"Love Religion" is a song recorded by German dance music act U96, released by Guppy label in October 1994, as the lead single from the act's third album, Club Bizarre (1995). Unlike their previous songs, "Love Religion" is more trance-oriented techno and pop. It was co-written and co-produced by Alex Christensen and takes its main melody from Giorgio Moroder's 1978 instrumental "The Chase".[2] The background vocals are performed by Dutch singer, actress and TV host Daisy Dee. The single peaked at number two in Finland and Sweden, and was also a top-10 hit in Austria, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The accompanying music video for the song was directed by Nico Beyer.
"Love Religion" was quite successful on the charts in Europe and remains one of U96's most successful songs. It reached number two in both Finland and Sweden,[3][4] being held off reaching the top spot by "Old Pop in an Oak" by Rednex and "Stay Another Day" by East 17. In Finland, it spent two weeks as number two and further five weeks within the top 10.[5] The single also entered the top 10 in Austria (7), Denmark (9), Germany (5), the Netherlands (9) and Switzerland (10).[6][7][8][9][10] Additionally, "Love Religion" was a top-20 hit in France (15) and a top-30 hit in Belgium (27 and 23 in Flanders and Wallonia).
In the UK, it charted outside the UK Top 100, peaking at number 134, but it was a UK club hit.[11] On the Eurochart Hot 100, the single peaked at number 12 in December 1994, after five weeks on the chart.[12] On the European Dance Radio Chart, it peaked at number four in January following year, becoming the fourth most-played dance song on European radio that week.[13] Outside Europe, "Love Religion" peaked at number 16 in Israel and number 208 in Australia. The single was awarded with a gold record in Germany, after 250,000 units were sold there.[14]
Critical reception
Maria Jimenez from pan-European magazine Music & Media complimented the song as "tasty" and "uptempo", adding, "'Love Religion', from Germany's U96 and Holland's Daisy Dee, is a new easily-accessible techno pop track. It comes complete with a bold trancey breakneck Perplexer remix."[1]
Music video
The music video for "Love Religion" was directed by German film director and producer Nico Beyer.[15] It features Dutch singer, actress and TV host Daisy Dee performing on wide billboards at different sites in an urban city setting.[16] She is dressed in a long, black bondage-oriented dress, performing towards a metallic wall in the background. These kind of outfits were popular in German music videos at the time, as in "Flying High" by Captain Hollywood Project and "Be My Lover" by La Bouche.[17][18] Dee also wears long black gloves and her arms are chained to the ceiling, while she performs. In between, female dancers performs, wearing all kind of bondage- and fetish-oriented outfits. Frontman and producer of U96, Alex Christensen, appears in both the beginning and end of the video. "Love Religion" was A-listed on German music television channel VIVA in November 1994.[19]
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