Written and produced by Motown production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song topped the US Billboard Hot 100, made the top five in the UK, and top 10 in Australia. It was released and peaked in late summer and early autumn in 1966.[1] Sixteen years later, it became a number-one hit in the UK when Phil Collins re-recorded the song. It reached number one on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks beginning in January 1983[2] and reached number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 a month later.
Billboard named the song number 19 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.[3] The BBC ranked "You Can't Hurry Love" at number 16 on The Top 100 Digital Motown Chart, which is based solely on all time UK downloads and streams of Motown releases.[4]
History
Overview
The song, a memory of a mother's words of encouragement ("My mama said 'you can't hurry love/No you just have to wait' ")[5] telling her daughter that with patience she will find that special someone one day, is an example of the strong influence of gospel music present in much of R&B and soul music. "You Can't Hurry Love" was inspired by and partially based upon "(You Can't Hurry God) He's Right on Time" ("You can't hurry God/you just have to wait/Trust and give him time/no matter how long it takes"), a 1950s gospel song written by Dorothy Love Coates of the Original Gospel Harmonettes.[6]
The recorded version of "You Can't Hurry Love" showcases the developing sound of the Supremes, who were progressing from their earlier teen-pop into more mature themes and musical arrangements. This song and "You Keep Me Hangin' On" were finished together; when it came time to choose which single would be issued first, Motown's Quality Control department chose "You Can't Hurry Love."
Written and produced by Motown's main production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland, "You Can't Hurry Love" is one of the signature Supremes songs, and also one of Motown's signature releases. Billboard described the single as "the group's most exciting side to date" with "top vocal" and "exceptional instrumental backing."[7]Cash Box said that it is a "pulsating pop-r&b rhythmic ode which contends that romance is a slow-developing game of give-and-take."[8]Record World called it "a wonderful and happy sounding tune, chirped by the Supremes, with bells and banjos."[9]
The single became the Supremes' seventh number-one hit,[10] topping the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for two weeks, from September 4 to September 17, 1966, and reaching number one on the soul chart for two weeks. The group performed the song on the CBS variety programThe Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday, September 25, 1966.[11]
The most notable cover of the song was released in November 1982 as a single by Phil Collins from his second solo album, Hello, I Must Be Going! Collins's version reached number one on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in January 1983 (becoming his first number-one solo hit on the UK Singles Chart,[2] and peaking two positions higher than the original song did in that country), and reached number 10 in the United States (his first top 10 single in the U.S.).[40] The single was certified gold in the UK.[38] The song spent a week at number 1 in Ireland in January 1983.[41] The orchestral strings on this track were recorded in Studio 1 at CBS Recording Studios, London W1 by Recording Engineer Mike Ross-Trevor (assisted by Richard Hollywood) on the evening of Thursday, June 24, 1982. Collins's cover was both virtuoso, and at the same time, the most popular Collins performance effort to date, and thus considerably his breakthrough work as a solo artist.
Collins said that "The idea of doing 'Can't Hurry Love' was to see if Hugh Padgham and I could duplicate that Sixties sound. It's very difficult today because most recording facilities are so much more sophisticated than they were back then. It's therefore hard to make the drums sound as rough as they did on the original. That's what we were going after, a remake, not an interpretation, but a remake."[42]
In 1983, the music video was released on the home video Phil Collins, available on Video Home System (VHS) and LaserDisc (LD), which received a Grammy nomination for Best Video, Short Form.[43] The video itself was also the first track featured on the first VHS compilation of Now: That's What I Call Music.
^"100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time: Critics' Picks". Billboard. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
^"The Top 100 Digital Motown Chart". BBC. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
^"Show 50 – The Soul Reformation: Phase three, soul music at the summit. [Part 6] : UNT Digital Library". Digital.library.unt.edu. March 22, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
^Marsh, Dave. "Dorothy Love Coates / The Original Gospel Harmonettes – The Best of Dorothy Love Coates & the Original Gospel Harmonettes, Vols. 1-2 (Review)". Allmusic.com. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
^"Spotlight Singles" (PDF). Billboard. August 6, 1966. p. 16. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
^"CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. August 6, 1966. p. 18. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
^"Single Picks of the Week" (PDF). Record World. August 6, 1966. p. 1. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
^Bronson, Fred: The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, page 207. Billboard Books, 2003.
^"British single certifications – Supremes – You Can't Hurry Love". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
^Joseph Murrells (1984). "THE SUPREMES". Million Selling Records from the 1900s to the 1980s: An Illustrated Directory. London: B.T. Batsford. p. 233. ISBN 0-7134-3843-6.
^Dafydd Rees (1991). Rock Movers & Shakers. ABC-CLIO. p. 73. ISBN 9780874366617. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
^ a b"Award". BPI. Archived from the original on May 7, 2021. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
^Molanphy, Chris (May 31, 2019). "The Invisible Miracle Sledgehammer Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
^"The Irish Charts - All there is to know". www.irishcharts.ie. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
^Hitmen, 1986 Part Two, Hitmen, 1986. reprinted at Collins's website in 2009; archived copy at archive.org.
^"Grammy Awards 1985". Awards & shows. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
^ a bKent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St. Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 71. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
^"Phil Collins – You Can't Hurry Love". austriancharts.at (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
^"Phil Collins – You Can't Hurry Love". Ultratop (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
^"CHART NUMBER 1353 – Saturday, December 25, 1982". Archived from the original on November 7, 2006. Retrieved May 8, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^"Phil Collins – You Can't Hurry Love". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
^"Top-Hebdo" (in French). SNEP. March 5, 1983. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
^"Phil Collins – You Can't Hurry Love (single)". Offizielle Deutsche Charts (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
^"Search results for 'You Can't Hurry Love'". The Irish Charts. Fireball Media. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
^"Phil Collins – You Can't Hurry Love (song)". charts.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
^"SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved September 2, 2018.
^Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
^"Phil Collins – You Can't Hurry Love (song)". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
^"Phil Collins – You Can't Hurry Love". hitparade.ch (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
^"Phil Collins: Chart History: The Hot 100". Billboard. Billboard. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
^Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Record Research. p. 61.
^"Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on August 11, 2016. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
^"Kent Music Report – National Top 100 Singles for 1983". Kent Music Report. Retrieved January 22, 2023 – via Imgur.com.
^"Top 100 1983 – UK Music Charts". Uk-charts.top-source.info. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
^"Top 100 Hits of 1983/Top 100 Songs of 1983". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
^"Top 100 Year End Charts: 1983". Cashbox Magazine. Archived from the original on August 25, 2012. Retrieved 2015-05-09.
^"Danish single certifications – Phil Collins – You Can't Hurry Love". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
^"Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Phil Collins; 'You Can't Hurry Love')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved September 4, 2023.