"What Is Love" | ||||
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Single by Haddaway | ||||
from the album The Album | ||||
B-side | "Sing About Love" | |||
Released | 18 January 1993 [1] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | Coconut | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) |
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Haddaway singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"What Is Love" on YouTube |
"What Is Love" is a song by Trinidadian-German singer Haddaway, released as his debut single from his debut album, The Album (1993). The song was released by Coconut Records in January 1993 and was a hit across Europe, becoming a number-one hit in at least 13 countries and reaching number two in Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Outside Europe, the single reached number 11 in the United States, number 12 in Australia, number 17 in Canada, and number 48 in New Zealand.
"What Is Love" earned Haddaway two awards at the German 1994 Echo Award, in the categories "Best National Single" and "Best National Dance Single". The music video for "What Is Love" was directed by Volker Hannwacker and received heavy rotation on music television such as MTV Europe. [6] The song remains Haddaway's most popular and signature song. [7] [8]
"We just used ideas that were fresh at that time and tried to make something that nobody else had [...] The song came really fast. I had the idea for the melodies in about 45 minutes and the total structure of the song was done in a day and a half."
—Haddaway talking to The National about the making of the song. [9]
"What Is Love" was written and produced by German music producer and composer Dee Dee Halligan (Dieter Lünstedt a.k.a. Tony Hendrik) and his partner/wife Junior Torello (Karin Hartmann-Eisenblätter a.k.a. Karin van Haaren) of Coconut Records in Hennef (Sieg) near Cologne. They had previously produced songs for successful groups like Bad Boys Blue and Londonbeat, and were waiting for the right singer for their new song. Trinidadian-born singer Nestor Alexander Haddaway was then chosen to sing it. He used to work as a producer, dancer and choreographer before he was signed to the label. [10]
The producers wanted Haddaway to try singing the song in the style of Joe Cocker. He told them, "I love Joe Cocker, but I'm no Joe Cocker." He then came up with his own idea on how to sing it and the producers let the singer try it his way. Hendrik would lock himself in the studio, and eight or nine days later he came out with the song as was released. [11] Haddaway told Simon Price of Melody Maker in 1994, that the song was originally a ballad and arrived after a year in a basement studio, "In the beginning it was like five different pies, then those five pies became one pie." [12]
The female vocal on the track, meanwhile, was a stock sample released on the Zero-G sample compilation CD "Datafile 1" (tracks 62–64), which was produced in 1991 by Zero-G co-founder and Jack 'N' Chill member Ed Stratton, aka Man Machine, and was aimed at dance producers, DJs, programmers and artists. [13]
"What Is Love" reached number one in 13 countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Zimbabwe. In Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom, it peaked at number two. In the latter, the song reached that position on the UK Singles Chart in its fifth week on the chart, on 27 June 1993. [14] Additionally, "What Is Love" was a number three hit in Iceland, and it made it to the top spot also on the Eurochart Hot 100. Debuting at number 87 on 28 August 1993, the song reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. But on the US Cash Box Top 100, it reached number nine. The song also peaked at number 12 in Australia. By March 1994, worldwide sales of "What Is Love" had already reached 2.6 million. [15]
Upon the release, Larry Flick from Billboard described the song as a "glorious pop/house ditty", and stated that "wildly catchy chorus is complemented by a slick, synth-happy arrangement. Haddaway will conjure up images of Seal and Sydney Youngblood with his worldly baritone delivery. A sure-fire dance hit that has the muscle to push its way onto pop formats with ease." [16] Milo Miles from The Boston Globe wrote, "He pours such delicacy and anguish into the short phrases they become loud whispers that stay in the ear. With perfectly lubricated synthesizers bouncing away behind him, Haddaway gets precious mileage out of minimal lyrics." [17] Student newspaper Columbia Daily Spectator said it "will transport you instantly to the golden age of house music." [18] Jim Farber from Daily News noted that "What Is Love" "uses every sound it has to punch the beat: a stabbing synth line, a tense bass, an uplifting lead vocal and an encouragingly frantic female voice to back it up. It's a sound at once insinuating and insistent, sensual and wild." He also deemed it "the world's natural followup" to Robin S.' "Show Me Love". [19] Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report commented, "Try sitting still seconds after this upbeat entry kicks in." He also noted that Haddaway's style is "reminscent [ sic ] of the Fine Young Cannibals and just as exciting." [20]
In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton stated that the song "is undoubtedly one of the best soul releases of the year." [21] Pan-European magazine Music & Media remarked that it has a "fast house beat augmented by Nestor Haddaway's deeply soulful vocals. This is definitely on par with anything that has come out of Chicago's deep house scene for quite some time." [22] Wendi Cermak from The Network Forty described the track as "splendiferous", and noted that "the eargasmic synth stabs in the extended mix are pulling even odds in Vegas for dance-floor-filling capability and the edit screams for radio airplay..." [23] Luke Turner from The Quietus felt that "What Is Love" "bangs because it manages to be two things—a terrific soul tune but also rather stern as well, with infernally naggy synth lines and drilled repetition in the rhythms." [24] Tony Cross from Smash Hits gave it four out of five, writing, "Haddaway's attempt at producing something along the lines of Seal's "Crazy" hasn't quite been pulled off, but this foot-friendly dance track is still stonking dance-floor stuff. You don't find out what love is, but that doesn't mean you'll be disappointed." [25] Another Smash Hits editor, Pete Stanton, declared it as "a disco-dancing, ass-grooving, tum-churning corker of a song." [26]
"People always ask me about what I meant, [...] I meant that 'what is love' needs to be defined by everyone by his own definition. It's unique and individual. For me, it has to do with trust, honesty, and dedication."
—Haddaway talking to Flavorwire about the meaning of the song. [27]
NME ranked "What Is Love" number two in their list of "Top Five Euro-Hits of All Time" in December 1993, [28] writing, "Haddaway takes one of the fundamental questions of man's existence and puts it to a stomping disco beat. Also features a woman wailing disconsolately in the background whenever Hadders relents from his search." [28] In 1994, Peter Paphides and Simon Price of Melody Maker praised songs such as "Mr. Vain", "Rhythm Is a Dancer" and "What Is Love" as modern classics, "butt-shaking Wagnerian disco monsters. Or, as someone else who knew a thing or two put it: Che Guevara and Debussy to a disco beat." [29]
AllMusic editor Jose F. Promis named "What Is Love" "one of the 1990s' quintessential dance tunes". [30] In an 2015 retrospective review, Victor Beigelman from The A.V. Club declared it as a "Europop banger that more than 20 years later remains relentlessly catchy and far more profound than it ever had any right to be." [31] Mike Wood from Idolator featured it in their list of "The 50 Best Pop Singles of 1994" in 2014, calling it a "catchy" anthem, that "permeated our collective consciousness given the heavily-repeated airplay". [32]
The accompanying music video of "What Is Love" was directed by German music video director Volker Hannwacker. [33] It features Haddaway in a mansion pursued by three femme fatales, one of whom is a vampire. [34] Some scenes features the singer and the vampire run backwards. [34] Keith Dorwick analyzed the video in his book Love Song, writing, "He is first dressed in a blue suit with a white shirt, but upon being bitten by a white female vampire, he is converted to a boy toy with seeming supernatural powers. Now dressed in tight pants and an open vest that shows off his smooth and surprisingly chiseled chest, he easily leaps onto the fireplace mantel where he begins dancing, then flies down in a smooth leap that demonstrates his new vampiric power." [34] The video received heavy rotation on MTV Europe in May 1993. [6]
Year | Publisher | Country | Accolade | Rank |
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1993 | NME | United Kingdom | "Top Five Euro-Hits of All Time" [28] | 2 |
1994 | Echo Award | Germany | "Best National Single" [35] | 1 |
1994 | Echo Award | Germany | "Best National Dance Single" [35] | 1 |
2005 | Bruce Pollock | United States | "The 7,500 Most Important Songs of 1944–2000" [36] | * |
2011 | Paste | United States | "Awesome One-Hit Wonders of the 1990s" [37] | 6 |
2011 | MTV Dance | United Kingdom | "The 100 Biggest 90's Dance Anthems of All Time" [38] | 57 |
2012 | Porcys | Poland | "100 Singli 1990–1999" [39] | 77 |
2013 | Complex | United States | "10 Essential Eurodance Classics" [40] | * |
2013 | Max | Australia | "1000 Greatest Songs of All Time" [41] | 189 |
2013 | Vibe | United States | "Before EDM: 30 Dance Tracks from the '90s That Changed the Game" [42] | 4 |
2014 | Idolator | United States | "The 50 Best Pop Singles of 1994" [32] | 5 |
2017 | BuzzFeed | United States | "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs of the '90s" [43] | 11 |
2019 | Elle | United States | "52 Best 1990s Pop Songs" [44] | 39 |
2019 | Insider | United States | "The 57 Best One-Hit Wonders of All Time" [45] | * |
(*) indicates the list is unordered.
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Original version
| "What Is Love" – Remix
"What Is Love" – Reloaded
Other reissues
|
Year-end charts
| Decade-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [82] | Gold | 35,000^ |
Austria (IFPI Austria) [99] | Platinum | 50,000* |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [100] | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
France (SNEP) [101] | Gold | 100,000‡ |
Germany (BVMI) [102] | 3× Gold | 900,000 [103] |
Italy (FIMI) [104] sales since 2009 | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
Sweden (GLF) [105] | Gold | 25,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [106] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [107] | Gold | 500,000^ |
Summaries | ||
Worldwide | — | 2,600,000 [103] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
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Europe | 1993 | — | Coconut | |
United Kingdom | 22 May 1993 |
| Logic | [108] |
Japan | 16 December 1993 | Mini-CD |
| [109] |
"Klaas meets Haddaway – What Is Love 2K9" | |
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Single by Klaas | |
Released | 2009 |
Label | Mostiko |
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Klaas |
Music video | |
"What is Love 2K9" on YouTube |
In 2009, German DJ Klaas remixed the song under the title "Klaas meets Haddaway – What Is Love 2K9". This remix charted in several European countries.
Chart (2009) | Peak position |
---|---|
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [117] | 37 |
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [118] | 41 |
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Wallonia) [119] | 9 |
France (SNEP) [120] | 5 |
Germany (Official German Charts) [121] | 60 |
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [122] | 49 |
"What Is Love 2016" | ||||
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Single by Lost Frequencies | ||||
from the album Less Is More | ||||
Released | 7 October 2016 | |||
Length | 2:52 | |||
Label |
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Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) |
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Lost Frequencies singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"What Is Love 2016" on YouTube |
In 2016, Belgian DJ Lost Frequencies released a cover titled "What Is Love 2016", as a single from his debut album Less Is More . [123] It was actually already produced back in 2014 as a remix for Jaymes Young's cover version of "What is Love". This version was remade for the album and became a hit on a number of European singles charts and topped the Belgian Ultratop Official Singles Chart.
An official music video was released directed by Soulvizion. It features the Dutch professional basketball player Don Rigters [124] who plays the role of David Rose, a basketball player who is severely injured trying to make a comeback to the game with encouragement from his girlfriend, (played by Melissa Kanza), his three teammates, (Alkenah Wansing, Jeroen Jansen and Lindy Chippendel) and by his basketball coach (played by J E Rigters).
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Belgium (BEA) [139] | 2× Platinum | 40,000‡ |
Germany (BVMI) [140] | Gold | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
In the late 1990s the song was featured in the popular, recurring Saturday Night Live "Roxbury Guys" sketches, in which the characters Steve and Doug Butabi (played by Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan respectively) would wildly bob their heads to the track as they went out nightclubbing and had misadventures. Typically the song would play throughout the sketch, following the brothers wherever they went. The Butabis were sometimes joined by other head-bobbing club-goers portrayed by the show's guests hosts, such as Jim Carrey. In 1998 the sketches spawned a film, A Night at the Roxbury , which prominently featured the song. In the mid-2000s the sketch became a popular internet meme.
"What is Love" was also used in the 2013 video game Saints Row IV and included as one of the tracks in Just Dance 2017 . [141] [142]
In 1994, "What Is Love" served as the soundtrack to the memorable climax of the "Life of Brian" episode of My So-Called Life , in which Rickie Vasquez and Delia Fisher dance together at their high school's World Happiness Dance. [143]
The song was also sung by Ulysses Klaue (played by Andy Serkis) while being interrogated by Everett K. Ross (played by Martin Freeman) in the 2018 film Black Panther . Said scene became an internet meme, and was praised as one of the best scenes in the film. [144]
"What's Love Got to Do with It" is a song written by Graham Lyle and Terry Britten, and recorded by American singer Tina Turner for her fifth studio album, Private Dancer (1984). Capitol Records released it as a single from Private Dancer in May 1984 and it eventually became Turner's biggest-selling single.
2 Unlimited are a Belgian-Dutch dance music act, founded by Belgian producers/songwriters Jean-Paul De Coster and Phil Wilde in 1991 in Antwerp, Belgium. From 1991 to 1996, Dutch rapper Ray Slijngaard and Dutch vocalist Anita Doth fronted the act. During these five years, 2 Unlimited enjoyed worldwide mainstream success. They scored a total of sixteen international chart hits, including "Get Ready for This", "Twilight Zone", "No Limit", and "Tribal Dance". The act has sold eighteen million records worldwide. Although they enjoyed less mainstream recognition in the United States than in Europe, several of their tracks became popular themes in American sporting series, mainly in the NBA and NHL.
"No Limit" is a song recorded by Belgian/Dutch Eurodance group 2 Unlimited, released in January 1993 by Byte, ZYX and PWL. It was their fifth single in total and the first to be released from their second album, No Limits! (1993). Co-written by the group's Ray Slijngaard and Anita Dels, the song became one of their most commercially successful singles, especially in Europe, reaching the number-one spot in 35 countries and the top 10 in several others. Like previous releases, the UK version of the single removed all of the raps from Slijngaard, leaving just Dels' vocals. One word from the rap was kept, the word 'Techno' which was looped and repeated during the middle of the song, turning the line into "Techno! Techno! Techno! Techno!" and giving the song an extra vocal hook. Its accompanying music video was directed by Nick Burgess-Jones and received heavy rotation on MTV Europe.
"If I Can't Have You" is a disco song written by the Bee Gees in 1977. The song initially appeared on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack in a version by Yvonne Elliman, released in November 1977. The Bee Gees' own version appeared a month later as the B-side of "Stayin' Alive".
"Show Me Love" is a song performed by American singer Robin S. The song was written by Allen George and Fred McFarlane, originally released in October 1990 by Champion Records in the United Kingdom. In 1992, it was remixed by Swedish house music production duo StoneBridge and Nick Nice, and re-released in many European countries as well as the United States and Japan. It became one of the most well known house anthems in the United Kingdom, and Robin's biggest hit to date. It helped to make house more mainstream. In 1993, it was included on Robin S.'s debut album of the same name. Confusion arose with the 1997 hit "Show Me Love" by Swedish singer Robyn, due to their homonymous names and identical titles.
"Life" (known as "Life (Everybody Needs Somebody to Love)" in the US) is a song by Trinidadian-German Eurodance artist Haddaway. Written and produced by Dee Dee Halligan (Tony Hendrik) and Junior Torello, the song was released on 30 July 1993 as the second single from Haddaway's debut album, The Album (1993), and the follow-up to his successful debut single, "What Is Love". The song peaked at number one in Finland, Israel, Spain and Sweden. And within the top 5 in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Switzerland. On the Eurochart Hot 100, "Life" reached the top spot. Another CD maxi were produced at the end of that year containing new remixes (one of them was made by Bass Bumpers). By March 1994, "Life" had sold 1.5 million copies worldwide.
"I Miss You" is a song by Trinidadian-German musician Haddaway, released in November 1993 by Coconut Records as the third single from the musician's debut album, The Album (1993). Unlike his two previous hit singles, the song is a ballad. It was written by Dee Dee Halligan, Junior Torello and Clyde Lieberman, and produced by Halligan and Torello. A sizeable hit in several countries, particularly in the United Kingdom and Finland, it entered the top 10, reaching number nine and four, respectively. The single entered the Eurochart Hot 100 at number 87 on 11 December 1993 and peaked at number 10 on 19 February 1994. However, it did not reach the same level of success as "What Is Love" and "Life". By March 1994, worldwide sales had reached 300,000 units.
"Rock My Heart" is a song by Trinidadian-German musician Haddaway, released in March 1994 as the fourth and final single from his debut album, The Album (1993). It was written and produced by Dee Dee Halligan and Junior Torello. Like the previous single "I Miss You", the song was a hit in several countries, particularly in the UK, Germany, Finland, Switzerland, Ireland and Belgium, where it reached the top 10. In Israel, it peaked at number one for two weeks. "Rock My Heart" shot into the Eurochart Hot 100 at number 17 on 9 April 1994 and peaked at seven four weeks later.
"Fly Away" is a song by Trinidadian-German musician Haddaway, released on May 29, 1995 as the lead single from his second album, The Drive (1995). It was written by Dee Dee Halligan, Richard W. Palmer-James and Junior Torello, and produced by Halligan and Torello. As with several of Haddaway's singles, another CD maxi was commercialized a few months after the first release. The song was a number-one hit in Finland and reached the top 10 in Denmark, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
"Catch a Fire" is a song by Trinidadian-German musician Haddaway, released on July 31, 1995 as the second single from his second studio album, The Drive (1995). It is written by Dee Dee Halligan, Richard W. Palmer-James and Junior Torello, and produced by Halligan and Torello. The song was the last major Haddaway hit in several countries, particularly in Israel, Belgium (Flanders), where it reached the top 10. It also peaked at number 12 in Finland and number 17 in the Netherlands. On the Eurochart Hot 100, it reached number 43. For the first time, a Haddaway song was not released in France.
"Infinity", also known as "Infinity ", is the debut single by British acid house musician Guru Josh. It was originally released in December 1989 as the lead single from his debut album of the same name. The song was re-released in 2008 in a remixed version called "Infinity 2008".
Klaas Gerling, simply known as Klaas, is a German DJ and record producer from Cologne.
"This Is What It Feels Like" is a song by Dutch DJ and record producer Armin van Buuren, featuring Canadian singer, songwriter and former soulDecision frontman Trevor Guthrie, released in the Netherlands by Armada Music on 1 January 2013 as the second single from van Buuren's fifth studio album, Intense (2013).
"You Know You Like It" is a song by English electronic music duo AlunaGeorge from their debut studio album, Body Music (2013). The track was released in the United Kingdom on 20 April 2012 as the album's lead single. The song peaked at number 39 on the UK Singles Chart in April 2013 after being used in a Tesco advert.
"Is It Love" is a song by Dutch Eurodance group Twenty 4 Seven, released in November 1993, as the fourth single from their second studio album, Slave To The Music (1993). It was the first up-tempo song written by Ruud van Rijen and scored success on the charts in Europe, peaking at number five in Germany. The chorus is sung by Nancy Coolen while the rap parts are performed by Stay-C. Maria Jimenez from Music & Media described "Is It Love" as a "sugar-coated highly commercial track".
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Nestor Alexander Haddaway is a Trinidadian-born German singer best known for his 1993 hit single "What Is Love", which reached number 1 in 13 countries.
This is the discography of Belgian DJ Lost Frequencies.
New single: What Is Love released on January 18...
Haddaway's "What Is Love," the Eurodance ballad mocked in the "Saturday Night Live" skits and spinoff movie.
One of the very first sample CDs that was available to producers and musicians was called Zero-G Datafile 1. That sample CD contained a vocal sample, a female vocal sample which was the contrast to Haddaway's voice on What Is Love.
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