Today’s classic song of the day was a hit for two different artists in the ’60s—and a British a cappella group in the ’80s. The song is “When You’re Young and In Love,” and it was written by Van McCoy, who would make a name for himself in the ’70s with the iconic disco tune “The Hustle.” McCoy had been around the music industry since the late 1950s, where he started out working for Flo Greenburg of Scepter Records as a staff writer and A&R man. He later moved on to work with legendary songwriter/producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller then struck out on his own, writing songs for Brenda and the Tabulations (“Right on the Tip of My Tongue”), Jackie Wilson (“I Get the Sweetest Feeling”), Barbara Lewis (“Baby I’m Yours”), and others.
McCoy gave “When You’re Young and In Love” to Ruby and the Romantics, a vocal group from Akron, Ohio. They’d had previous hits with “Our Day Will Come,” “Summer Love,” and “Hey There, Lonely Boy” (later a gender-swapped hit for Eddie Holman as “Hey There, Lonely Girl“), all in 1963. The group released “When You’re Young and In Love” in September of 1964, on Kapp Records. Unfortunately, the track only hit #48 on the Billboard Hot 100, although it did reach #15 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart.
In April of 1967, Motown artists the Marvelettes released a cover of “When You’re Young and In Love,” on the Tamla label. Their version was more successful, reaching #23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 on Billboard’s R&B chart.
Almost two decades later, the British group the Flying Pickets reworked the song in an a cappella version. Their single was a big hit in the UK in 1984, reaching #7 on the UK charts, although it wasn’t released in the U.S.
Three somewhat different but also similar versions of the same song. Which is your favorite?
