"Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" | ||||
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Single by Spiller with Sophie Ellis-Bextor | ||||
Released | 14 August 2000 | |||
Genre | Diva house [1] | |||
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Spiller singles chronology | ||||
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Sophie Ellis-Bextor singles chronology | ||||
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Audio | ||||
"Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" on YouTube |
"Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" is a song by the Italian electronic music DJ and record producer Spiller with lead vocals performed by English singer-songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor. [1] Various versions of the single were later featured on the German reissue and some UK editions of Ellis-Bextor's debut solo studio album, Read My Lips (2001). The single was released on 14 August 2000 by Positiva Records and was involved in a highly publicised chart battle against "Out of Your Mind",the first single by Victoria Beckham outside the Spice Girls,in the United Kingdom.
In addition to receiving critical acclaim,"Groovejet" became a hit in Europe and Australia,peaking at number one in the United Kingdom,New Zealand,Ireland,and Australia,and it reached number three on the US Billboard Dance Club Play chart. On 22 July 2013,the song was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI),and it has sold 642,000 copies in the UK as of March 2019.
The track was originally created by Spiller in early 1999 as an instrumental,with no singing,and was included on the Mighty Miami EP. It is mainly built upon samples from "Love Is You",a disco song originally performed by Carol Williams with the Salsoul Orchestra. The origin of the song title is taken from the name of the nightclub 'Groovejet' in South Beach,Miami Beach,Florida,where the song was first played (as an instrumental) in 1999. [2]
In order to make the track more palatable for airplay,as the instrumental is somewhat repetitive,Positiva Records asked the English singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor,formerly with indie rock band Theaudience,to provide lyrics and vocals for the song. Before recording,Ellis-Bextor's lyric was partly reworked by Rob Davis,who replaced her hook "And so it goes... how does it feel so good?" with "If this ain't love... why does it feel so good?",thereby providing the song with its subtitle. [3] Boris Dlugosch produced the vocal portions added to the track. Sharon Scott is the backing vocalist.
The track has been remixed by Boris Dlugosch and Michi Lange,Todd Terry,Solar,Ramon "Ray Roc" Checo and Ernest St. Laurent. "Groovejet" was the first song ever to be played on an iPod,specifically on a prototype unit in August 2001. [4] Upon its inclusion on Now That's What I Call Music! 46 in the UK,released a month before the single,the booklet write-up correctly predicted it to be a hit. [5]
"Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" has received critical acclaim. Piers Martin of NME was favourable,saying "this is a slip of irresistible ice-filtered summer funk. This year's 'Sing It Back' and 'Music Sounds Better with You',if you will." [6] Stylus Magazine 's Dom Passantino rated the single 8/10,describing the song as "handbag house's last hurrah,except we'd stopped drinking Hooch by then and it was all about sambucca..." [1]
Tom Ewing of Freaky Trigger rated the single 9 out of 10,saying:"There's a beautiful tension in 'Groovejet',an apt flirtation between Bextor’s languid,cut-glass vocals and the delightful indulgence of Spiller's music. It’s not just any disco he's reviving,after all. No Chic for Spiller,none of that poise or aspirational elegance. The sounds 'Groovejet' loots are the syn-drums and ray-gun synths of disco's overripe peak and decline,when it was corny,wonderful,mass-market pop music:you can hear hints of Kelly Marie or Amii Stewart in the song,before that sweetness falls back into the dreamy groove. 'Groovejet' is a fond tour of disco when it ruled the world,and proof that it still could." [7] He described the music's sophistication as coming from Ellis-Bextor,who "offsets the track's bubbly repetition,adds a bittersweet note without ever sounding like she's above it. In fact she sounds carried along by it." [7]
The song was ranked at number 486 on Pitchfork 's list of the "Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s". [8] Mixmag included "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" on their list of "The 30 Best Vocal House Anthems Ever" in 2018. [9] In 2003, Q magazine ranked "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" at number 782 on their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever". [10]
In the United Kingdom,the single was first released in the same week as "Out of Your Mind",Victoria Beckham's first single outside the Spice Girls. "Out of Your Mind" held the midweek number one in the UK singles chart until Saturday,when "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" overtook it in sales;it was hyped by the media as a personal battle between the two artists. [11] [12] The song was the eighth best-selling song of 2000 in the UK. [13] A live version of the track appeared as a B-side to Ellis-Bextor's single "Music Gets the Best of Me",and in 2003,"Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" was re-released as part of Positiva Records 'Remixed' series. In April 2015,the Official Charts Company announced that "Groovejet" was the biggest-selling vinyl single of the millennium in the UK. [14]
The single also found success worldwide. It reached number one in Ireland (two weeks), [15] Australia (three weeks), [16] and New Zealand (seven weeks). [17] In mainland Europe,it charted within the top five in Iceland, [18] Norway, [19] and Switzerland [20] while becoming a top-ten hit in Denmark, [21] Finland, [16] Hungary, [22] Italy, [23] the Netherlands, [24] and Portugal. [25] On the European Hot 100 Singles,it peaked at number 12 on 21 October 2000. [26] In the United States,"Groovejet" peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Maxi-Singles Sales chart and number three on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart. [27] [28] The track has earned platinum certifications in Australia, [29] New Zealand, [30] and the UK. [31]
The music video for the song shows Spiller and Ellis-Bextor making their way separately around Bangkok in Thailand. Spiller meets people and signs autographs,finding his height makes life there difficult;Ellis-Bextor sings wistfully at various tables in bars. Spiller takes a taxi while Ellis-Bextor takes a auto rickshaw,and eventually,they meet at a nightclub.
European CD single [32]
UK CD single [33]
| UK 12-inch single [34]
German maxi-CD single [35]
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Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Australia (ARIA) [29] | 2× Platinum | 140,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [30] | Platinum | 10,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI) [31] | Platinum | 642,000 [62] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref(s). |
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United Kingdom | 14 August 2000 |
| Positiva | [63] [64] |
New Zealand | 25 September 2000 |
| [65] | |
United States | 8 May 2001 | Rhythmic contemporary radio | Atlantic | [66] |
Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead vocalist of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded, Ellis-Bextor went solo and achieved success beginning in the early 2000s. Her music is mainstream pop and dance with influences of disco, nu-disco, and 1980s electronic music.
Read My Lips is the debut studio album by English singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, released on 3 September 2001 by Polydor Records. After the disbandment of the Britpop group Theaudience, in which Ellis-Bextor served as vocalist, she was signed to Polydor. Prior to the LP's completion, the singer collaborated with several musicians, including band Blur's bassist Alex James, Moby and New Radicals frontman Gregg Alexander. The record was described as a collection of 1980s electronica and 1970s disco music.
Theaudience were an English rock band, formed in London in 1996. They released one album and saw three singles enter the UK Singles Chart. The band's lead vocalist Sophie Ellis-Bextor became a successful solo artist after the band's disbandment.
Positiva Records is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group and concentrates on releasing dance music in the UK. The record label was set up in 1993, by Nick Halkes, who previously ran XL Recordings. Its headquarters are at the Universal UK offices, where it is the only large dance music label under the EMI banner.
Robert Berkeley Davis is an English guitarist and songwriter who achieved early fame as a founding member of glam rock band Mud in the 1970s. He had songwriting success in the 1990s and 2000s, penning vocal arrangements for dance hits including "Can't Get You Out of My Head" for Kylie Minogue, Fragma's "Toca's Miracle" and Spiller's "Groovejet ".
Sarah Jane Cracknell is an English singer-songwriter and lead singer of the electronic music band Saint Etienne.
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Carol Williams, born in Montclair, New Jersey, is a vocalist and songwriter who achieved success with her disco songs in the 1970s. She was the first female artist signed to the disco label Salsoul Records.
Cristiano Spiller is an Italian electronic music DJ and record producer. He is best known for his 2000 single "Groovejet ", featuring Sophie Ellis-Bextor. The song reached number-one in the UK, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. It sold over two million copies and was rumoured to be the first song to be played on an iPod.
"Take Me Home" is a song recorded by American singer and actress Cher for her fifteenth studio album. The album, released in 1979, bore the same name as the single. "Take Me Home" is a disco song conceived after Cher was recommended to venture into said genre after the commercial failure of her previous albums. The lyrics center around the request of a woman to be taken home by her lover. It was released as the lead single from the Take Me Home album in January 1979 through Casablanca Records, pressed as a 12-inch single.
"Get Over You" and "Move This Mountain" are two songs by British pop singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor. In most countries, "Get Over You" received a solo release, but in the United Kingdom, the two tracks were issued as a double A-side single on 10 June 2002. The former track was taken off the Read My Lips album reissue, while the latter was an album track in the original album release.
"Music Gets the Best of Me" is a song by British singer-songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor, released as the fourth and final single from her debut solo album, Read My Lips (2001). The single was one of two new tracks that appeared on the re-issue of the album in 2002, along with previous single "Get Over You". The song peaked at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart and number 15 in Italy and Romania. Two music videos were made for the song.
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"Lola's Theme" is the debut single of British house duo the Shapeshifters, featuring soul singer Cookie on vocals. It was released on 12 July 2004 as the lead single from the Shapeshifters' debut album, Sound Advice (2004). The song became the duo's biggest hit, peaking atop the UK Singles Chart and charting highly in Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. In Australia, it was the most successful club hit of 2004.
"Out of Your Mind" is a song by UK garage duo True Steppers. It features Dane Bowers and Victoria Beckham, in her first appearance as a solo artist away from Spice Girls. The single was released on 14 August 2000 and reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, beaten to the top by Spiller's "Groovejet " in a highly publicised chart battle.
British singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor has released seven solo studio albums, one live album, two compilation albums, one remix album, one extended play, one video album, thirty-seven singles and twenty-seven music videos. Ellis-Bextor debuted in 1997 as frontwoman of the indie music group theaudience, whose single "I Know Enough " reached the top 25 on the United Kingdom singles chart. They released a self-titled album. A follow-up was shelved by label Mercury Records, but selected tracks circulate as bootlegs.
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