Holmes wrote the song for the band's first album, and started the song with the line "Ever since our voyage of love began..". In an attempt to make it more punchy, producer John Florez suggested starting with the line "So I'd like to know where you got the notion." The song features a lead vocal by
Fleming Williams, who left The Hues Corporation shortly after the song was recorded. According to
The Billboard Book of Number One Hits by
Fred Bronson, the lone female member of the group, H. Ann Kelley, had originally been pegged to sing lead, but this idea was discarded out of fear that groups with female lead singers were less commercially viable. The bass player on the session was
Wilton Felder, not
James Jamerson as sometimes reported. Florez also brought in two other members of the
Jazz Crusaders,
Joe Sample on piano and
Larry Carlton on guitar, as well as
Jim Gordon on drums. Wally Holmes wrote and played the trumpet line. The song features a
change in meter in the pre-chorus during the words "love and devotion" where it is for one measure while the rest of the song is in
common time. ==Legacy==