"Caravan of Love" is a 1985 R&B hit originally recorded by

Isley-Jasper-Isley Isley-Jasper-Isley was a splinter group A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had ...

, the second half of

the Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...

' ''3 + 3'' lineup of the 1970s.

Original Isley-Jasper-Isley version

After breaking away from the family group, the group (notably

Chris Jasper Christopher Howard Jasper (born December 30, 1951)Allmusic biography/ref> is an American singer, composer, and producer. Jasper is a former member of the Isley Brothers and Isley-Jasper-Isley and is responsible for writing and producing the maj ...

) wrote and produced this single, which was Jasper's interpolation intending to reach audiences by presenting

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

beliefs in his music. The song became the trio's biggest hit going to number 1 on the ''Billboard'' R&B singles chart and number 51 on the Billboard pop chart in 1985; it would be their only prominent hit before they splintered into solo careers in 1988. The music video was filmed on-location in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Personnel

: Keyboards, lead vocals, piano, production *

Ernie Isley Ernest Isley (born March 7, 1952) is an American musician, best known as a member of the musical ensemble The Isley Brothers, and also the splinter group Isley-Jasper-Isley. Biography Ernie was born in Cincinnati, where his older brothers for ...

: Guitar, backing vocals, production *

Marvin Isley Marvin Isley (August 18, 1953 – June 6, 2010)
– accessed June 2010 was the youngest member of the family music grou ...

: Bass, backing vocals, production

Track listings

7" vinyl single

Side one # "Caravan of Love" – 4:15 Side two # "I Can't Get over Losin' You" – 4:05

12" vinyl single

Side one # "Caravan of Love" – 5:43 Side two # "I Can't Get over Losin' You" – 4:05

Chart performance

The Housemartins version

British

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

band

the Housemartins The Housemartins were an English indie rock group formed in Hull who were active in the 1980s and charted three top-ten albums and six top-twenty singles in the UK. Many of their lyrics conveyed a mixture of socialist politics and Christiani ...

released "Caravan of Love" in November 1986. The

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

song was a success, reaching number one on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on 16 December 1986 (only the second a cappella recording to do so, after " Only You" by

the Flying Pickets The Flying Pickets is a British '' a cappella'' vocal group which had a Christmas number one hit in 1983 on the UK Singles Chart with their cover version of Yazoo's track " Only You". History The band of six was founded by Brian Hibbard in 19 ...

in 1983), before being denied the

Christmas number one single In the United Kingdom, Christmas number ones are singles that top the UK Singles Chart in the week in which Christmas Day falls. The singles have often been novelty songs, charity songs or songs with a Christmas theme. Historically, the volume ...

by a posthumous re-release of

Jackie Wilson Jack Leroy Wilson Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer and performer of the 1950s and 60s. He was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", he was considered a mas ...

's "

Reet Petite "Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl in Town)" (originally subtitled "The Finest Girl You Ever Want to Meet") is a song written by Berry Gordy, Billy Davis, and Gwen Gordy Fuqua, and made popular by Jackie Wilson. It was his first solo hit after leav ...

". The song was included on the Housemartins' greatest hits compilation ''

Now That's What I Call Quite Good ''Now That's What I Call Quite Good'' was the post-breakup greatest hits album from The Housemartins, released in 1988. As well as singles (such as the UK number one "Caravan of Love"), the compilation includes various album tracks, B-sides and r ...

''.

Track listings

7-inch vinyl single ''Side one'' # "Caravan of Love" – 3:40 ''Side two'' # "When I First Met Jesus" – 2:46 12-inch vinyl single ''Side one'' # "Caravan of Love" # "We Shall Not Be Moved" ''Side two'' # "When I First Met Jesus" # "

So Much in Love "So Much in Love" is a song written by George Williams and Bill Jackson, and arranged by Roy Straigis. It was originally performed by the Tymes and was the group's first hit single, topping the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart on August 3, 19 ...

" # "Heaven Help Us All (Sermonette)"

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other versions

*On

the Rippingtons The Rippingtons are an American contemporary jazz group, mainly relating to the genres smooth jazz, jazz fusion, jazz pop, and crossover jazz. Formed in 1985 by guitarist and band leader Russ Freeman, their career has spanned more than three de ...

1996 album, ''

Brave New World ''Brave New World'' is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hierarch ...

'', featuring the vocals of

the Whispers The Whispers is an American group from Los Angeles, California, who have scored hit records since the late 1960s. They are best known for their two number one R&B singles, " And the Beat Goes On" in 1980 and "Rock Steady" in 1987. The Whispers ...

. *Jazz artist

Terry Callier Terrence Orlando "Terry" Callier (May 24, 1945 – October 27, 2012) was an American soul music, soul, Folk music, folk and jazz guitarist and singer-songwriter. Life and career Callier was born in the North Side of Chicago, Illinois, and was r ...

on his 2002 album, ''Speak Your Peace''. *In 2003, Australian born Irish singer Johnny Logan recorded the song on his album, ''

We All Need Love "We All Need Love" is a single released by the Italian Eurodance group Double You in 1992. History The song was originally written and recorded by Canadian rock musician Domenic Troiano in 1979. It had also been covered by the Australian band Eb ...

''. *In 2004, German pop group

Preluders The Preluders were a pop girl group from Germany. The original group comprised singers Tertia Botha, Miriam Cani, Anh-Thu Doan, Rebecca Miro, and Anne Ross. Created through the ProSieben talent show '' Popstars – Das Duell'' (2003), in which ...

covered the song on their album, ''

Prelude to History ''Prelude to History'' is the second and final studio album by German girl group Preluders. It was released on 27 September 2004 by Cheyenne Records, Polydor and Zeitgeist. A collection of cover versions of songs from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, ...

''. *British pop singer

Pixie Lott Victoria Louise Lott (born 12 January 1991), better known by her stage name Pixie Lott, is an English singer and songwriter. Her debut album, '' Turn It Up'', released in September 2009, reached number six on the UK Albums Chart and sold ove ...

released in November 2014 a charity version of the song, as the lead single from her first hits collection, '' Platinum Pixie: Hits''. The song charted at number 129 on the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caravan Of Love 1985 songs 1985 singles 1986 singles 1987 singles The Housemartins songs A cappella songs Number-one singles in Sweden UK Singles Chart number-one singles The Isley Brothers songs Songs written by Chris Jasper Songs written by Ernie Isley Songs written by Marvin Isley Epic Records singles Go! Discs singles Elektra Records singles