Telly Savalas – Who Loves Ya, Baby

When Kojak Turned A Catchphrase Into A Song And Dance

On February 18, 1976, CBS Television broadcast something the American public had never quite seen before. “Who Loves Ya, Baby”, penned by songwriter Marvin Laird, became the centerpiece of a Kraft Foods-sponsored variety special titled “Telly… Who Loves Ya, Baby?” that showcased the world’s most famous bald detective attempting something far riskier than catching criminals: singing and dancing. At the peak of his Kojak fame, Telly Savalas transformed his character’s signature catchphrase into a full-blown production number complete with dancers, backing vocals, and the kind of 70s variety show spectacle that could only exist in that gloriously excessive decade.

The song had already been recorded for Savalas’s 1976 album of the same name on MCA Records, which followed his surprisingly successful 1974 album Telly that had peaked at number 12 in the UK charts. But it was the TV special performance that truly captured the bizarre intersection of detective drama stardom and musical ambition. While the album barely registered commercially compared to his spoken-word cover of Bread’s “If”, which had topped the UK charts in 1975, the special itself became a curious artifact of mid-70s television. Cloris Leachman’s performance of a dramatic monologue about the life of an actress earned her an Emmy nomination, proving that even in this sea of variety show excess, genuine talent could still shine through.

The song itself emerged from Savalas’s unlikely recording career, which began when producer Marvin Laird recognized that the actor’s deep, resonant voice could work in a spoken-word, easy listening context. Laird wrote “Who Loves Ya, Baby” specifically to capitalize on the Kojak phenomenon, taking the catchphrase that Savalas had made famous and wrapping it in orchestral arrangements. The phrase itself wasn’t invented for the TV show but was something Savalas used in his personal life, which producers incorporated into the Kojak character. Now, it was coming full circle as a musical statement, performed with the kind of earnest showmanship that defined celebrity variety specials of the era.

The recording sessions took place at United Western Studios in Los Angeles with an impressive array of talent. Producer and conductor Marvin Laird assembled a professional crew including engineer Dan Wallin, with arrangements by Bill Byers handling most tracks. Backing vocals came from Alexandra Brown, Becky Louis, and Ynez Anthony, while Gene Page provided conductor and arrangement duties for specific numbers. The production was lush and theatrical, designed to transform Savalas’s limited vocal range into something palatable through sheer professional polish and careful arrangement. It was recorded in 1975 and released in 1976, timed perfectly to coincide with Kojak’s ongoing success on CBS.

The album Who Loves Ya, Baby represented Savalas’s second major foray into the recording world, following his work with composer and producer John Cacavas on the Telly album. While that earlier release had achieved respectable chart positions in the UK and Australia, Who Loves Ya, Baby was more directly tied to his television persona. The title track became the signature moment of the February 1976 TV special, where Savalas, joined by guest stars Barbara Eden, Diahann Carroll, and Cloris Leachman, delivered an hour of commercial-free entertainment that was as much about celebrating his Kojak fame as it was about actual musical performance. Director Marty Pasetta, known for his work on major awards shows, helmed the special at CBS Television City’s Studio 31.

The song never became a cover staple or influenced other artists the way some television theme songs did. Instead, it remained a peculiar footnote in the history of celebrity recordings, sitting alongside William Shatner’s spoken-word albums as proof that fame in one medium didn’t necessarily translate to another. The TV special earned more recognition than the song itself, primarily due to Leachman’s Emmy-nominated performance. Years later, singer Debbie Gibson would record her own version titled “Who Loves Ya Baby” in 1989, though it bore little resemblance to Savalas’s original beyond sharing the catchphrase in its title.

Looking back, “Who Loves Ya, Baby” stands as a perfect time capsule of mid-70s excess, when network television believed America needed to see their favorite tough-guy detective singing and dancing on national television. Savalas himself seemed to approach the entire venture with self-aware humor, as one reviewer noted he “wasted no time in poking fun at how he couldn’t sing or dance.” The performance captured on that February night represented the peak of Kojak-mania, when the character’s popularity was so immense that audiences would tune in for literally anything associated with it. As cultural artifacts go, it’s less a musical milestone and more a fascinating reminder of when celebrity variety specials ruled prime time and even the gruffest TV detective could be convinced to croon his own catchphrase.