If (Bread song)
1971 single by Bread
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"If" is a song written by American singer-songwriter David Gates in 1971. Originally popularized by his group Bread, "If" charted at No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 when released as a single in 1971 and No. 6 in Canada. It also spent three weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. Easy Listening chart,[1] and one week at the top of the Canadian AC chart.[2]
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Record World said that the "gentle song by group's own David Gates (he produced and arranged also) will score in short order."[3]
In the U.S., Bread's tune was the shortest song title to become a top ten hit until 1993, when Prince hit No. 7 with "7", later matched by Britney Spears' No. 1 hit "3" in 2009.
Chart performance
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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Telly Savalas version
| "If" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Telly Savalas | ||||
| from the album Telly | ||||
| B-side | "Rubber Bands and Bits of String" (US) "You and Me Against the World" (UK) | |||
| Released | 1974 | |||
| Genre | Pop, spoken word | |||
| Length | 3:06 | |||
| Label | MCA | |||
| Songwriter | David Gates | |||
| Producer | Snuff Garrett | |||
| Telly Savalas singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Telly Savalas recorded a mostly-spoken interpretation which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks and No. 1 in Ireland in March 1975.[12][13] It has the shortest title of any song to reach No. 1 in the UK.[14] This version also charted at No. 12 on the US Billboard Easy Listening chart in late 1974.[15] In Canada, "If" reached No. 88 on the Pop chart, and No. 40 on the AC chart.[16][17] It also peaked at number 12 in Australia and was the 81st biggest selling single in Australia in 1975.[18]
Other versions
- Olivia Newton-John was one of the first to cover the song, recording a version for her 1971 debut solo album, If Not for You, and performing the song during her first American television performance that year on The Dean Martin Show.
- A parody take on Savalas' rendition, by voice over artists Chris Sandford and Bill Mitchell performing as Yin and Yan,[19] reached No. 25 in the UK in 1975.[20]
- Cleo Laine performed the song on The Muppet Show with puppeteer Bruce Schwartz in 1978.
- Sissel Kyrkjebø covered the song in her 1993 album, Gift of Love.
- Dolly Parton covered the song on her 2002 album, Halos & Horns.
- Sephira covered the song on their 2015 album, Believe.