"I Didn't Know I Was Looking for Love" is a song written by Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn of Everything but the Girl. The band originally released the song in June 1993 as a track on their extended play (EP) of the same name, which reached number 72 on the UK Singles Chart. It was covered by English singer

Karen Ramirez Karen Ramírez (born 21 November 1971 in North London) is an English female dance music singer. At the age of six, Ramirez moved to Trinidad and Tobago and lived there for some time, before returning to London and entering university. In 1998, she ...

in 1998, whose version became a chart hit in several countries.

Karen Ramirez version

The song was covered by British singer

and released as her second single from the album, '' Distant Dreams'' in 1998 with the shorter title of "Looking for Love". This version peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart in June 1998 and topped the US Hot Dance Club Play chart in 2001. It additionally peaked at number five in Hungary and number 10 in Italy. On the

Eurochart Hot 100 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 (two charts separately ...

, "Looking for Love" reached number 45 in August 1998. Ramirez's version of the song was well received and garnered mainly positive reviews from critics.

Critical reception

'' Daily Record'' called "Looking for Love" a "strong R&B hit". Richard Wallace from '' Daily Mirror'' stated that "the hypnotic cover" of Everything But The Girl's "I Didn't Know I Was Looking for Love" "was a beguiling introduction to the talents of Ms Ramirez". ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' wrote that "this English soul singer first really made her mark as a lead vocalist for Italian dance production team Souled Out. After the project was finished, all involved concluded that the collaboration had been successful to such an extent that it deserved some kind of follow up. Work on Ramirez' debut album '' Distant Dreams'' accordingly began soon after. The first single Troubled Girl was reasonably successful and expectations for this underrated gem written by Everything but the Girl are justifiably high." ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

'' said that this remix could do for Karen Ramirez what

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...

's mix of " Brimful Of Asha" did for Cornershop. They added, "These housey beats increase the

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

factor ten-fold without losing the delicious vocals or hummable tune. A rare dance choon that sounds just as good off the dancefloor as on it. Bangin'!"

Music video

In addition to extensive dance club and radio airplay, the music video for the song (which featured Ramirez walking around a house on a continuous loop, each time seeing previous versions of herself walking around the house) also enjoyed heavy rotation on both

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

and VH-1 throughout the summer of 1998.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 1993 singles 1993 songs 1998 singles 2001 singles Blanco y Negro Records singles Everything but the Girl songs Song recordings produced by Phil Ramone Songs written by Ben Watt Songs written by Tracey Thorn