The Four Tops, Jodeci, Barry Manilow, and Pat Metheny.

The original Association version of the song appears in the John Hughes film Pretty in Pink and The Nanny season 5 episode, "The Engagement".

See also

• List of RPM number-one singles of 1966
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1966 (U.S.)
• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1972 (U.S.)

References

1. ^ "Show 37 - The Rubberization of Soul: The great pop music renaissance. [Part 3] : UNT Digital Library" (audio). Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu. 1969. http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19796/m1/. Retrieved 2011-04-14. 
2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 50. 

Preceded by "You Can't Hurry Love" by The Supremes

Billboard Hot 100 number-one single September 17, 1966 (three weeks)

Succeeded by "Reach Out I'll Be There" by The Four Tops