What the World Needs Now Is Love

Infobox Single
Name =What the World Needs Now Is Love


Cover size =
Border =
Caption =
Artist =Jackie DeShannon
Album =
A-side =What the World Needs Now Is Love
B-side =I Remember The Boy
Released =April 15, 1965
Format =
Recorded =
Genre =
Length =
Label =Imperial Records
Writer =Hal David , Burt Bacharach
Producer =
Audio sample? =
Certification =
Last single =
This single =
Next single =
Misc = "What the World Needs Now Is Love" is a 1965 popular song with lyrics by Hal David and music composed by Burt Bacharach. It was first recorded, and made popular by Jackie DeShannon. It was released on April 15, 1965 on the Imperial label after a release on Liberty records the previous month was canceled. The song reached number 7 in the US charts May of that year.

Recording history

It has been recorded by over a hundred artists, notably Dionne Warwick, Wynonna Judd, The Carpenters, Diana Ross & The Supremes, McCoy Tyner, Barry Manilow, Ed Ames, Luther Vandross, and Aimee Mann. It even made the country charts by a little known singer/songwriter, Ron Shaw, on the Pacific Challenger label in the late 1970s. American jazz musician Steve Tyrell performed his version of the song on The Tonight Show on July 7th 2008.

It was a top 5 song in "American Idol" season 2 in 2003.

Tom Clay version

Infobox Single
Name = What the World Needs Now Is Love


Artist = Tom Clay
from Album = What the World Needs Now Is Love
A-side = "What the World Needs Now Is Love"
B-side = "Abraham, Martin and John"
Released = 1971
Format = Vinyl record
Recorded = Early 1971
Genre = Pop
Spoken word
Length =
Label = Motown Records
Mo-west MW5002F
Writer = Hal David
Burt Bacharach
Producer = Tom Clay
Certification =
Last single = -
This single = "What the World Needs Is Love"
(1971)
Next single = "Whatever Happened to Love"
(1971)
Misc =

In addition to the DeShannon hit recording and the numerous cover versions, "What the World Needs Now is Love" served as the basis for a distinctive 1971 remix.

Disc jockey Tom Clay was working at radio station KGBS in Los Angeles, California when he created the single "What the World Needs Now is Love/Abraham, Martin and John", a social commentary that became a surprise hit record that summer. [ [http://wm06.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:kpfuxqr5ldhe~T1 All Music Guide — Tom Clay] ]

The song begins with a man asking a young boy to define such words as bigotry, segregation and hatred (to which the boy says he doesn't know); he says that prejudice is "when someone's sick." Following that is a soundbite of a drill sergeant leading a platoon into training, along with gunfire sound effects, after which are snippets of the two songs — both as recorded by The Blackberries, a session recording group [ [http://www.answers.com/topic/tom-clay?cat=entertainment Answers.com — Tom Clay] ] . Interspersed are excerpts of speeches by John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., and soundbites of news coverage of each one's assassination. The ending of the song is a reprisal of the introduction.

"What the World Needs Now is Love/Abraham, Martin and John" rose to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1971, and was Clay's only Top 40 hit. [Whitburn, Joel, "Top Pop Singles: 1955-2006", 2007.]

In pop culture

"What the World Needs Now is Love" has been used in many film soundtracks, notably "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" and "For the Love of Fred" (used as the film's closing theme song in both), "", "My Best Friend's Wedding" and "Forrest Gump".

The first few notes of the song has also been used as a toteboard cue for the annual "Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon".

A shortened version of the title is used in a biography of Burt Bacharach and Hal David by Robin Platts.

Jessica Mauboy sang "What The World Needs Now Is Love" on "Australian Idol" in 2007.
Barry Manilow covered this song on his 2006 album "The Greatest Songs of the Sixties".
Andrea Ross covered this song as "What The World Needs Now" on her 2007 album "Moon River".
Ed Ames covered this song on his 1967 album "Time, Time".
Alec Baldwin sang a part of the song in the episode Somebody to Love of NBC's 30 Rock while playing a piano, as his soon to be lover CC walked down the stairs at the party which they met.

Quotation

The song contains the memorable lines::"What the world needs now is love, sweet love":"It's the only thing that there's just too little of..".

References

* [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3820 Songfacts] Accessed July 2008
* [http://members.tripod.com/~jackiedeshannon/jdsas3.html Jackie de Shannon Discography] . Accessed July 2008

ources

Bibliography

*Platts, Robin (2003) "Burt Bacharach & Hal David: What the World Needs Now", Collector's Guide Publishing, ISBN 1896522777

External links

* [http://www.haldavid.com/words.htm Hal David] Recollections . Accessed June 2007
* [http://music.yahoo.com/Barry-Manilow/What-The-World-Needs-Now-Is-Love/lyrics/36578516#lyricstop Lyrics to What the World Needs Now Is Love] at music.yahoo . Accessed February 2008