Captain & Tennille

I never wanted
I never wanted to touch a man
The way that I want to touch you

I never wanted
I never wanted to love
A man
The way that I want to love you

You are sunshine
You are shadows (You are shadows)
You are morning
You are night
You are hard times
You are good times
You are darkness
You are light

I never wanted
I never wanted to give a man
The things that I want to give you

I never wanted
I never wanted to live with a man
The way that I want to live with you

You are sunshine
You are shadows
You are morning
You are night
You are hard times
You are good times
You are darkness
You are light

I never wanted
I never wanted to touch a man
The way that I want to touch you

The way that I want to touch you now
The way that I want to touch you

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

Love Will Keep Us Together

From the album

Love Will Keep Us Together (1975)

Captain & Tennille popular songs

The Way I Want To Touch YouCaptain & Tennille

Captain & Tennille

Love Will Keep Us Together