"Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" is the debut single by Edison Lighthouse. The song reached the number one spot on the UK Singles Chart on the week ending 31 January 1970, where it remained for a total of five weeks.[4]
It also became the first number one single of the 1970s (not counting Rolf Harris's "Two Little Boys" which was a holdover from 1969).
Background
"Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" was written by Tony Macaulay and Barry Mason and was first recorded by Geoff Turton as "Jefferson" but not released until years later. Tony Burrows with session musicians recorded it next. "Love Grows" entered the UK top 40 at No. 12 on 24 January 1970[5] – an unusually high new entry for a debut act.
A week later, the track climbed eleven places to No. 1, becoming the first new UK chart-topper of the 1970s. After a five-week stay at the top, "Love Grows" dropped to No. 4, replaced by "Wand'rin' Star" by Lee Marvin. Whilst at No. 1, Edison Lighthouse held off strong competition from Peter, Paul and Mary ("Leaving on a Jet Plane") and Canned Heat ("Let's Work Together"). Eventually, after a 12-week run, "Love Grows" left the UK top 40 on 18 April 1970.[6]
Tony Burrows initially tried to get the single released under his own name but was turned down by the song's writer and producer Tony Macaulay. When "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" became a hit, a group needed to be assembled rapidly to perform the song on Top of the Pops. The pair found a group called Greenfield Hammer, who a week later appeared on Top of the Pops as 'Edison Lighthouse' to mime to the fastest-climbing number-one hit record in history at that point.[citation needed]
In the U.S., the Edison Lighthouse version of "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" came close to facing competition from a cover version that ABC-Dunhill Records wished to cut with well-established top 40 hitmakers The Grass Roots; however, the latter group passed on the song, reportedly because Grass Roots frontman Rob Grill balked at singing a love song that might be presumed to reference co-member Warren Entner's wife Rosemarie Frankland.[7] Issued in the U.S. in February 1970, "Love Grows" by Edison Lighthouse entered the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 dated 28 February 1970 at No. 68,[8] to reach a peak position of No. 5 on 28 March, remaining there for two weeks. After a 12-week run, "Love Grows" exited the US top 40 on 23 May.
"Love Grows" reached number 3 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart and number 3 in South Africa in February 1970.[9]
Toward the end of 2021, the song saw a massive resurgence due to its popularity on TikTok. Between 25 December 2021 and 3 January 2022, the song saw a growth of 1,490% in its on-demand audio streams, and moved onto Spotify's U.S. Top 200 Chart.[10]
In 1995, Swedishdansband Distance (later Frida & Dansbandet) covered the song with lyrics in the Swedish language, as "När du ler" ("When you smile").[33]
The Grass Roots, who in 1970 declined to cover the Edison Lighthouse original,[34] included a live version of the song - as "Love Grows (Rosemary)" - on their 2000 Live at Last album, the song having been inaugurated as a Grass Roots concert staple by 1996.[35]
Freedy Johnston covered the song on his 2001 album Right Between the Promises.[36]
It serves as the musical theme of the film Little Manhattan (wherein the female love interest is also named Rosemary), performed by Freedy Johnston.[citation needed]
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