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Chuck E.'s in Love

{{Redirect|Chuckie's in Love|the All Grown Up! episode|List of All Grown Up! episodes}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Chuck E.'s in Love

| cover = Chuck_E.'s_In_Love_-_Rickie_Lee_Jones.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Rickie Lee Jones

| album = Rickie Lee Jones

| B-side = On Saturday Afternoons in 1963

| released = April 28, 1979

| format =

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre =

  • Pop{{cite web|url=https://glidemagazine.com/221996/40-years-of-rickie-lee-jones-looking-back-at-songstress-eponymous-debut-lp/|title=40 Years of Rickie Lee Jones – Revisiting The Jazzy Songstress' Eponymous Debut LP|website=Glide Magazine|last=Barton|first=Matthew|date=19 March 2019|access-date=13 April 2023}}
  • R&B{{cite web|url=https://glidemagazine.com/221996/40-years-of-rickie-lee-jones-looking-back-at-songstress-eponymous-debut-lp/|title=40 Years of Rickie Lee Jones – Revisiting The Jazzy Songstress' Eponymous Debut LP|website=Glide Magazine|last=Barton|first=Matthew|date=19 March 2019|access-date=13 April 2023}}
  • jazz{{cite web|url=https://glidemagazine.com/221996/40-years-of-rickie-lee-jones-looking-back-at-songstress-eponymous-debut-lp/|title=40 Years of Rickie Lee Jones – Revisiting The Jazzy Songstress' Eponymous Debut LP|website=Glide Magazine|last=Barton|first=Matthew|date=19 March 2019|access-date=13 April 2023}}

| length = {{Duration|m=3|s=31}}

| label = Warner Bros.

| writer = Rickie Lee Jones

| producer = Lenny Waronker, Russ Titelman

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title = Young Blood

| next_year = 1979

| misc = {{External music video|header=Official Audio|{{YouTube|OeWKfVkNla4|"Chuck E.'s in Love"}}}}

}}

"Chuck E.'s in Love" is a song by American singer-songwriter Rickie Lee Jones. Released in 1979 on her eponymous debut album Rickie Lee Jones, the song became her biggest hit, reaching number 4 on the Billboard U.S. Hot 100 chart.{{cite news|title=Chuck E.'s in Love - Rickie Lee Jones|url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=rickie lee jones|chart=all}}|newspaper=Billboard}}, April 28, 1979

"Chuck E.'s in Love" is track 1 on Side One of the Rickie Lee Jones LP, on which it runs 3 minutes and 28 seconds. It is Side A on the single; the B-side is "On Saturday Afternoon in 1963".

Background and production

Jones and her lover and fellow songwriter Tom Waits spent a lot of time hanging out with their friend Chuck E. Weiss at the seedy Tropicana Motel in Los Angeles. Eventually Weiss, affectionately referred to as "Chuck E.", disappeared. Later Weiss called the apartment where Jones and Waits lived. When Waits took the call, Weiss explained that he was in Denver, and that he had moved there because he had fallen in love with a cousin there. When Waits hung up he announced to Jones, "Chuck E.'s in love".{{cite web| last= Webb| first= Robert| title= ROCK & POP: STORY OF THE SONG - 'CHUCK E'S IN LOVE' Rickie Lee Jones (1979) | url= https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/rock-pop-story-song-chuck-e-s-love-rickie-lee-jones-1979-1530015.html | date= 11 February 2005| work= The Independent| accessdate= 18 April 2021 }} Jones liked the sound of the sentence and wrote a song around it.

The first line of the song is, "How come he don't come and P.L.P. with me down at the meter no more?" P.L.P. stands for "public leaning post" and is old American slang for one person, usually female, leaning up against another person, usually male, in a friendly fashion.Gavin Edwards, In the first line of “Chuck E.’s in Love,” Rickie Lee Jones sings, “How come he don’t come and P.L.P. with me down at the meter no more?” What does “P.L.P.” mean? | https://rulefortytwo.com/secret-rock-knowledge/chapter-10/rickie-lee-jones-plp/

Although toward the end of "Chuck E.'s in Love" the lyrics state, "Chuck E.'s in love with the little girl singing this song," the twist ending is fictional; Jones was never the girl with whom Chuck E. was in love.Gavin Edwards, Is Tiny Dancer Really Elton's Little John?: Music's Most Enduring Mysteries, Myths, and Rumors Revealed Three Rivers Press, 2006, pp. 138-139.

Chart history

=Weekly charts=

class="wikitable sortable"
Chart (1979)

!Peak
position

Australia (Kent Music Report){{cite magazine|first=David|last=Kent|author-link= David Kent (historian)|title=(Billboard) Hits of The World - July 1, 1979|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Billboard-Index/IDX/1979/1979-07-01-Billboard-Page-0133.pdf#search=%22ricky%20lee%20jones%22|magazine=Billboard|publisher=Kent Music Report|access-date=June 9, 2021}}

| style="text-align:center;"|15

Canada RPM Top Singles{{cite web|url=http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.4535a&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.4535a.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.4535a|title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=1979-07-21 |accessdate=2019-01-30}}

| style="text-align:center;"|5

Canada RPM Adult Contemporary{{cite web|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.4491&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.4491.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.4491|title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=1979-08-11 |accessdate=2019-01-28}}

| style="text-align:center;"|31

{{singlechart|Ireland2|19|song=Chuck E's In Love|accessdate=January 30, 2019}}
New Zealand (Listener)[http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20rianz&qartistid=1209#n_view_location Flavour of New Zealand, 15 July 1979]

| style="text-align:center;"|5

UK Singles Chart{{cite book

| first= David

| last= Roberts

| year= 2006

| title= British Hit Singles & Albums

| edition= 19th

| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited

| location= London

| isbn= 1-904994-10-5

| page= 289}}

| style="text-align:center;"|18

U.S. Billboard Hot 100Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - {{ISBN|0-89820-089-X}}

| style="text-align:center;"|4

U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary

| style="text-align:center;"|20

U.S. Cash Box Top 100[https://web.archive.org/web/20150214180132/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19790714.html Cash Box Top 100 Singles, July 14, 1979]

|align="center"|4

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable sortable"
Chart (1979)

! style="text-align:center;"|Rank

Australia{{cite book|first= David |last= Kent |author-link= David Kent (historian) |title= Australian Chart Book 1970-1992 |publisher= Australian Chart Book |location= St Ives, N.S.W. |year= 1993 |isbn= 0-646-11917-6}}

| style="text-align:center;"|132

Canada{{cite magazine|title= 1979 Top 200 Singles |volume= 32 |issue= 13 |date= December 22, 1979 |magazine= RPM |publisher= Library and Archives Canada |accessdate= March 3, 2018 |url= http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.6855a&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.6855a.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.6855a}}

| style="text-align:center;"|64

U.S. Billboard Hot 100[http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1979.htm Musicoutfitters.com]

| style="text-align:center;"|63

U.S. Cash Box{{Cite web |url=http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/1979YESP.html |title=Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 29, 1979 |access-date=January 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713094315/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/1979YESP.html |archive-date=July 13, 2014 |url-status=dead }}

| style="text-align:center;"|24

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [http://www.songlyrics.com/rickie-lee-jones/chuck-e-s-in-love-lyrics/ Lyrics of this song]

{{Rickie Lee Jones}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Songs about musicians

Category:1979 songs

Category:1979 debut singles

Category:Song recordings produced by Lenny Waronker

Category:Song recordings produced by Russ Titelman

Category:Warner Records singles

Category:Songs written by Rickie Lee Jones