It Only Takes A Minute

Album: The Best of Tavares (1975)
Charted: 46 10
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "It Only Takes A Minute" was written and produced by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter. The song writing duo's other credits include The Four Tops', "Ain't No Woman (Like The One I've Got)," Coven's "One Tin Soldier (The Legend of Billy Jack)" and Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds' "Don't Pull Your Love (Out)." Lambert later co-wrote "We Built This City" for Starship and co-wrote and produced "Nightshift" for the Commodores.
  • This was the Tavares only Top 10 hit in the US. In the UK their original version didn't chart until 1986 (#46). This was because One Hundred Tons And A Feather, an alias of the producer and Pop mogul Jonathan King, covered it in 1976 spending 2 weeks at #9. In 1992 another cover by Take That became the boyband's first UK Top Ten single (#7).
  • In 2007 Jennifer Lopez sampled this song's bassline on her single "Hold It Don't Drop It."

Comments: 2

  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn September 6th 1975, Tavares performed "It Only Takes a Minute" on the ABC-TV program 'American Bandstand'...
    Two months earlier on July 20th, 1975 it entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #82; and on October 19th, 1975 it peaked at #10 {for 1 week} and spent 18 weeks on the Top 100...
    And on September 14th, 1975 it reached #1 {for 1 week} on Billboard's R&B Singles chart...
    Between 1973 and 1982 the five Tavares brothers had fourteen Top 100 records; their next biggest hit after "It Only Takes A Minute" was "Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel", it peaked at #15 {for 2 weeks} on August 29th, 1976...
    In 1974 they had their first #1 record on the R&B Singles chart, a covered version of Daryl Hall and John Oates' "She's Gone".
  • Camille from Toronto, OhBom, bom, bom, bom, fall in love.....This is such a fun song to listen to, even almost 40 years after is was released by Tavares. Upbeat; always fun to sing along with.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Graham Bonnet (Alcatrazz, Rainbow)

Graham Bonnet (Alcatrazz, Rainbow)Songwriter Interviews

Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai were two of Graham's co-writers for some '80s rock classics.

David Sancious

David SanciousSongwriter Interviews

Keyboard great David Sancious talks about his work with Sting, Seal, Springsteen, Clapton and Aretha, and explains what quantum physics has to do with making music.

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"Songwriter Interviews

Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."

How The Beatles Crafted Killer Choruses

How The Beatles Crafted Killer ChorusesSong Writing

The author of Help! 100 Songwriting, Recording And Career Tips Used By The Beatles, explains how the group crafted their choruses so effectively.

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular Music

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular MusicSong Writing

Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.

Dar Williams

Dar WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

A popular contemporary folk singer, Williams still remembers the sticky note that changed her life in college.