I Need to Be in Love

"I Need to Be in Love"
Cover to the Carpenters' single, "I Need to Be in Love"
Single by The Carpenters
from the album A Kind of Hush
B-side	"Sandy"
Released	May 21, 1976
Format	7" single
Recorded	1976
Genre	Pop
Length	3:25 (single version) 3:49 (album version)
Label	A&M
Writer(s)	Richard Carpenter; John Bettis; Albert Hammond
Producer(s)	Richard Carpenter
The Carpenters singles chronology
"There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)" (1976) "I Need to Be in Love" (1976) "Goofus" (1976)
A Kind of Hush track listing Side one "There's a Kind of Hush" "You" "Sandy" "Goofus" "Can't Smile Without You" Side two "I Need to Be in Love" "One More Time" "Boat to Sail" "I Have You" "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do"

"I Need to Be in Love" is a song written by Richard Carpenter, Albert Hammond and John Bettis. It was released as a single on May 21, 1976. It was featured on the A Kind of Hush album, which was released on June 11 of the same year. The single featured a version without the piano lead-in and starts immediately with a flute introduction by David Shostac. Richard Carpenter recalled that it was Karen Carpenter's favorite Carpenters song.

The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 on June 12 at number 55, and peaked at number 25. It peaked at number 36 on the UK charts. In 1995, it was released as a CD single in Japan, after being chosen for the theme song of the drama Miseinen. It was taken from the best-selling compilation 22 Hits of the Carpenters (promoted as a double A-side with "Top of the World"). Richard Carpenter claims that "It became one of the biggest sellers of 1995, ultimately going quadruple platinum. In more ways than one, Karen would have loved that!" "I Need to Be in Love" was also the Carpenters' fourteenth number one on the Easy Listening chart.