I Must Be In Love

‘I Must Be In Love’ was The Rutles’ sixth British single, released with the B-side ‘Can't Buy Me Lunch’. It was written while the group were in Paris for a 19-date residency at the city’s Olympia Theatre. The song is believed to have been written at the Hotel George V in Paris. The Rutles had an upright piano moved into the corner of their suite, to enable them to work on songs for their forthcoming début film.

Written by Ron Nasty, ‘I Must Be In Love’ became the first of the group’s singles to feature a doo-wop style of singing. Dirk McQuickly may have felt his position as The Rutles’ leader was threatened by the move; following the release of the single, Nasty wrote the majority of songs on the A Hard Day’s Rut album.

‘I Must Be In Love’ featured twice in the A Hard Day’s Rut film. The first was a scene in which they escape from the television studio to fool around in a field; the other involved the group performing at a show.

Recording
‘I Must Be In Love’ was mostly recorded over the course of three days from 29-31 January 1964. It was completed in just four takes following the recording of ‘Baby S'il Vous Plait’ and ‘Tenez Mon Main’, which finished ahead of schedule. Archie Macaw suggested the song be played in a slower tempo until they get the hang of it, hence why the first three takes are slower.

Take 1 (29 January 1964) was never released and it supposedly only went for one note, but Take 2 (also 29 January 1964) was released on Sweet Rutle Tracks, Take 3 (30 January 1964) was also never cleanly released but it was remixed in the Rutland Weekend Songbook and Take 4 (31 January 1964) was the final released version featured as a single and on the album A Hard Day's Rut.

During the first few takes, Dirk had the idea of singing "ooh la la" where the instrumental break would be. This was quickly discarded and Dirk almost lost his job so the bass solo was recorded on 25 February 1964 – the same day that Nasty and Dirk taped their final lead vocals. The mono mix also included a hi-hat overdub recorded by Barry Wom at home. This was done on 10 March 1964, while The Rutles were filming A Hard Day’s Rut, specifically without Barry that day.

Chart Success
By the time ‘I Must Be In Love’ was released, The Rutles were a bona fide worldwide phenomenon. The song topped the charts of almost every country in which it was released. Issued in the USA slightly earlier than in Britain, it sold over two million copies in its first minute, and was awarded a gold disc on the hour of its US release, 16 March 1964. It set four records on the Billboard Hot 100. The first was the biggest jump to the top spot, up from number 27. The Rutles also held the entire top five positions on the 4 April 1964 chart – ‘I Must Be In Love’ was accompanied by 'Goose-Step Mama’, ‘Baby Let Me Be’, ‘Hold My Hand’ and ‘Please Rut Me’. Such an achievement has never been equaled.

‘I Must Be In Love’ gave The Rutles a record-breaking three consecutive number one singles, the previous ones being ‘Hold My Hand' and ‘Baby Let Me Be’. Furthermore, during the song’s second week at the top, from 11 April, the group had 14 songs on the Hot 100 simultaneously. In Britain the single was released on 20 March 1964. It broke fewer records, but was still a phenomenal smash hit. ‘I Must Be In Love’ had advance orders of over one million, and became the group’s fourth UK number one single.