Do You Love Me


"Do You Love Me" is a 1962 hit single recorded by The Contours for Motown's Gordy Records label. Written and produced by Motown CEO Berry Gordy Jr., "Do You Love Me?" was the Contours' only Top 40 single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. Notably, the record achieved this feat twice, once in 1962 and again in 1988. A main point of the song is to name the Mashed Potato, The Twist, many other 1960s fad dances, and a variation of the title "I like it like that", as "You like it like this".
The song is noted for the spoken recitation heard in the introduction which goes: "You broke my heart / 'Cause I couldn't dance / You didn't even want me around / And now I'm back / To let you know / I can really shake 'em down."
The song has a false ending.

Original release

Berry Gordy wrote "Do You Love Me" with the intention that The Temptations, who had no Top 40 hits to their name yet, would record it. However, when Gordy set out to locate the group and record the song, they were nowhere to be found.
After spending some time looking for the Temptations, Gordy ran into the Contours in the hallway. Wanting to record and release "Do You Love Me" as soon as possible, Gordy decided to let them have his "sure-fire hit" instead of the Temptations. The Contours, who were in danger of being dropped from the label after their first two singles failed to chart, were so elated at Gordy's offer that they immediately began hugging and thanking him.
"Do You Love Me", the fifth release on Gordy Records, became a notably successful dance record, built around Gordon's screaming vocals. Selling over a million copies, "Do You Love Me" peaked at No 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks starting on October 20, 1962 and was a No 1 hit on the Billboard R&B Singles chart. An album featuring the single, Do You Love Me , was also released. None of the Contours' future singles lived up to the success of "Do You Love Me", although its success won the group a headlining position on Motown's very first Motor Town Revue tour.

Legacy

According to music journalist Kingsley Abbott, "Do You Love Me" is representative of Gordy's talent as a musician, producer, arranger, and songwriter: "The result is not only classic rock and roll but a tribute to his stature as the greatest backstage talent in rock history." Gordy viewed the song as an example of the musical overlap between rhythm and blues, pop, and rock and roll, telling Billboard in 1963, "It was recorded r. & b. but by the time it reached the half-million mark, it was considered pop. And if we hadn't recorded it with a Negro artist, it would have been considered rock and roll."

Covers

Like many American R&B songs of the 1960s, "Do You Love Me?" was covered by a number of British Invasion groups. Three British groups who recorded their own versions of the song were Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, the Dave Clark Five, and The Hollies on their 1964 album Stay with the Hollies.
With the re-release of the single in 1988, Motown also released a 12" maxi-single with an extended dance remix, running 6:26. The remix was also included in the late 1988 Motown CD reissue of the album Do You Love Me on Motown 37463-5415-2. This remix only appears on the CD and Cassette tape issues, as the Vinyl LP of the same release has the original 2:54 minute hit version.

Soundtrack

This song was in the soundtrack for Dirty Dancing, Sleepwalkers, and Getting Even with Dad. It was featured in the 1979 movie The Wanderers. The song also had an appearance in Beethoven's 2nd, where George Newton dances to the song while preparing his breakfast. It was also featured in Teen Wolf Too, sung by Jason Bateman, in 1987.

Personnel: The Contours