It Hurts to Be in Love

"It Hurts to Be in Love"
Single by Gene Pitney
from the album It Hurts to Be in Love and Eleven More Hit Songs
B-side "Hawaii"
Released July 1964[1]
Recorded 1964
Genre Rock and roll, pop
Length 2:34
Label Musicor Records
Songwriter(s) Howard Greenfield, Helen Miller
Producer(s) Aaron Schroeder, Wally Gold
Gene Pitney singles chronology
"Gene Italiano"
(1964)		 "It Hurts to Be in Love"
(1964)		 "I'm Gonna Be Strong"
(1964)

"Gene Italiano"
(1964)		 "It Hurts to Be in Love"
(1964)		 "I'm Gonna Be Strong"
(1964)

"It Hurts to Be in Love" is a song written by Howard Greenfield and Helen Miller which was a Top Ten hit in 1964 for Gene Pitney.[2] The song was one in a long line of successful "Brill Building Sound" hits created by composers and arrangers working in New York City's Brill Building at 1619 Broadway. Although not characteristic of Pitney's pop sound, as heard in "Town Without Pity" and "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance," Allmusic noted that "It Hurts to Be in Love" "was about as close as any of his major hits came to straight-ahead rock & roll."[3]

"It Hurts to Be in Love" was originally intended to be sung by singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka, but Sedaka's record label at the time, RCA Victor, refused to release Sedaka's new recording because he had not recorded it in their studios, as stipulated by his contract. Sedaka attempted another recording of this song in RCA's studios, but the results were unsatisfactory. Howard Greenfield and Helen Miller, the song's co-writers, offered it to Gene Pitney instead, and he took the existing musical track, replacing Sedaka's lead vocal track with Pitney's own. Everything else was Sedaka's, including his own arrangement and backing vocals, piano-playing, and usual female backup singers. Pitney ended up with a top ten hit in the Billboard Hot 100 for himself and his record label, Musicor, in 1964.[2] The personnel on the original recording included Artie Kaplan on saxophone, Bill Suyker, Charles Macy, and Vinnie Bell on guitar, Milt Hinton on bass, Artie Butler on organ, Gary Chester on drums, and Toni Wine on backing vocals.

In the US, "It Hurts to Be in Love" spent 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 7,[4][5] also reaching No. 7 on the Cash Box Top 100,[6] and No. 6 on Record World's "100 Top Pops".[7] The song also reached No. 2 on Canada's RPM Top 40-5s[8] and No. 36 on the UK's Record Retailer chart.[9]

The song has been covered by many other artists, notably Bobby Vee. In 1981, Dan Hartman recorded a version which peaked at No. 72 on the Billboard Hot 100.[10] It was included on his same-titled album It Hurts to Be in Love.[11]

In 2007, Razor & Tie Records released the original Sedaka demo as part of the anthology album The Definitive Collection.

Pitney's recording is not to be confused with a similarly titled song, co-written by Julius Dixson and Rudy Toombs, and recorded by Annie Laurie on De Luxe Records (1957).[12]

Chart history

References

  1. ↑ "Gene Pitney - Record Details". Retrieved 2016-12-20.
  2. 1 2 "Gene Pitney - Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  3. ↑ Unterberger, Richie. "It Hurts to Be in Love - Gene Pitney : Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  4. ↑ Hot 100 - Gene Pitney It Hurts to Be in Love Chart History, Billboard.com. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  5. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 493.
  6. ↑ Cash Box Top 100, Cash Box, October 10, 1964. p. 4. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  7. ↑ "100 Top Pops", Record World, October 17, 1964. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Top 40-5s". RPM. Vol. 2 no. 7. October 12, 1964. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  9. ↑ Gene Pitney - Full Official Chart History, Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  10. ↑ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Dan Hartman | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-07-03.
  11. ↑ "Dan Hartman - It Hurts To Be In Love at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2014-07-03.
  12. ↑ "It Hurts to Be in Love - Annie Laurie : Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  13. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1964-10-12. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  14. ↑ Gene Pitney - Full Official Chart History, Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  15. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  16. ↑ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, October 10, 1964
  17. ↑ "100 Top Pops", Record World, October 17, 1964. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  18. ↑ Musicoutfitters.com
  19. ↑ Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 26, 1964
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