49 Years After ‘The Love Boat’ Premiered, the Surprising Story Behind Its Iconic Theme Song

The Love Boat set sail on September 24, 1977, and 49 years after the show’s premiere, the iconic theme song is still stuck in your head. Written by Charles Fox and Paul Williams, the now-legendary track is a piece of classic TV and music history that fans have adored for decades.

Composer Charles Fox penned the theme’s music. But this was far from his only hit. The Grammy Award winner also co-wrote Roberta Flack’s (and later The Fugees’) “Killing Me Softly with His Song” and Jim Croce’s “I Got a Name.” Fox also has a storied career in television and movie music, creating and contributing to the scores for Barbarella (1968), Happy Days (1974), Wonder Woman (1975), Laverne & Shirley (1976), Foul Play (1978), and 9 to 5 (1980). He also wrote the original themes for Monday Night Football and ABC’s Wide World of Sports.

Fox shared his memories of writing the song in an interview with The Television Academy Foundation, explaining that the would-be weekly series actually started out as a TV movie. When it finally came down to composing the tune, he chose lyricist Paul Williams and history was made. But first he had to play the track for show producer Aaron Spelling. “I went to Aaron Spelling’s office to play The Love Boat song,” said Fox.

“I got there with the demo of the song that I’ve done with this group of singers and musicians, and at Aaron’s office at 20th Century Fox there wasn’t a tape machine or a cassette. So I said, well, okay, we’re here at 20th Century Fox, let’s find a piano, I’ll do it live. I’ll sing it live. Well, the secretary got on the horn and found out a few minutes later there’s no pianos available at all to play the song.”

What did Fox do? As it turns out, he took a back-to-basics approach. “So I finally said, Aaron, here goes. Love, exciting and new, come aboard we will welcome you. The love boat, and I sang the song acapella like that, snapping my fingers.”

Like Fox, Williams also has an impressive resume. The Grammy, Golden Globe, and Academy Award winner wrote the lyrics for The Carpenters’ “We’ve Only Just Begun,” Helen Reddy’s “You and Me Against the World”, Three Dog Night’s “An Old Fashioned Love Song”, and The Muppet Movie’s “The Rainbow Connection.”

With the song complete, the composer and lyricist now needed someone to give the song life. Fox chose “Lollipops and Roses” singer Jack Jones, noting, “He was great, he was just the perfect voice.” But The Love Boat’s producers made a change for the show’s final season, asking superstar Dionne Warwick to sing the track in 1985.