Too Much, Too Little, Too Late

"Too Much, Too Little, Too Late"
Single by Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams
from the album You Light Up My Life
B-side	"Emotion"
Released	February 21, 1978
Format	Vinyl, 7"
Recorded	1977
Genre	Soul, Soft rock , R&B
Length	3:00
Label	Columbia
Writer(s)	John Vallins, Nat Kipner
Producer(s)	Jack Gold
Johnny Mathis singles chronology
"Yellow Roses On her Gown" (1976) "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" (1978) "You're All I Need" (1978)
Deniece Williams singles chronology "Baby, Baby My Loves All for You" (1978) "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" (1978) "You're All I Need to Get By" (1978)

"Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" is a song performed by singers Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams. Lyrics and music are arranged by Nat Kipner and John Vallins. The single was a comeback of sorts for Mathis, as it was his first chart-topping hit in the US since 1957's "Chances Are".

Released as a single in 1978, it reached number 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop chart, Adult Contemporary chart,^[1] and R&B chart.^[2] Outside the U.S., the song peaked at number nine on the Canadian Singles Chart^[3] and number three on the UK Singles Chart.

"Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" was certified gold and silver in the US and in the UK by the RIAA and the British Phonographic Industry respectively.^[4][5]

Later in 1978 the duo released a follow-up single, "You're All I Need to Get By" (which peaked at number 47 on the Hot 100), and a full album of duets, That's What Friends Are For. The success of the duets with Williams prompted Mathis to record duets with a variety of partners including Jane Olivor, Dionne Warwick, Natalie Cole, Gladys Knight, and Nana Mouskouri. A compilation album, also called Too Much, Too Little, Too Late and released by Sony Music in 1995, featured the title track among other songs by the Mathis/Williams duo.

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts Chart (1978) Peak position Australia [6] 6 Canada 9 New Zealand [7] 2 UK 3 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [8] 1 U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 1 U.S. Billboard R&B 1 U.S. Cash Box Top 100 [9] 2

Year-end charts Chart (1978) Rank Australia [6] 47 Canada [10] 25 New Zealand [11] 17 UK [12] 24 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [13] 28 U.S. Cash Box [14] 29

Silver Sun version

English power pop band Silver Sun recorded a cover of "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" for their album Neo Wave. It was also released as a single, reaching number 20 in the UK Singles Chart in 1998.

See also

• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1978 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B singles of 1978 (U.S.)
• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1978 (U.S.)

References

1. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 161.
2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 383.
3. Lwin, Nanda (2000). Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide.
4. "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
6. Steffen Hung. "Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
7. "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. 1978-06-25. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
8. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
10. "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
11. "Top Selling Singles of 1978 | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. 1978-12-31. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
12. "Top 100 1978 - UK Music Charts". Uk-charts.top-source.info. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
13. "Top 100 Hits of 1978/Top 100 Songs of 1978". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-14.