One Fine Day (song)

Goffin and King were inspired by the title of the aria "Un bel di vedremo" from the Puccini opera Madama Butterfly. Intended for Little Eva, "One Fine Day" was prepped as a demo by Goffin and King with King providing a guide vocal but – despite a propulsive piano riff courtesy of King – Goffin and King were unable to construct a viable arrangement and eventually gave up, passing the song to The Tokens who had recently produced the #1 hit "He's So Fine" by The Chiffons for whom it was thought another "fine" song had hit potential. The piano work by King (whose vocal was erased) was retained for The Chiffons' recording and King attended the session at which The Chiffons recorded their vocals. However the Tokens radically re-worked the Goffin/King demo of "One Fine Day" for The Chiffons' version; Gerry Goffin commented that the Tokens "really earned their production credit". The personnel on the original recording included Carl Lynch and Charles Marcy on guitar, Dick Romoff on bass, Artie Kaplan, Sid Jekowsky, and Joe Grimaldi on sax, and Gary Chester and Buddy Saltzman on drums.[1][2]

"One Fine Day" by The Chiffons reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100: its R&B chart peak was #6. The single was an international hit charting in the UK (#29),[3] France (#18),[4] and New Zealand (#6).[5] The Chiffons' "One Fine Day" was ranked #460 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[6]

The Chiffons' placing two "fine" songs in the Top Ten motivated The Tokens to especially prep the group's next single "A Love So Fine" which only managed a #40 peak.

Billboard named the song #27 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.[7]

The Chiffons' version has made numerous soundtrack appearances including: Fingers (1978), The Hollywood Knights (1980), The Flamingo Kid (1984), Desperately Seeking Susan (the track's classic piano riff opens the film) (1985), A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988), The Joy Luck Club (1993), the 1996 film One Fine Day, Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), The Wedding Date (2005), And When Did You Last See Your Father? (2007) and Flipped (2010). The song is also featured in The Simpsons episode "Bart the Murderer" [8] and at the conclusion of the Pen15 episode "Opening Night" (2020).[9]

Carole King had the only major hit remake of her own composition when she recorded "One Fine Day" for her studio album Pearls: Songs of Goffin and King which mostly comprised King's renditions of pop music she had co-written with Gerry Goffin.

Prior to the song's official release, Billboard described the backing instruments as "hot and tight" but said that King's voice was too mature to be "believable" in expressing the youthful sentiment of the song.[10] King's version of "One Fine Day" reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1980. Her cover of "One Fine Day" was ranked at #73 on Billboard's list of the top 100 hits of 1980;.[11] The single also reached #19 on the Cashbox chart. Despite the single's success, it has not been included on King's "best of" compilations.