Then He Kissed Me

"Then He Kissed Me" is a song written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry. The song, produced by Spector, was initially released as a single on Philles Records (#115) in July 1963 by The Crystals. The lyrics are a narrative of a young woman's encounter, romance, and eventual engagement with a young man.

"Then He Kissed Me"
Single by The Crystals
from the album Philles Records Presents Today's Hits
B-side"Brother Julius"
ReleasedJuly 12, 1963
GenreBrill Building[1]
Length2:35
LabelPhilles (US, Canada)
London (UK)
Songwriter(s)Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry
Producer(s)Phil Spector
The Crystals singles chronology
"Da Doo Ron Ron"
(1963)		 "Then He Kissed Me"
(1963)		 "Little Boy"
(1964)

In 2004, this song was number 493 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[2] Pitchfork placed it at number 18 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s".[3] Billboard named the song number 8 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.[4]

The song appears in the 1987 film, Adventures in Babysitting and in the 1990 movie, Goodfellas.

The Crystals version

The single is one of The Crystals' best-remembered songs. It was recorded at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles in April 1963. The lead vocal was sung by Dolores "LaLa" Brooks, the Wall of Sound arrangement was by Jack Nitzsche, featuring The Wrecking Crew, and Larry Levine was the engineer.[5] In the United States the single peaked at number 6 and in the United Kingdom it peaked at number 2. It was The Crystals' third single to chart in the top ten in the United States, and their second to reach the top ten in the United Kingdom. The song was also a major hit in the Republic of Ireland, reaching number 3 in the charts there.

Cash Box described it as "a captivating, quick moving, full sounding romantic that sports a sensational arrangement by Jack 'Specs' Nitzsche."[6]

Chart performance

The Beach Boys version
"Then I Kissed Her"
1967 UK single cover
Song by The Beach Boys
from the album Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
B-side"Mountain of Love"
Released
RecordedMay 5, 1965 (1965-05-05)
Length2:15
LabelCapitol
Songwriter(s)Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry
Producer(s)Brian Wilson

The song retitled "Then I Kissed Her" and released by The Beach Boys on their 1965 album Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) with Al Jardine on lead vocals and production by Brian Wilson. Beyond title and gender changes, new lyrics were written retelling the story of the Crystals' song from the boyfriend's point of view.

Two years after appearing on the album, in April 1967 the song was released as a single in the United Kingdom, appearing as a stop-gap release while work continued on the "Heroes and Villains" single. This was reportedly done against the band's wishes; Beach Boys band member Mike Love commented on May 7, 1967 "The record company didn't even have the decency to put out one of Brian’s own compositions. The reason for the hold up with a new single has simply been that we wanted to give our public the best and the best isn't ready yet."[12]

"Then I Kissed Her" charted at number 4 in the UK. The B-side of the single was "Mountain of Love", a song off the band's 1965 Beach Boys' Party! album.

Charts
Chart (1967) Peak
position
Finland (Soumen Virallinen)[13] 16
Dutch Top 40[14] 2
German Singles Chart[15] 39
Irish Singles Chart[16] 4
Norwegian Singles Chart[17] 10
UK Singles Chart[18] 4

According to contemporary national charts sourced and cited by Billboard in 1967, it reached number 2 in Sweden and South Africa and number 9 in Belgium. It was number 12 in Australia's Go Set chart and number 6 in New Zealand.

Personnel

Personnel sourced from Craig Slowinski.[19]

The Beach Boys

Session musicians and production staff

  • Ron Swallow – tambourine

Other versions

References
  1. "Brill Building Sound: Where Rock And Roll Began". Audioacademy.in. 20 July 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  2. "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". RollingStone.com. Archived from the original on December 27, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  3. "Staff Lists: The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s | Features". Pitchfork. August 18, 2006. Archived from the original on June 2, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
  4. "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time: Critics' Picks". Billboard. July 10, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  5. Phil Spector: Back To Mono 1958 - 1969, 4 CD box set, All Mother Bertha Music, 1991, liner notes
  6. "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. August 3, 1963. p. 12. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  7. "Flavour of New Zealand, 31 October 1963". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  8. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  9. "Cash Box Top 100 12/28/68". 12 August 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-08-12. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  10. "Top 100 Hits of 1963/Top 100 Songs of 1963". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  11. "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 28, 1963". Archived from the original on July 13, 2014. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  12. New Musical Express, May 7, 1967
  13. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. p. 96. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  14. "De Nederlandse Top 40, week 26, 1967". Archived from the original on 2007-12-28. Retrieved January 10, 2009.
  15. "Search results". Charts-surfer.de. Retrieved January 10, 2009.
  16. "Search results". Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved January 10, 2009.
  17. "The Beach Boys - Then I Kissed Her". Norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  18. "The Official Charts Company – Beach Boys – Then I Kissed Her". Official Charts. Retrieved January 10, 2009.
  19. Slowinski, Craig (Summer 2009). Beard, David (ed.). "Summer Days". Endless Summer Quarterly Magazine. Vol. 22, no. 84. Charlotte, North Carolina.
  20. "Heat Wave". Open.spotify.com. 1 January 1963. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  21. Janjatović, Petar (2007). EX YU ROCK enciklopedija 1960–2006. Belgrade: self-released. p. 48.
  22. Hunt, James (September 17, 2021). "Every Song In Sex Education Season 3". Screen Rant. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  23. "1981 Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive - 18-24 October 1981". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  24. "Bruce Springsteen - August 23, 2008 Scottrade Center, St. Louis". Live.brucespringsteen.net.
  25. "Asheghaneh". Open.spotify.com. 2002-02-08. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
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