Let Her In Explained

Let Her In
Cover:Let her in by John Travolta Australian vinyl side-A.png
Caption:Side A of the Australian single
Type:single
Artist:John Travolta
Album:John Travolta
B-Side:Big Trouble
Released:April 1976
Studio:Sigma Sound, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania[1]
Genre:
Length:3:03
Label:Midland Intl.
Producer:Bob Reno
Prev Title:Right Time of the Night
Prev Year:1974
Next Title:Whenever I'm Away from You
Next Year:1976

"Let Her In" is a song written and recorded by English singer-songwriter Gary Benson, and released as a single in 1973. It was covered by John Travolta in 1976, and was released as the first single from Travolta's self-titled second album. Travolta's version was a hit, spending five months on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and peaking at number 10. It also reached number 16 on the Adult Contemporary chart. On the Cash Box chart, the song peaked at number five. In Canada, "Let Her In" reached number seven on the RPM Top Singles chart.

"Let Her In" was released at the end of the first year of the four-year run of Welcome Back, Kotter, in which Travolta starred.

This song was his first and only top-ten hit as a solo artist in the United States, and the biggest hit of his in any country not to be tied to the film Grease. It was included on his 1978 double album compilation, Travolta Fever.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1976)Peak
position
Canadian RPM Top Singles[3] 7
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary[4] 12
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[5] 10
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening[6] 16
U.S. Cashbox Top 100[7] 5

Year-end charts

Chart (1976)Rank
Canada[9] 87
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[10] 75
U.S. Cash Box[11] 84

Reception

Tom Breihan criticized Travolta's performance of "a moony and generic song" in his December 2019 Stereogum article and later called it "truly wretched" in his January 2020 A.V. Club article.[12] [13] Paul Grein of Billboard in August 2022 called the ballad "mopey".[14]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Sigma Sound Studios: Singles 1968-1978. Billboard. SS-11. September 16, 1978. June 11, 2024.
  2. Book: Night Moves - Pop Music in the Late 70s. Don. Breithaupt. Jeff. Breithaupt. July 17, 2000. Sweathog Nation: Bubblegum. 31. St. Martin's Griffin. 978-0-312-19821-3.
  3. Web site: Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 2016-10-11.
  4. Web site: Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 2016-10-11.
  5. Web site: Music lyrics, charts, Games, & more . Top40db.net . 2016-10-11.
  6. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Joel Whitburn

    . Joel Whitburn . 1993 . Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993 . Record Research . 242.

  7. Web site: Cash Box Top 100 Singles, July 31, 1976 . August 25, 2021 . October 25, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221025014641/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/19760731.html . dead .
  8. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 313.
  9. Web site: Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 2016-10-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160123142822/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.5173a&type=1&interval=50&PHPSESSID=tbic14a4kgbgvqfqi1chsi9h32 . 2016-01-23 . dead.
  10. Web site: Top 100 Hits of 1976/Top 100 Songs of 1976 . Musicoutfitters.com . 2016-10-11.
  11. Web site: Top 100 Year End Charts: 1976 . . June 5, 2016 . June 22, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120622031532/http://cashboxmagazine.com/the-70s-archives/cash-box-ye-pop-singles-1976/ . dead .
  12. Web site: Tom . Breihan . December 16, 2019 . The Number Ones: John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John's 'You're The One That I Want' . . October 25, 2022 .
  13. Web site: Tom . Breihan . January 24, 2020 . A young John Travolta made Grease watchable—and a huge box-office smash . . October 25, 2022 .
  14. Paul . Grein . August 10, 2022 . Forever No. 1: John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John's You're the One That I Want . October 25, 2022 .