‘Love Takes Time’ by Orleans – Classic Hit or Miss

The band scored its first Hot 100 hit "Let There Be Music" in March 1975.The follow-up single, "Dance With Me" (reshaped and re-recorded from Orleans II with Plotkin at the helm), brought Orleans to No. 6 on the pop charts and into the mainstream of American pop music. Atypical of the high-energy, earthy, R&B/Rock n' Roll mix of styles they had been previously identified with, "Dance With Me" cast the band in a more "soft-rock" light and landed them a tour with Melissa Manchester."Still the One", from Dreaming (released in August 1976), cemented Orleans' relationship with the American public. While the single was climbing the charts to peak eventually at No. 5, the band did a major cross-country tour with label-mate Jackson Browne. The single was chosen as the theme song for the ABC television network (the parent of ABC Records) and has since then been used for numerous commercials and movie soundtracks.

After several months of mulling things over and working with other musicians (Larry joined Jerry Marotta in the backing band for Garland Jeffreys while Kelly worked with the Beach Boys), the Hoppen brothers and Kelly decided to continue on in late 1977, bringing in new members R. A. Martin (vocals, sax, horns, keyboards) and Connecticut musician Bob Leinbach (vocals, keyboards, trombone), who'd played with Larry Hoppen during the Ithaca years and had completed a stint with the group The Fabulous Rhinestones. The new lineup signed a contract with the Infinity Records label and their debut there, Forever (April 1979), produced the No. 11 hit "Love Takes Time". In 1979 Orleans continued to tour with artists such as Stephen Stills and Chicago.   How about today?