"Love's Theme" is a song without words written by Barry White in 1965. It was recorded and released as a music single by White's group, Love Unlimited Orchestra, in late 1973. The song reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States in early 1974. Billboard listed it as the third most popular song of 1974 in its Year-End Hot 100 singles ranking. Over time, "Love’s Theme" became one of the most popular instrumental songs ever sold.
Background and release
The song appeared on two albums: the 1973 album Under the Influence of… Love Unlimited by the vocal group Love Unlimited, and the 1974 album Rhapsody in White by the Love Unlimited Orchestra. Love Unlimited later released the song again on their 1974 album In Heat, but this version had different music arrangements and lyrics written by Aaron Schroeder.
The recording, which included a large string orchestra, a modified guitar, and a strong rhythm section, had an influence on the disco music style, which became more popular the next year. The song was also very successful on the Adult Contemporary chart in the United States, reaching the top spot for two weeks. It also reached number one on the Cash Box chart. For several years, a shorter version of the original instrumental recording was used in the opening of the television golf program PGA Tour on ABC.
In Canada, the single was also very successful, reaching number one on the RPM 100 National Singles Chart on March 2, 1974. The song "Love's Theme" was later used by the Italian group Black Box in their 1989 song "Ride on Time."
Legacy
In 1975–76, WPIX-TV in New York ended its 10:00pm show of Harper News (later called Action News) with the song "Love's Theme." The song was also used as the music played when passengers boarded Cathay Pacific airplanes during the 1980s and as the theme song for the Brazilian soap opera Celebridade.
Since 2000, the song has been the theme for the Italian talk show C'è posta per te, which airs on Canale 5. The 2024 PBS series Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution looks at how important "Love's Theme" was to the history of disco music.