Love's Theme

"Love's Theme" is an instrumental piece written by Barry White around 1965.^{[citation needed]} Recorded and released as a single by White's Love Unlimited Orchestra in 1973, it was one of the few instrumental and purely orchestral singles to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, which it did in early 1974.^[2] Billboard ranked it as #3 on the Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1974.

Quick Facts Single by the Love Unlimited Orchestra, from the album Under the Influence of... Love Unlimited and Rhapsody in White ...

"Love's Theme"
Side A of the New Zealand single
Single by the Love Unlimited Orchestra
from the album Under the Influence of... Love Unlimited and Rhapsody in White
B-side	"Sweet Moments"
Released	November 1973
Recorded	1973
Genre	Philly soul proto-disco[1]
Length	3:30 (single) 4:08 (album)
Label	20th Century/Pye International
Songwriter(s)	Barry White
Composer(s)	Barry White
Producer(s)	Barry White
The Love Unlimited Orchestra singles chronology
"Love's Theme" (1973) "Rhapsody in White" (1974)
Music video
Love Unlimited Orchestra – Love's Theme (live at TopPop) on YouTube

Close

The song was included on two albums: 1973's Under the Influence of... Love Unlimited (by the vocal group Love Unlimited) and 1974's Rhapsody in White by the Love Unlimited Orchestra. Love Unlimited would re-release the song for their subsequent album, In Heat (1974), only this time with different orchestral arrangements and lyrics written by Aaron Schroeder.

The recording (with a large string orchestra, modified guitar and big rhythm) was considered to be an influence on the disco sound, which would increase popularity the following year. The song was also popular on the Adult Contemporary chart in the United States (spending two weeks at #1) and was also a #1 on Cash Box. For several years, a shortened version of the original instrumental release was used in the opening sequence of the television golf PGA Tour on ABC broadcasting program.^{[citation needed]}

In Canada, the single was similarly successful, being a #1 on the RPM 100 National Singles Chart on March 2, 1974.^[3] "Love's Theme" was sampled by the Italian group Black Box in their 1989 song "Ride on Time".^[4]

In 1975–76, WPIX-TV in New York would end its 10:00pm broadcast of Harper News (later Action News) with "Love's Theme".^[5]

It was also used as the boarding music for Cathay Pacific during the 1980s^[6] and as the theme song of the Brazilian soap opera Celebridade.

Since 2000 it is the theme song for the Italian talk show C'è posta per te.^[7]

The 2024 PBS series Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution explores the importance of "Love's Theme" to the history of disco music.^[8]