"I Don't Know What It Is But I Love It" is a song by British singer-songwriter

Chris Rea Christopher Anton Rea ( ; born 4 March 1951) is an English rock and blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, fie ...

, released in 1984 as the lead single from his sixth studio album ''

Wired to the Moon ''Wired to the Moon'' is the sixth studio album by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea, released in 1984. The album reached No. 35 on the UK album charts. Three singles were released. " I Don't Know What It Is But I Love It" peaked at No. 65 o ...

''. It was written by Rea, and produced by Rea and

Dave Richards Sir David Gerald Richards (born 3 October 1943) was the chairman of the FA Premier League, member of the Football Association's (FA) Board, chairman of the FA's international committee, president of the European Professional Football Leagues o ...

. The song reached No. 65 in 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 ...

and remained in the Top 100 for four weeks. It also peaked at No. 23 on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

. The track was popular with the squad of

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...

in their campaign for the 1983-4 European Cup, and they sang it in the tunnel before walking out before the final against

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

, which some players attributed as one reason for their eventual victory.

Critical reception

On its release, the ''Mansfield & Sutton Recorder'' felt the song "showcases a new immediacy in Rea's music". Paul Benbow of the ''

Reading Evening Post The ''Reading Post'' (until 2009, the ''Reading Evening Post'') was an English local newspaper covering Reading, Berkshire and surrounding areas. The title page of the paper featured the Maiwand Lion, a famous local landmark at Forbury Gardens. Th ...

'' commented: "Gruff-voiced middle of the road stuff, ideal for Radio 2." Graham K of ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'' criticised the single as being one of a number that week that "epitomise the current trend for band and companies to unerringly strive for the lowest common denominator at all costs". In a review of ''Wired to the Moon'', Paul Speelman of ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' wrote: "Probably the outstanding song on this album is the title track, but there is also the delightfully-named "I Don't Know What It Is But I Love It", a lovely contrast". In a retrospective review, Sharon Mawer of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

described the song as being an "uptempo Elton John-style track".

Track listing

;7" single # "I Don't Know What It Is But I Love It" – 3:40 # "Mystery Man" – 3:22 ;7" single (Brazilian release) # "I Don't Know What It Is But I Love It" – 3:40 # "Touché d'Amour" – 3:30 ;12" single # "I Don't Know What It Is But I Love It" (Extended Version) – 5:25 # "I Don't Know What It Is But I Love It" – 3:40 # "Mystery Man" – 3:22

Personnel

- vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards producer *

- synthesizer, producer * Jerry Stevenson - guitar * Jeff Seopardi - drums Other * Steve Rapport - photography * Stylo Rouge - sleeve design

Charts

References

{{authority control 1984 songs 1984 singles Chris Rea songs Magnet Records singles Songs written by Chris Rea