Chuck E.'s in Love

"Chuck E.'s in Love"
"Chuck E.'s in Love"
Single by Rickie Lee Jones
from the album Rickie Lee Jones
B-side	"On Saturday Afternoons in 1963"
Released	April 28, 1979
Genre	Pop; R&B; jazz;
Length	3:31
Label	Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s)	Rickie Lee Jones
Producer(s)	Lenny Waronker, Russ Titelman
Rickie Lee Jones singles chronology
Official Audio
	"Chuck E.'s in Love" on YouTube

"Chuck E.'s in Love" is a song by American singer-songwriter Rickie Lee Jones. Released in 1979 on her eponymous debut album Rickie Lee Jones, the song became her biggest hit, reaching number 4 on the Billboard U.S. Hot 100 chart.^[2]

"Chuck E.'s in Love" is track 1 on Side One of the Rickie Lee Jones LP, on which it runs 3 minutes and 28 seconds. It is Side A on the single; the B-side is "On Saturday Afternoon in 1963".

Inspiration

Jones and her lover and fellow songwriter Tom Waits spent a lot of time hanging out with their friend Chuck E. Weiss at the seedy Tropicana Motel in Los Angeles. Eventually Weiss, affectionately referred to as "Chuck E.", disappeared. Later Weiss called the apartment where Jones and Waits lived. When Waits took the call, Weiss explained that he was in Denver, and that he had moved there because he had fallen in love with a cousin there. When Waits hung up he announced to Jones, "Chuck E.'s in love".^[3] Jones liked the sound of the sentence and wrote a song around it. Although toward the end of "Chuck E.'s in Love" the lyrics state, "Chuck E.'s in love with the little girl singing this song," the twist ending is fictional; Jones was never the girl with whom Chuck E. was in love.^[4]

P.L.P.

The first line of the song is, "How come he don't come and P.L.P. with me down at the meter no more?" P.L.P. stands for "public leaning post" and is old American slang for one person, usually female, leaning up against another person, usually male, in a friendly fashion.^[5]

Chart history

Weekly charts

Chart (1979)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[6]	15
Canada RPM Top Singles^[7]	5
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary^[8]	31
Ireland (IRMA)^[9]	19
New Zealand (Listener)^[10]	5
UK Singles Chart^[11]	18
U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[12]	4
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	20
U.S. Cash Box Top 100^[13]	4

Year-end charts

Chart (1979)	Rank
Australia^[14]	132
Canada^[15]	64
U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[16]	63
U.S. Cash Box^[17]	24

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Barton, Matthew (19 March 2019). "40 Years of Rickie Lee Jones – Revisiting The Jazzy Songstress' Eponymous Debut LP". Glide Magazine. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
^ "Chuck E.'s in Love - Rickie Lee Jones". Billboard., April 28, 1979
^ Webb, Robert (11 February 2005). "ROCK & POP: STORY OF THE SONG - 'CHUCK E'S IN LOVE' Rickie Lee Jones (1979)". The Independent. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
^ Gavin Edwards, Is Tiny Dancer Really Elton's Little John?: Music's Most Enduring Mysteries, Myths, and Rumors Revealed Three Rivers Press, 2006, pp. 138-139.
^ Gavin Edwards, In the first line of “Chuck E.’s in Love,” Rickie Lee Jones sings, “How come he don’t come and P.L.P. with me down at the meter no more?” What does “P.L.P.” mean? | https://rulefortytwo.com/secret-rock-knowledge/chapter-10/rickie-lee-jones-plp/
^ Kent, David. "(Billboard) Hits of The World - July 1, 1979" (PDF). Billboard. Kent Music Report. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1979-07-21. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1979-08-11. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Chuck E's In Love". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
^ Flavour of New Zealand, 15 July 1979
^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 289. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
^ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, July 14, 1979
^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
^ "1979 Top 200 Singles". RPM. Vol. 32, no. 13. Library and Archives Canada. December 22, 1979. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
^ Musicoutfitters.com
^ "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 29, 1979". Archived from the original on July 13, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2019.

External links

[Barton_2019-1] Barton, Matthew (19 March 2019). "40 Years of Rickie Lee Jones – Revisiting The Jazzy Songstress' Eponymous Debut LP". Glide Magazine. Retrieved 13 April 2023.

[2] "Chuck E.'s in Love - Rickie Lee Jones". Billboard., April 28, 1979

[3] Webb, Robert (11 February 2005). "ROCK & POP: STORY OF THE SONG - 'CHUCK E'S IN LOVE' Rickie Lee Jones (1979)". The Independent. Retrieved 18 April 2021.

[4] Gavin Edwards, Is Tiny Dancer Really Elton's Little John?: Music's Most Enduring Mysteries, Myths, and Rumors Revealed Three Rivers Press, 2006, pp. 138-139.

[5] Gavin Edwards, In the first line of “Chuck E.’s in Love,” Rickie Lee Jones sings, “How come he don’t come and P.L.P. with me down at the meter no more?” What does “P.L.P.” mean? | https://rulefortytwo.com/secret-rock-knowledge/chapter-10/rickie-lee-jones-plp/

[6] Kent, David. "(Billboard) Hits of The World - July 1, 1979" (PDF). Billboard. Kent Music Report. Retrieved June 9, 2021.

[7] "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1979-07-21. Retrieved 2019-01-30.

[8] "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1979-08-11. Retrieved 2019-01-28.

[sc_Ireland2_-9] "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Chuck E's In Love". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 30, 2019.

[10] Flavour of New Zealand, 15 July 1979

[British_Hit_Singles_&_Albums-11] Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 289. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.

[12] Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X

[13] Cash Box Top 100 Singles, July 14, 1979

[14] Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

[itemdisplay-15] "1979 Top 200 Singles". RPM. Vol. 32, no. 13. Library and Archives Canada. December 22, 1979. Retrieved March 3, 2018.

[16] Musicoutfitters.com

[17] "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 29, 1979". Archived from the original on July 13, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2019.

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v t e Rickie Lee Jones
Discography
Studio albums	Rickie Lee Jones (1979) Pirates (1981) The Magazine (1984) Flying Cowboys (1989) Pop Pop (1991) Traffic from Paradise (1993) Ghostyhead (1997) It's Like This (2000) The Evening of My Best Day (2003) The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard (2007) Balm in Gilead (2009) The Devil You Know (2012) The Other Side of Desire (2015) Kicks (2019) Pieces of Treasure (2023)
EPs	Girl at Her Volcano (1983)
Live albums	Naked Songs – Live and Acoustic (1995)
Singles	"Chuck E.'s in Love" (1979)
Video albums	Live in Stockholm (2011)