THE BOOK OF LOVE (song)

The Book of Love (song)

“The Book of Love”
Single by The Monotones
from the album Who Wrote The Book Of Love
B-side “You Never Loved Me”
Released February 1958
Format 7″
Recorded September 1957
Genre
Rock and rollrhythm and bluesdoo-woppop
Length 2:24
Songwriter(s) Warren Davis,George Malone’Charles Patrick

“The Book of Love” (also titled “(Who Wrote) The Book of Love”) is a rock and roll / doo-wop song, originally by The Monotones. It was written by three members of the group, Warren Davis, George Malone and Charles Patrick.

Lead singer Charles Patrick heard a Pepsodent toothpaste commercial with the line “wonder where the yellow went”. From there he got the idea for the line, “I wonder, wonder, wonder who, who wrote the book of love”, working it up into a song with Davis and Malone. The “boom” part of the song was a result of a kid kicking a ball against the garage while they were rehearsing. It sounded good, so they added it to the song.

In September 1957, the Monotones recorded “The Book of Love”, which was released on the Mascot label in December that year. The small record company could not cope with its popularity, and it was reissued on Chess Records’ subsidiary Argo label in February 1958. On the Billboard charts, “The Book of Love” peaked at No. 5 on the pop chart and No. 3 on the R&B chart. Outside the US, the song reached No. 5 in Australia.

Cover Versions
In the UK, there was a successful cover version by The Mudlarks.
In 1985, the song was covered on The 4 Seasons album, Streetfighter.
In 1988, the song became the new theme song for The Newlywed Game, when Paul Rodriguez replaced Bob Eubanks as host for one year.
In 1990, Ben E. King and Bo Diddley featuring Doug Lazy recorded a revamped rap version of “Book of Love” for the soundtrack of the film, Book of Love.
In 2014, the song became popular again as a cover by Gavin James.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia