The Dixie Cups, Chapel of Love | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 110^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “Chapel of Love” by The Dixie Cups. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 110^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2023), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “Chapel of Love”, performed by 🎙 The Dixie Cups.

“Goin’ to the chapel / And we’re gonna get married.” Aww 🥰 how sweet, 🎙 The Dixie Cups. When is the wedding 💍 💒? The collective continues singing on their 1964 classic, 🎵 “Chapel of Love”: “Gee, I really love you / And we’re gonna get married / Goin’ to the chapel of love.”  The Dixie Cups own the definitive version of “Chapel of Love” – the ‘original’ heard by the world.  However, the actual original recording arrived in 1963 courtesy of 🎙 Darlene Love 🤯.  The Dixie Cups, of course, made this 🎼 ✍ Jeff Barry / Ellie Greenwich / Phil Spector-penned cut a hit, peaking at no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

What makes “Chapel of Love” a classic? Well, the vocals and vocal arrangement are a major selling point.  The Dixie Cups sound terrific when singing in unison as well as when they break into the harmonies.  The most memorable section of the song is the chorus, excerpted above.  Notably, there is an innocence about this record that is idiomatic of vintage music from the 1950s and 60s.  Furthermore, “Chapel of Love” is a prime example of the sound of soul music in the 60s: the horn arrangement and the articulated riffs, the rhythm section, including drums, the pronounced bass line, and the use of vibraphone.  Furthermore, the melody is incredibly memorable, particularly on the chorus.  Regarding the songwriting, “Chapel of Love” is tongue in cheek – again, there’s a sense of innocence that contemporary music eschews. “Today’s the day we’ll say, ‘I do,’” The Dixie Cups sing in the first verse, adding, “And we’ll never be lonely anymore.” Sigh, if only love were as simple as the ladies make out to be here (“Bells will ring, the sun will shine, whoa / I’ll be his and he’ll be mine”).  Simply put, they don’t make soul joints like 🎵 “Chapel of Love” anymore.

🎙 The Dixie Cups • 💿 Chapel of Love • 🏷 Sun Label Group, LLC • 🗓 1964

The Dixie Cups, Chapel Of Love: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 110 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Sun Label Group, LLC; John Alan Sperry, PIRO via  Pixabay]