1970 Elvis Presley – I’ve Lost You / The Next Step Is Love

1970 Elvis Presley – I’ve Lost You / The Next Step Is Love

Elvis Presley had concentrated on his movie career through most of the sixties, and the filler songs that came from them did little for his music career. For almost four years, beginning in the middle of 1965, Elvis had no top ten singles on the Hot 100.

His Comeback Special in 1968 helped get him established again, and he finally hit the top ten again with the #3 single In The Ghetto in 1969. He then followed that with the chart-topping hit Suspicious Minds. Sadly, that was to be his final #1 record on the Hot 100.

In 1970, Elvis released a two-sided hit that somehow did not become a big hit.

Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley had written several hits in the UK. They wrote the song I’ve Lost You for Iain Matthews. When Iain’s version did not become a hit, Elvis recorded it and it became the a-side of his single.

Paul Evans reached the top ten on the Hot 100 with the novelty song Seven Little Girls Sittin’ In The Back Seat in 1959. He also wrote songs that became hits for other artists, such as Roses Are Red (My Love), which took Bobby Vinton to the top of the Hot 100 in 1962. He co-wrote The Next Step Is Love with Paul Parnes, and that song became the b-side of Elvis’ single.

By 1970, the Hot 100 combined sides when charting a single, so we don’t know for sure which side was more successful. The record peaked at only #32 on the Hot 100. No doubt some consolation came from reaching #5 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Both songs were included on the next album Elvis released in 1970. Another song on the album also became a hit single. Elvis covered You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me, which Dusty Springfield had taken to #4 in 1966. Elvis reached #11 with his version and it would be his highest charting record until late in 1972.