The Crystals – Then He Kissed Me

About The Song

“Then He Kissed Me” is a pop song written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, and Jeff Barry, recorded by The Crystals for Philles Records. Released as a single in July 1963, it peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 8, 1963, spending 12 weeks on the chart, and reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 3 in Ireland, and No. 8 in Belgium. The track was not included on a Crystals album at release but appeared on the 1963 compilation Today’s Hits, featuring Spector’s artists. The B-side, “Brother Julius,” was an instrumental named after a burger cart near Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, where the song was recorded in April 1963.

Produced by Spector using his “Wall of Sound” technique, the song featured a dense arrangement by Jack Nitzsche, with The Wrecking Crew, including Hal Blaine on drums and Tommy Tedesco on guitar. Larry Levine engineered the session, and lead vocals were sung by 15-year-old Dolores “LaLa” Brooks, the only Crystal on the track, flown from New York to Los Angeles by Spector. To elicit her performance, Spector dimmed the studio lights and instructed her to “think of somebody kissing you,” as Brooks recalled in a Songfacts interview. The lyrics narrate a young woman’s romance, from a dance to a marriage proposal, culminating in a kiss.

The Crystals, formed in Brooklyn in 1960, included Barbara Alston, Mary Thomas, Dee Dee Kenniebrew, Myrna Girard, and Patsy Wright. By 1963, Spector had shifted earlier recordings like “He’s a Rebel” to The Blossoms in Los Angeles, but Brooks remained his choice for lead. The song followed their No. 3 hit “Da Doo Ron Ron,” marking their third US Top 10 single, though it was their last Top 40 hit, as Spector focused on The Ronettes. The Beach Boys covered it as “Then I Kissed Her” in 1965, hitting No. 4 in the UK, with Al Jardine on vocals and Brian Wilson producing, rewriting lyrics from the boyfriend’s perspective.

Other covers include Martha Reeves & The Vandellas (1963), Gary Glitter’s “And Then She Kissed Me” (No. 39 UK, 1981), Juice Newton’s “(And) Then He Kissed Me” (1989), and St. Vincent’s sapphic reimagining for a 2018 wedding compilation. The song appeared in films like Adventures in Babysitting (1987), Goodfellas (1990, during the Copacabana scene), and To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (2020). Cash Box called it a “captivating, quick-moving romantic” with a “sensational” Nitzsche arrangement. Its recording process, detailed in Rhino’s Spector archives, involved long studio hours to perfect the layered sound, with doubled instruments for impact.

Video

The Crystals – Then He Kissed Me (YouTube)

Lyric

Well, he walked up to me and he asked me if I wanted to dance
He looked kinda nice and so I said I might take a chance
When he danced he held me tight
And when he walked me home that night
All the stars were shining bright and then he kissed me

Each time I saw him I couldn’t wait to see him again
I wanted to let him know that he was more than a friend
I didn’t know just what to do
So I whispered I love you
And he said that he loved me too and then he kissed me

He kissed me in a way that I’ve never been kissed before
He kissed me in a way that I wanna be kissed forever more

I knew that he was mine so I gave him all the love that I had
And one day he took me home to meet his mom and his dad
Then he asked me to be his bride
And always be right by his side
I felt so happy I almost cried and then he kissed me

Then he asked me to be his bride
And always be right by his side
I felt so happy I almost cried and then he kissed me
And then he kissed me
And then he kissed me