The Drifters – Save The Last Dance For Me

Pomus and Shuman were writers for Atlantic Records, where they worked with the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who produced this song. Leiber and Stoller were great with Latin rhythms, which is what they used here and what Pomus had in mind with the flow of the lyrics. Leiber and Stoller were using The Coasters to record most of their songs at the time, and had asked Pomus and Shuman to write songs for The Drifters.

In a 1990 interview, songwriter Doc Pomus tells the story of the song being recorded by the Drifters and originally designated as the B-side of the record. He credits Dick Clark with turning the record over and realizing “Save the Last Dance” was the stronger song. The Drifters’ version of the song, released a few months after Ben E. King left the group, would go on to spend three non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. pop chart, in addition to logging one week atop the U.S. R&B chart. In the United Kingdom, the Drifters’ recording reached No. 2 in December 1960. This single was produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, two noted American music producers who at the time had an apprentice relationship with a then-unknown Phil Spector. Although he was working with Leiber and Stoller at the time, it is unknown whether Spector assisted with the production of this record; however, many Spector fans have noticed similarities between this record and other music he would eventually produce on his own.

This was the last song Leonard Cohen ever performed. He sang it to wrap up the final show on his “Grand Tour” in Auckland, New Zealand, December 21, 2013. Cohen played 387 dates over five years on the tour; he died three years later at age 82.

“Save the Last Dance for Me” – Single by The Drifters from the album Save the Last Dance for Me
Released August 1960
Songwriters Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman
Charted No.1 US, No.2 UK, No.1 Canada, No.1 New Zealand, No.31 Italy.