This Iconic Love Song Held The No. 1 Spot The Longest In 1975

Those who were alive during the '70s might be able to make a pretty good guess about what love song topped the charts in 1975, same as those born later will have absolutely no clue. That's because Captain & Tennille — an unlikely duo of seriousness and quirk, captain's hat and pageboy haircut — stepped into the pop musical limelight in 1975 with two songs charting in the top 10, including "The Way I Want to Touch You" at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The pop duo all but vanished following 1980's "Do That to Me One More Time," which topped the charts at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. But it was "Love Will Keep Us Together," the very first track off their debut, 1975 album of the same name, that held the No. 1 spot for the longest that summer, at a whopping four weeks.

"Love Will Keep Us Together" is a testament to its time. A short, piano-driven pop track with sparse and bouncy bass and an undeniable hook, "Love Will Keep Us Together" was a massive hit right from the get-go. It skyrocketed to the top of the charts following its June release, and stayed there for one-twelfth of the year. Yes, the song is a bit hokey and derivative, with a chorus that matches its music: "Just stop / Cause I really love you / Stop, I'll be thinking of you / Look in my heart / And let love keep us together." But it resonated with folks in a big way, no doubt thanks to the irrepressible smile of one half of Captain and Tennille, aka Cathryn Antoinette (Toni) Tennille. Beneath the lyrics, though, trouble was brewing with the husband-wife duo that wouldn't surface until years later.

Happy, heartwarming, and carefree, Captain and Tennille very loosely slipped into the "yacht rock" category of '70s music, occupied by soft, guitar-leaning outfits like Hall & Oates, Robbie Dupree, and Steely Dan. But none of those musicians wore a yachting hat like the husband of the husband-wife Captain and Tennille duo, Daryl Dragon (yes, that's his real name). Dragon had taken to wearing his iconic hat during his time as keyboardist and backup singer for the Beach Boys, which also led to Captain and Tennille's cover of the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" (1966) on their 1975 debut, "Love Will Keep Us Together." But it was Tennille who penned the duo's first song, "The Way I Want to Touch You," while on tour as a background singer for Elton John when he was at the height of his fame in the '70s.  

While "The Way I Want to Touch You" reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, as mentioned, another cover cinched Captain & Tennille's success. Their 1975 megahit, "Love Will Keep Us Together," was a re-instrumentalized version of a sprightly, danceable 1973 track from Neil Sedaka. Sedaka had been big in the '50s and '60s and fallen out of the public eye, at least in the U.S. In the U.K., however, he received patronage from none other than the rocket man himself, Elton John, who signed Sedaka to his label, Rocket Record Company. It's not clear if Captain & Tennille heard about "Love Will Keep Us Together" through Elton John, but it's possible. The song didn't take off until the couple covered it, which also breathed new life into Sedaka's career. 

"Love Will Keep Us Together" took on new life via Captain & Tennille in part because they were a couple. It was easy and natural for listeners to imagine that the song was a window into a sweet, loving home life. But this wasn't exactly the case. 

When "Love Will Keep Us Together" was released in May 1975, Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille were living together but not married. To keep things clear in the eyes of the public (but especially Tennille's mother), the duo's publicist said they'd gotten married on Valentine's Day. They did get married eventually, in November 1975, but more out of a feeling of obligation and because their accountant said it'd help them with their taxes. But no matter that Tennille, in an interview with Today, said that she "loved him with all my heart," and despite the shiny veneer presented on stage or in songs like "Love With Keep Us Together," things weren't kosher within the relationship. We're not talking about abuse or anything like that, more that Tennille wanted a type of physical and emotional closeness from Dragon that wasn't in his nature to provide.

The two stayed married for 39 years and got divorced in 2014, but not acrimoniously. They remained in contact until Dragon died in 2019. As Billboard quotes Tennille of her former bandmate and husband, "He was a brilliant musician with many friends who loved him greatly," and "I was at my most creative in my life when I was with him." In this way, maybe the sentiments expressed in "Love Will Keep Us Together" were neither fraudulent nor fleeting, but true in the moment and lasting in impact.