music.wikisort.org - Composition

"Sixteen Reasons (Why I Love You)" is a list song written by Bill and Doree Post in 1959 recounting sixteen reasons for being in love, beginning "The way you hold my hand", which in 1960 reached #3 via a recording by Connie Stevens.[1]

"Sixteen Reasons (Why I Love You)"
Single by Connie Stevens
from the album As Cricket in "Hawaiian Eye"
B-side	"Little Sister"
Released	December 1959
Recorded	1959
Genre	Traditional pop
Length	1:57
Label	Warner Bros. Records 5137
Songwriter(s)	Bill Post and Doree Post
Connie Stevens singles chronology
"Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)" (1959) "Sixteen Reasons (Why I Love You)" (1959) "Too Young to Go Steady" (1960)

Composition

The composers, Bill and Doree Post, were a husband-and-wife team from Kansas who had several single releases on Crest Records but their own version of "Sixteen Reasons" was not released until 1963: Doree Post was then deceased having been claimed by stomach cancer on 24 July 1961.[2] Bill Post died in 2014.[3]

Connie Stevens recording

The Connie Stevens single with arrangement and accompaniment by Don Ralke[4] was issued in December 1959 with the Robert Allen composition "Little Sister" being the intended A-side - another version of the last-named song by Cathy Carr was issued as a single at the same time.[5]

"Sixteen Reasons" was Stevens' second Top 40 hit, the precedent being a duet with Edd Byrnes: "Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)", a novelty spoken word number which reached #4.[6][7] Stevens had her success with "Sixteen Reasons" despite her label Warner Bros. handicapping her promotion of the single: as the song was not published by MPHC (their in-house Music Publishing Holding Company), the label refused to allow Stevens to perform the song on Hawaiian Eye and also prevented her from singing it on The Ed Sullivan Show.[8]

Although Stevens would continue to record for Warner Bros until 1972 - with a brief tenure at MGM Records in 1968 - none of her singles subsequent to "Sixteen Reasons" would reach the Top 40; her last appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 would be in 1965.

Professionally Stevens has downplayed her identity as the singer of a "golden oldie", stating in 2005: "I never did 'Sixteen Reasons' in my stage act. It was really a kids' song aimed at 12-year-old girls. It would be a little silly for me to do it now."[9]

Chart performance

It was as "Sixteen Reasons" that Stevens' single debuted at #89 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated 1 February 1960,[10] peaking at #3 on the chart dated 9 May 1960.[11] "Sixteen Reasons" crossed over to the Hot R&B Sides chart, where it went to #10.

"Sixteen Reasons" also afforded Stevens a hit in the UK over the spring and summer of 1960 despite at least three cover versions. After reaching #9 - its overall UK peak - in May 1960,[6] Stevens' single re-entered the top 20 at #17 that June,[12] spending 12 weeks on the chart in all.[6]

Total sales for Connie Stevens' "Sixteen Reasons" single are estimated at two million units. The sheet music for the song was also a bestseller in both the US and the UK.[13][14] "Sixteen Reasons" was a popular song on the American Forces Network in Germany that summer.[15]

Chart positions

Chart (1960)	Peak position
UK Singles (OCC)[16]	9
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[1]	3
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Sides[17]	10

Cover versions

• In 1960, there were three aforementioned covers by British singers, specifically Sheila Buxton, Shani Wallis and Marion Ryan.[18][19][20]
• In 1960 Italian singer Angelina Monti rendered "Sixteen Reasons" in German as Sechzehn Gründe.[21]
• Also in 1960, Auckland-singer Esme Stephens and The Silhouettes With The Peter Posa Combo released "Sixteen Reasons" in New Zealand on Zodiac Records; coupled with a cover of Anita Bryant's "Paper Roses"; the single reached #5 on the Lever Hit Parade.[22][23]
• The Lettermen, who Stevens had played with as The Foremost,[24] recorded a version of the track for their 1962 album, Once Upon a Time.[25]
• Lawrence Welk featured the song on his 1964 album, The Golden Millions.[26]
• A comedy version was released as a double A-side on the Laverne & Shirley single Chapel of Love in 1976.[27]
• Lisa Mychols remade "Sixteen Reasons" for her 1991 Lost Winter's Dream album.

Popular culture

• "Sixteen Reasons" is prominently showcased in David Lynch's 2001 film Mulholland Drive with actress Elizabeth Lackey, whose character lip-syncs to the Connie Stevens track.[28]

See also

• Connie Stevens discography

References

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