"To Sir With Love" | ||||
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US vinyl release (Epic Records)
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Single by Lulu | ||||
from the album To Sir, with Love | ||||
B-side | "It's Getting Harder All the Time" (The Mindbenders) (UK) "The Boat That I Row" (US) |
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Released | September 1967 | |||
Format | 7" single | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 2:47 | |||
Label | Epic | |||
Writer(s) |
Don Black (lyrics) Mark London (music) Mike Leander (arranger) |
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Producer(s) | Mickie Most | |||
Lulu singles chronology | ||||
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"To Sir With Love" | ||||
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Single by Tina Arena | ||||
from the album Songs of Love & Loss | ||||
Released | 24 November 2007 | |||
Format | Paid download | |||
Recorded | 2007 in London | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 3:38 | |||
Label | EMI | |||
Writer(s) |
Don Black (lyrics) Mark London (music) |
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Producer(s) | Duck Blackwell, Paul Guardiani | |||
Tina Arena singles chronology | ||||
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"To Sir With Love" is the theme from James Clavell's 1967 film To Sir, with Love. The song was written by Don Black and Mark London (husband of Lulu's longtime manager Marion Massey). Mickie Most produced the record, with Mike Leander arranging and conducting. In her recording, Lulu makes notable use of melisma.
"To Sir With Love" was initially recorded by Lulu (with The Mindbenders, who also acted in the film). It was released as a single in the United States in 1967 and in October reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for five weeks. The single ranked No. 1 in Billboard's year-end chart, though the Monkees' "I'm a Believer", which debuted in December 1966 and spent most of its chart life in 1967, was the overall bigger hit. It became a gold record.
Canada's RPM Magazine put the song at No. 2 for the year 1967. "To Sir with Love" has the distinction of being the only record by a British artist to reach No. 1 on the US charts while not charting in the UK, where it appeared only as a B-side to "Let's Pretend" (released in the UK on 23 June 1967), which reached No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart.
Australian singer Tina Arena released her version of the song as the first single from her 2007 album Songs of Love & Loss.