"Knock Three Times" is a popular song credited simply to "

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's ho ...

". Tony Orlando was not named on the record. The actual singers were Tony Orlando, Toni Wine, and Linda November, prior to the creation of "Dawn" with Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson. The song was released as a single, which hit No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in January 1971 and eventually sold six million copies. The song registered well at Adult Contemporary stations, reaching No. 2 on Billboard''s "Easy Listening" survey. Outside the US, "Knock Three Times" also claimed the No. 1 spot on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The composers of this song, L. Russell Brown and

Irwin Levine Irwin Jesse Levine (March 23, 1938 – January 21, 1997)
- accessed April 11, 2012 was an American songwriter, who co-wrote ...

, were thinking of the song " Up on the Roof" and they wanted to write a song with that kind of lyrical flavor, about tenement living. In the song, the singer has fallen in love with a woman who lives in the apartment directly below his but has no clue as to her interest, so he asks her to respond by either knocking three times on the ceiling (yes) or banging twice on the pipe (no), and the chorus includes sound effects of the two choices. Orlando was, at the time of the recording, working as a producer/singer for a rival record label, and first heard the tune recorded by another artist and immediately knew the song could be a hit if produced as he envisioned. Orlando cut the track discreetly under the name "Dawn", hoping that his current record label would not find out. Upon release, the song became a great success. "Knock Three Times" appears in several motion pictures including '' Now and Then''. The song was covered by Billy "Crash" Craddock in 1971 and became a No. 3

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...

hit. Several Larry Craig-themed parodies (all titled "Tap Three Times") were recorded by various artists such as Paul and Storm and

the Capitol Steps The Capitol Steps was an American political-satire group that performed from 1981 to 2020. Most of the Capitol Steps' material parodied well-known contemporary songs, usually introduced with a short skit. The songs were interspersed with other ro ...

in 2007 following the senator's sex scandal in which he was arrested for tapping his foot (to allegedly solicit sex) in a public airport restroom.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

References

{{authority control 1970 singles 1971 singles Tony Orlando songs Billy "Crash" Craddock songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Australia RPM Top Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in South Africa Songs written by L. Russell Brown Songs written by Irwin Levine Bell Records singles 1970 songs