"The Love I Lost" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes | ||||
from the album Black & Blue | ||||
B-side | "The Love I Lost" (Part 2) | |||
Released | September 1973 | |||
Genre | Disco | |||
Length |
| |||
Label | Philadelphia International | |||
Songwriter(s) | Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff | |||
Producer(s) | Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff | |||
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Official audio | ||||
"The Love I Lost" on YouTube |
"The Love I Lost" is a song by American R&B group Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. Group member Teddy Pendergrass sang lead vocals. Originally written as a ballad by Philly soul songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, the song was transformed into a funk song and features drummer Earl Young. It was released from the Black & Blue album in late 1973 and sold more than a million copies. In the 21st century, the track has been the subject of extended re-edits by notable remixers Tom Moulton, Theo Parrish, and Dimitri From Paris.
"The Love I Lost" is considered an early example of disco. [1] The track was one of the transitional songs marking the emergence of disco from traditional rhythm and blues as a distinctive style of music. [2]
Chart (1973–1974) | Peak position |
---|---|
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) [3] | 39 |
Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [4] | 31 |
Canada Adult Contemporary ( RPM ) [5] | 97 |
UK Singles (OCC) [6] | 21 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [7] | 7 |
US Adult Contemporary ( Billboard ) [8] | 48 |
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ( Billboard ) [9] | 1 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United States (RIAA) [10] | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
"The Love I Lost" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by West End featuring Sybil | ||||
from the album Doin' It Now! and Good 'N' Ready | ||||
B-side | "Sybil-It" | |||
Released | January 4, 1993 [11] | |||
Genre | Disco [12] | |||
Length | 3:25 | |||
Label | PWL International | |||
Songwriter(s) | Gamble and Huff | |||
Producer(s) | ||||
Sybil singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"The Love I Lost" on YouTube |
On January 4, 1993, American R&B and pop singer-songwriter Sybil released a cover of "The Love I Lost" with British DJ and producer West End (a.k.a. Eddie Gordon). [13] It was produced by Mike Stock and Pete Waterman, released by PWL International and received positive reviews from music critics. This version remains one of Sybil's most successful single, reaching number 18 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart and number three in the United Kingdom. A music video was produced to promote the single.
AllMusic editor Justin Kantor described the song as a "vibrant, disco-styled cover", noting further that Sybil's "high-energy delivery is soulful, spirited, and commanding". [12] Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "While urban-ites continue to chew on the sweet "You're the Love of My Life", popsters are served a sparkling pop/NRG rendition of a Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes classic. This timeless tune gains its current top 40 muscle by Sybil's lively and soulful vocal, and the distinct hand of producers Stock & Waterman. A top-five U.K. smash that should have little trouble making the grade here." [14] The Gavin Report complimented the singer's "sweet, strong vocals". [15] In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton said, "A fairly faithful cover [...], the classic song, coupled with the powerful voice of Sybil makes for one of those soul covers which if anything adds to the original. Notice as well the production credits on the back of such a trendy record - Mike Stock and Pete Waterman, showing that there is life after Kylie and Jason." [16]
Alan Jones from Music Week felt that here, the 1974 hit "makes an easy transition from Philly soul to commercial garage", remarking that "its uplifting, hustling. instrumental track is strangely at odds with the downbeat lyrics, but it's tight, commercial, bright and breezy. A monster in the clubs, and likely to become an equally large pop hit." [17] Another Music Week editor, Andy Beevers, declared it as a "very solid garage reworking". [18] James Hamilton from the Record Mirror Dance Update complimented it as "superb". [19] In 2014, Matt Dunn of WhatCulture ranked the song at number 12 in his "15 unforgettable Stock Aitken Waterman singles" list, commenting on the song's music video, "The music video was a veritable celebration of the early-90s: muted primary colours, silhouetted dancers in silly hats spinning and flailing their arms about, flares and big collars everywhere and lots of classic Sybil moves - sideways glances, eyes up to the sky, shrugging shoulders, hands and arms gesticulating wildly and topped with a clap, plus that funky neck thing she always did." [20]
"The Love I Lost" was a hit on both the European and North American continent, becoming a top-10 hit in Ireland (9) [21] and the UK, as well as on the Eurochart Hot 100 and European Dance Radio Chart. [22] In the UK, the single peaked at number three in its third week on the UK Singles Chart on 24 January 1993. [23] It was kept off number one and number two by Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" and Snap!'s "Exterminate!", and stayed as number three for two weeks. But on both the UK Dance Singles chart and the UK Club Chart, the song did reach number one. [24] [25] Additionally, it was a top-20 hit in Finland (14) [26] and a top-70 hit in Germany. [27] It debuted on the Eurochart Hot 100 at number 83 on 23 January, [28] after charting in the UK, and peaking at number nine three weeks later. [29] It ended up as numbers 84 and 30 on the Eurochart and UK Singles Chart year-end charts. In the US, "The Love I Lost" peaked at number 90 on the Billboard Hot 100, [30] and number 18 on both the Billboard Dance Club Play chart and Maxi-Singles Sales chart. [31] [32] In Australia, the song only reached number 145 on the ARIA singles chart.
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by Billboard and Music & Media magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
"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, both written and produced by Dee Dee Halligan and Karin Hartmann-Eisenblätter, was released by Coconut Records in January 1993. It was a hit across Europe, becoming a number-one single in at least 13 countries and reaching number two in Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Outside Europe, the single peaked at number 11 in the United States, number 12 in Australia, number 17 in Canada, and number 48 in New Zealand.
"If You Don't Know Me by Now" is a song written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and recorded by the Philadelphia soul musical group Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. It became their first hit after being released as a single in September 1972, topping the US R&B chart and peaking at number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
"Brand New Lover" is a song recorded by the English pop band Dead or Alive. It was the lead single released from the band's third studio album, Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know on Epic Records. It achieved international success when released as a single in 1986, but while it was a major hit in a number of territories, including the United States and Japan, in the UK the single significantly underperformed, failing to crack the top 20. The song features western motifs, with lyrics that describe Burns' desire to leave his current partner for one who is more exciting. His motivation is that he admittedly does not desire a stable relationship with one partner, but rather is "a pleasure seeker."
"This Time I Know It's for Real" is a song by American singer-songwriter Donna Summer, released on February 13, 1989, as the first single from her 14th studio album, Another Place and Time (1989), by Atlantic Records and Warner Bros. Records. Like the rest of the album, the song was written and produced by the British Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) team, though Summer also had a hand in writing this song.
"Walk On By" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for singer Dionne Warwick in 1963. Warwick's recording of the song peaked at number 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Cash Box Rhythm and Blues Chart In June 1964 and was nominated for a 1965 Grammy Award for the Best Rhythm and Blues Recording.
"Don't Make Me Over" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, originally recorded by American singer Dionne Warwick in August 1962 and released in October 1962 as her lead solo single from her debut album, Presenting Dionne Warwick (1963), issued under Sceptor Records. The song reached number 21 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number five on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart.
"Love in the First Degree" is a song by English girl group Bananarama from their fourth studio album, Wow! (1987). It was released on 28 September 1987 as the album's second single, except in the United States, where it was released in 1988 as the third single. The track was co-written and produced by the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) trio. It achieved major success in the UK and Australia, and also peaked within the top 20 in many European countries, but, unlike "I Heard a Rumour", it reached only the lower end of the top 50 in the US.
"Love, Truth and Honesty" is a song by English girl group Bananarama from their first greatest hits album, Greatest Hits Collection (1988). Co-written and produced by the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) trio, the song was released on 12 September 1988 by London Records as the album's lead single. It achieved a moderate success, peaking out of the top 20 in the majority of countries where it was released. The music video was produced by Big TV!.
"Don't Leave Me This Way" is a song written by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff and Cary Gilbert. It was originally released in 1975 by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes featuring Teddy Pendergrass, an act signed to Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International label. "Don't Leave Me This Way" was subsequently covered by American singer Thelma Houston in 1976 and British duo the Communards in 1986, with both versions achieving commercial success.
"Sealed with a Kiss" is a song written and composed by Peter Udell and Gary Geld. The original recording of "Sealed with a Kiss" was by the Four Voices which was released as a single in May 1960 without becoming a hit. It first became a hit in 1962 for Brian Hyland. Jason Donovan later had an international number one hit with the song in 1989.
"Happenin' All Over Again" is a song written and produced by Stock Aitken & Waterman (SAW) for American singer Lonnie Gordon's first album, If I Have to Stand Alone (1990). The song mixed SAW's Europop sound with the blooming Italo house music which was becoming big in the UK charts at the time. It was released as the album's second single on January 15, 1990, and reached number four on the UK Singles Chart, but this 1990 version was never released in the US. A different version of the song was included on Gordon's 1993 album Bad Mood, and this version was released as a US single in 1993, peaking at number 98 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number one on the Billboard Dance chart. In 1998, Gordon recorded the song for a second time and released it as a single.
"If I Ever Fall in Love" is the debut single by American R&B-soul quartet Shai, released by Gasoline Alley and MCA in September 1992 from their debut album of the same name (1992). The song reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1992 and peaked at number one on the Billboard R&B chart. It spent eight weeks at number two on the Hot 100, which at the time was the second-most number of weeks that a song held the position without topping the chart, behind Foreigner's "Waiting for a Girl Like You". The song was also their only top-40 hit in the UK, peaking at number 36.
"Wake Up Everybody" is an R&B song written by John Whitehead, Gene McFadden and Victor Carstarphen.
"Remember Me" is a 1997 song by British DJ Alexis 'Lex' Blackmore under his pseudonym Blue Boy, released as a single only. Built around samples performed by American singer Marlena Shaw, the song peaked at No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1997 and No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. It was a top-10 hit in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. On the Eurochart Hot 100, the track reached No. 13.
"Beyond Your Wildest Dreams" is a ballad written by British hitmaking team Stock Aitken & Waterman, which was recorded by three of their artists, Lonnie Gordon, Sybil, and Nancy Davis. The songwriters have cited this song as one of the best they ever wrote, and were dissatisfied with its poor chart performance. Gordon and Sybil's versions were released as singles in 1990 and 1993.
"Who's Leaving Who" is a song written by Jack White and Mark Spiro, first recorded by Canadian country singer Anne Murray in 1986. It achieved bigger popularity in Europe when it was covered by British Hi-NRG singer Hazell Dean in 1988. David Hasselhoff covered the song on his 1991 album David, produced by Jack White.
"Luv 4 Luv" is a song by American singer Robin S., released on 19 July 1993 by Champion, Big Beat and ZYX as the second single from the singer's debut album, Show Me Love (1993). The song was written by Allen George and Fred McFarlane, and was Robin S.'s second number one on the US dance chart, where it spent one week at the top. On other US charts, the song peaked at number 53 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 54 on the Cash Box Top 100. Overseas, "Luv 4 Luv" reached number 11 on the UK Singles Chart and number 24 in Ireland. A black-and-white music video was produced to promote the single, featuring Robin S. performing at a self-service laundry. "Luv 4 Luv" was re-released in the UK in 2003 but only lasted one week on the chart, peaking at number 78.
"When I'm Good and Ready" is a song by American R&B and pop singer-songwriter Sybil, released on March 8, 1993 by PWL International and FFRR, as the first single from her fifth album, Good 'N' Ready (1993). Written and produced by Stock/Waterman, it also features backing vocals by Mae McKenna, Stock and Miriam Stockley. It went on to become one of her most successful songs and a major hit on the charts in Europe, reaching the top 10 in the UK and Ireland, and was a top-20 hit in Austria and a top-50 hit in Germany. In 1997, "When I'm Good and Ready" was re-released in a new remix by UK remix, production and songwriting team Love to Infinity, which achieved a moderate success on the national chart.
Doin' It Now! is the fourth studio album by American singer Sybil, released in 1993.