Love Hangover

The song was written by Pamela Sawyer and Marilyn McLeod and had been originally given to The Fifth Dimension as a disco number. However, when the Motown staff got a hold on it, they insisted that it would be perfect if Ross recorded it. Ross, like most of her soul contemporaries Aretha Franklin and fellow Motown label mate Marvin Gaye, resented the new musical movement until finally agreeing at the 11th hour to record the song.

In order to get into the song, she and a producer of the song got comfortable drinking alcoholic beverages. As Ross settled and the song changed from being a ballad to a danceable romp, she got comfortable with herself in the studio. For the most part as the disco beat went, all Ross did was hum and sing bit parts. She laughed, danced around and even imitated Billie Holiday. The carefree nature of Ross' vocals and the music's direction help sell the song.

When the 5th Dimension and Ross went toe-to-toe with the song releasing it at the same time, Ross easily won the war. By the time, "Hangover" went to #1, Ross had reinvented herself as a disco diva and the 5th Dimension's version was barely breathing on the charts. It won Ross a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Female Vocal Performance.

The song would become part of the hip-hop lexicon of samples with everyone from Will Smith to Monica to even her own contemporary, Janet Jackson taking a bit of the music from the classic.