"It's in His Kiss" is a song written and composed by Rudy Clark. It was first released as a single in 1963 by Merry Clayton, but it did not appear on music charts. The song became popular a year later when Betty Everett recorded it. Her version reached No. 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in the spring of 1964 and No. 1 on the US Cashbox magazine R&B chart. Over the years, many artists and groups around the world recorded the song. It gained international attention again in 1990 when Cher performed a version of it.

The song is sung from the perspective of a woman who is trying to teach a young girl how to recognize true love. The woman strongly believes that the sign of true love is found in a man's kiss. She becomes upset with the girl when the girl suggests that other things, such as a man's actions or his hug, might be signs of true love. The woman tells the girl she is not listening and insists that a lover's kiss is the only sure sign of true love.

Merry Clayton version

The song was not chosen by the Shirelles, the leading girl group of the early 1960s, and was first recorded in Los Angeles by Merry Clayton as her first credited single. Before this, Clayton had contributed an uncredited female voice to the hit song "You're the Reason I'm Living," which was recorded by Bobby Darin as his debut on Capitol Records. Darin later arranged for Clayton to sign with Capitol Records. The composer of "It's in His Kiss," Rudy Clark, worked for TM Music, a company led by Darin. Clayton's recording of the song was produced by Jack Nitzsche and included Hal Blaine on drums and the Blossoms as the chorus. The single was released on June 10, 1963, but did not achieve success.

In 1987, Clayton performed the song again in the film Maid to Order. In the movie, she played the character Audrey James and sang the song during a key scene. The fictional band Loaded Blanks, whose members were Jack Russell, Lorne Black, Audie Desbrow, Mark Kendall, and Michael Lardie of the rock band Great White, accompanied her during the performance.

Betty Everett version

Calvin Carter, the main A&R person for Vee-Jay Records in Chicago, discovered the song "It's in His Kiss" during a trip to New York City. He was searching for music to add to Vee-Jay's list of artists, which included Betty Everett. After Everett had a hit with another song that Carter brought from New York, "You're No Good," Carter suggested she record "It's in His Kiss" as the next single. Everett, who thought the song was childish, agreed reluctantly. The background vocals on her recording were provided by the Opals, a group of three teenage girls (Rose "Tootsie" Addison, Myra Tilliston, and Rose E. Kelley) from East Chicago, Indiana, who often performed for Vee-Jay.

In his book The Heart of Rock and Soul, Dave Marsh wrote that Betty Everett's version of the song, though credited as a solo performance, is one of the best girl group hits ever recorded. It is considered the finest such performance outside the major music centers of New York City, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles.

Everett's recording of "The Shoop Shoop Song" reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the spring of 1964. At that time, Billboard did not publish its R&B chart, but Cash Box reported that her version was a No. 1 R&B hit. Internationally, the song was a hit in Australia, reaching No. 21, and in New Zealand, it reached No. 2 on the Lever Hit Parade chart. It was not widely noticed in the UK, but her 1965 U.S. hit "Getting Mighty Crowded" (which reached No. 65 in the U.S.) reached No. 29 in the UK. In 1968, the label President Records reissued "The Shoop Shoop Song" and "Getting Mighty Crowded" together on one single, with "The Shoop Shoop Song" as the A-side. This version reached No. 34 in the U.S. and No. 5 in Canada.

Ramona King version

The next recording of "It's in His Kiss" was made in Los Angeles by Ramona King, an R&B singer from San Francisco. This version was produced by Joe Saraceno and a former associate of Phil Spector named Jerry Riopelle. It was released by Warner Brothers in February 1964, one week before Everett's version came out. Because Everett was already a well-known singer who had a hit song called "You're No Good," radio stations were more likely to play her version. However, Vee-Jay Records worried that sales of Everett's version might be lower if people chose to buy Ramona King's version instead. To help make Everett's version stand out, Vee-Jay changed its title to "The Shoop Shoop Song," which refers to the background vocals in the song.

Linda Lewis version

In 1975, "The Shoop Shoop Song" became a big hit in the UK as a disco-style version called "It's in His Kiss," performed by British singer Linda Lewis. The song was recorded at Mediasound Studios in New York City with producers Bert DeCoteaux and Tony Silvester. During the same recording session, Linda also sang her own song, "Rock and Roller Coaster." Linda later said that Arista Records founder Clive Davis sent her to New York to work with Bert DeCoteaux, who had produced songs for artists like Sister Sledge. She worked with talented backing vocalists, including Deniece Williams and Luther Vandross. Linda described the experience as surprising and exciting, saying she felt like a "little girl from the East End" who "hit the nail on the head" during the recording. Clive Davis wanted Linda to remake a classic song in a disco style. After hearing "It's in His Kiss" in the studio, Linda and others decided it was the right choice. She said she had always loved the song and used to sing it while taking baths, though she admitted that making a disco record was not her usual style.

The version of "It's in His Kiss" was released in August 1975 and became a top-ten hit in the UK. It first reached No. 13 on the UK charts in its third week. After Linda performed the song on a TV show called TOTP on July 24, 1975, the song climbed to No. 8 on August 2, 1975. It reached its highest position at No. 6 on August 9, 1975, and remained in the UK top ten until August 16, when it dropped to No. 9. In Ireland, the song also reached No. 9 on the charts. In the United States, it reached No. 11 on club charts and No. 96 on the R&B chart in Billboard. It nearly entered the Billboard Hot 100, reaching "bubbling under" at No. 107. The song was included on Linda's first album for Arista Records, Not a Little Girl Anymore, which reached No. 40 on the UK Albums Chart.

Linda Ronstadt performances

On May 19, 1979, Linda Ronstadt and Phoebe Snow performed "The Shoop Shoop Song" together on an episode of Saturday Night Live. In an October 2008 interview, Snow said she and Ronstadt often discussed recording the song, and she added, "Maybe we still will." However, they never recorded the duet before Snow passed away on April 26, 2011. In December 1979, Ronstadt performed "The Shoop Shoop Song" during two benefit concerts for Jerry Brown. This version of the song, which included vocals by Nicolette Larson, was among six songs announced for her upcoming album Mad Love. However, the album was released in February 1980 without including "The Shoop Shoop Song." Ronstadt later performed the song as a guest on an episode of The Muppet Show aired on October 26, 1980. At a Rally for Nuclear Disarmament in Central Park on June 12, 1982, Ronstadt sang the song again, with backing vocals from Nicolette Larson and Rosemary Butler. If Ronstadt had recorded "The Shoop Shoop Song" for Mad Love, Peter Asher would have produced it. Asher later produced the 1990 international hit cover of the song by Cher.

Cher version

Cher's cover of "The Shoop Shoop Song" was part of the soundtrack for her 1990 film Mermaids, where it played during the closing credits. The single was released in the United States at the same time as the film's November release. It reached No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 in the United Kingdom. This was Cher's first solo No. 1 single in the UK; her only previous No. 1 had been in 1965 with her then-husband, Sonny Bono, on their hit "I Got You Babe."

The song also reached No. 1 in Austria, Ireland, and Norway. It peaked at No. 2 in Belgium and reached the top ten in France, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Sweden. The song's success in the UK and Europe led to its inclusion on Cher's next album, Love Hurts, which was released in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. The song was also on the Canadian version of the album but not the US version. It was not included on a Cher album in the US until the 1999 release of If I Could Turn Back Time: Cher's Greatest Hits.

Larry Flick of Billboard magazine wrote, "Fun and faithful cover of Betty Everett's pop song is from the soundtrack of Cher's new film, Mermaids. Truly irresistible."

The original music video for Cher's cover of "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" was directed by Marty Callner and made to promote the film Mermaids. The video shows Cher with Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci, who played her daughters in the film, in a 1960s-style music studio. Near the end, the video switches from black-and-white to color, showing Cher and the girls in jeans and leather jackets spray-painting a wall in an alley. A later version of the video removed scenes from the film. The leather jacket seen at the end was one of the first custom Chrome Hearts jackets ever made.

Single formats and tracks:

• US 7-inch and cassette single
• "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" – 2:51
• "Love on a Rooftop" – 4:22

• European 7-inch and cassette single
• "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" – 2:51
• "Baby I'm Yours" – 3:19

• European 12-inch and CD single
• "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" – 2:51
• "Baby I'm Yours" – 3:19
• "We All Sleep Alone" – 3:53

• 1993 Spanish 12-inch single
• "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" – 2:51
• "Love and Understanding" – 4:42
• "Save Up All Your Tears" – 3:58

• 1997 US 12-inch single
• "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" (Obsession Mix) – 8:21
• "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" (Crush Mix) – 8:19
• "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" (Ventura Party Dub) – 6:45
• "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" (Ventura Radio Edit) – 4:03

Other versions

• The song was performed by several British invasion bands, including the Hollies, the Searchers, and the Swinging Blue Jeans. These groups released their own versions of the song in 1964.

• In 1974, the Australian band the Bootleg Family Band recorded a new version of the song called "The Shoop Shoop Song." This version became a top 5 hit and later helped the band earn the name Avalanche.

• In 1976, Anne Renée released a French-language version of the song titled "Embrasse-le" (Kiss Him). This version used the musical arrangement from a 1975 disco cover by Linda Lewis.

• In 1977, Kate Taylor recorded a new version of the song called "It's in His Kiss" at the suggestion of Livingston Taylor. This acoustic version featured a counter vocal by James Taylor, who also co-produced the track with Lew Hahn. The recording took place in August 1977 at Atlantic Recording Studios in New York City. This version was Kate Taylor’s only Billboard Hot 100 hit, reaching No. 49 on the Hot 100 and No. 13 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart. The track was included on Kate Taylor’s 1978 self-titled album. Cash Box noted that "although it's a soft rocker, her vocal is energetic and the song resonates with new life." In Canada, the song reached #77 on the Top 100 charts and #21 on the AC charts. The Kate Taylor version was titled "It's in His Kiss (The Shoop Shoop Song)" even though it did not include the background vocals from the original Betty Everett version.

• In 1994, Maja Blagdan released a Croatian-language version of the song titled "Cura za sve" (Girl for Everything). This version was included on her album Bijele ruže (White Roses).

• Thalía recorded a Spanish-language version of the song as part of an advertising campaign for Hershey's Kisses.

• The jukebox musical The Cher Show, which opened in Chicago in 2018 and later on Broadway in December 2018, features Stephanie J. Block, Micaela Diamond, and Teal Wicks as the three aspects of Cher performing "The Shoop Shoop Song." In a review of the Chicago production, Lauren Katz noted that the song "is creatively weaved into the storytelling, appearing in Act One during the early days of Cher’s romance with Sonny. Cher and her best friends gossip about whether Sonny is in love with her and then break into the song. The piece is fun, light-hearted, and full of the hope that young Cher feels for her life with this man." Block, Diamond, and Wicks recorded the song for the show’s Broadway cast album, released in April 2019.

• A parody version of the song titled "It's In His Piss," which focuses on drug testing, was recorded by the drag queen group The Kinsey Sicks.