Captain & Tennille

Released: January 1, 1980

Songwriter: Toni Tennille

Producer: Daryl Dragon

I've got to be honest with you tonight
I want this to start off clean and right
And what I have got to say
Might make you turn and walk away

But I've got to take the chance
I want this to be my last romance

But this is not the first time
You are not the first man to love me
This is not the first time
You are not the only man
I've loved in my life

But I have this feeling
And I'm sure I'm right
You could be the only man
You could me the last man in my life
In my life

Don't ask me to tell you about it
They seem just like a dream
And the girl in the dream
Isn't me

But I was lonely and confused, yes and
I was afraid of the night
And I needed somebody so bad
To make me right

So, this is not the first time
You are not the first man to love me
This is not the first time
You are not the only man I've loved in my life

But I have this feeling
And I'm sure I'm right
You could be the only man
You could me the last man in my life

If I had known you then
Things might have been different somehow
Will it make the difference, Will it be the difference
That I know you now

But this is not the first time
You are not the first man to love me
This is not the first time
You are not the only man I've loved in my life

This is not the first time
You are not the first man to love me
This is not the first time
You are not the only man I've loved

This is not the first time, Oh
This is not the first time, Ho-Ho, Yeah
This is not the first time
You are not the only man I've loved

In 1972, Toni Tennille was a co-writer of the musical Mother Earth. Daryl “Captain Keyboard” Dragon, who got his nickname while touring with the Beach Boys from his signature skipper’s cap, took a job as the keyboardist for Mother Earth and the two hit it off romantically and musically, forming a nightclub act that charged $70 a night.

When two radio DJs urged the duo to record their cover of the Beach Boys song “Disney Girls” in 1974, they also recorded an original song “The Way I Want to Touch You” which attracted interest from several record labels. A&M Records, home to the platinum-selling male/female duo The Carpenters who had scored ten top 5 hits in the US from 1970-1974, signed them.

Captain & Tennille’s 1975 debut album featured seven originals, three Beach Boys covers and – at the suggestion of A&M’s A&R man – a cover of Neil Sedaka’s “Love Will Keep Us Together”. The latter was released as their first single and found massive success in North America. It reached #1 in the US & Canada, won a Grammy for Record Of The Year, and was the biggest song of of the year in the US. Even their Spanish version of the song “Por Amor Viviremos” reached #49 in the US. A&M followed it up with “The Way I Want to Touch You” and it reached #4 in both the US and Canada. Both songs also found success in New Zealand and the UK. The two married in November 1975.

more tracks from the album

Keeping Our Love Warm

From the album

Keeping Our Love Warm (1980)

Captain & Tennille popular songs

This Is Not The First TimeCaptain & Tennille

Captain & Tennille

Keeping Our Love Warm