Lookin' for Love
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for Diesel (musician) song of the same name, see "Lookin' for Love (Diesel song)"
| "Lookin' for Love" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Johnny Lee | ||||
| from the album Urban Cowboy soundtrack | ||||
| B-side | "Lyin' Eyes" (by The Eagles) |
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| Released | June 30, 1980 | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Recorded | 1980 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 3:37 | |||
| Label | Full Moon 47004 | |||
| Writer(s) | Wanda Mallette, Bob Morrison, Patti Ryan | |||
| Producer(s) | John Boylan | |||
| Certification | Gold (RIAA) | |||
| Johnny Lee singles chronology | ||||
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"Lookin' for Love" is a song written by Wanda Mallette, Bob Morrison and Patti Ryan, and recorded by American country music singer Johnny Lee. It was released in June 1980 as part of the soundtrack to the film Urban Cowboy, released that year. Marcy Levy was one of the female singers who provided backing vocals on the track.
Contents
Lee's rise to fame
Lee whose biggest hit to date had been a 1977 cover of Ricky Nelson's "Garden Party" had previously been one of the main nightclub acts at Gilley's, a nightclub owned by country music superstar Mickey Gilley. Record executive Irving Azoff offered Lee the chance to record "Lookin' For Love," a song that 20-plus artists had rejected.[1]
Critics were not kind to Lee nor the song. Country music historian Bill Malone once noted that "Lookin' for Love" — in his words, a "lilting little pop song" — became the featured song of Urban Cowboy and a huge commercial hit largely because "actor John Travolta (the movie's co-star) expressed a liking for it."[2] Critic Kurt Wolff panned the song as an example of "watered-down cowboy music."[3]
Public reaction was much better. "Lookin' for Love" rose to No. 1 (for a three-week stay) on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart, and was a No. 5 Billboard Hot 100 hit as well. On the U.S. Cash Box Top 100, the song spent two weeks at No. 4.[4]
"Lookin' for Love" was certified gold for sales of 1 million units by the Recording Industry Association of America.[5]
Chart performance
Weekly singles charts
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Year-end charts
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Series
The song was performed by Johnny Lee in an episode of "Chips".
Cover versions, parodies and tributes
Country music group Sawyer Brown recorded a cover of the song on the 2000 album The Hits Live. This version peaked at No. 44 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. The song is also featured in the classic Saturday Night Live sketch Buh-Weet Sings, in which Buckwheat from Our Gang (played by Eddie Murphy) sings the song as "Wookin Pa Nub".
The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" is titled in tribute to this song ("par'Mach" is defined in the episode as "the Klingon word for love, but with more aggressive overtones").[8]
Al Lowe `s second Leisure Suit Larry game is named after the song :)[9] The song was referenced in Operation Repo in season 11 episode 7.
Sources
References
- ↑ allmusicguide.com
- ↑ Malone, Bill, "Country Music U.S.A," 2nd rev. ed. (University of Texas Press, Austin, 2002), p.371.
- ↑ Wolff, Kurt, "Country Music: The Rough Guide," Rough Guides Ltd., London; Penguin Putnam, New York, distributor. p. 424 (ISBN 1-85828-534-8)
- ↑ http://50.6.195.142/archives/80s_files/19801011.html
- ↑ riaa.com
- ↑ http://50.6.195.142/archives/80s_files/19801011.html
- ↑ http://50.6.195.142/archives/80s_files/1980YESP.html
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (in Several Wrong Places)
Other sources
- Allmusic — "Johnny Lee" entry by Tom Roland.
- Roland, Tom, "The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits," Billboard Books, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, 1991. (ISBN 0-82-307553-2)
- Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs: 1944-2005," 2006.
| Preceded by | Billboard Hot Country Singles number-one single September 6-September 20, 1980 |
Succeeded by "Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You" by Dolly Parton |
