"Tip of My Tongue" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and Barry Blue (originally registered as "On the Tip of My Tongue"). It was first released as the fifth single by Brotherly Love (a Liverpool-based group composed of three brothers, Mike, Ronnie and Lee Carroll) on CBS Records in 1973 and was produced by Phil Wainman. It stalled just outside the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart that year. Barry Blue was credited as "Barry Green" on this release. The female soul trio Ellie (aka the Hope Sisters - Ellie, Christine and Kathy) released their version of "Tip of My Tongue" as a single on the Fresh Air record label in the UK and on London Records in North America in 1974, and they performed the song on the German TV music program, Hits a Go Go, on 22 October 1974, the same year that Barry Blue released his version as an album track.
In 1977, the Canadian band, Great Rufus Road Machine, a pop band from Kitchener, Ontario, recorded the song and released it as a single, as well as the lead track on their self-named album. The British band The Dooleys have also recorded the song as a track on their 1981 album Secrets, which was re-released in 2013 on the Full House / Secrets album.