"I Love I Hate" is a song by English singer and musician

Neil Arthur Blancmange () are an English synth-pop band formed in Harrow, London, in 1979. The band were a duo for much of their career, composed of Neil Arthur (vocals) and Stephen Luscombe (keyboards). They came to prominence in the early 1980s, releasin ...

, released in 1994 as the lead single from his debut solo studio album '' Suitcase'' (1994). It was written by Arthur and produced by

Marius de Vries Marius de Vries (born 1961) is an English music producer and composer. He has won a Grammy Award from four nominations, two BAFTA Awards, and an Ivor Novello Award. Education Marius de Vries was educated at St Paul's Cathedral School, Bedford ...

. It reached No. 50 in the UK and remained on the charts for two weeks. For the single's 12" format releases, remixes were created by the English electronic dance group the Grid, with others by Dom T. and Marius de Vries. A music video was filmed in

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

and New York City to promote the single. It was directed by

Lindy Heymann Lindy Heymann is a British director and assistant director, known for ''Showboy'' (2002), ''The Laughing King'' (2016) and ''Kicks'' (2009). Career She received a British Independent Film Award (BIFA) for Best Directorial Debut for her feature ...

Critical reception

Upon its release, ''

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, "The ex-frontman of

Blancmange Blancmange (, from french: blanc-manger ) is a sweet dessert popular throughout Europe commonly made with milk or cream and sugar thickened with rice flour, gelatin, corn starch, or Irish moss (a source of carrageenan), and often flavoured with ...

returns at almost the same point where he left seven years ago. His synth-flavoured new wave of the early '80s is spiced up with dance beats." Alan Jones of '' Music Week'' considered it to be "pleasant commercial fare from Arthur, albeit not as startlingly innovative as some of his work with Blancmange or the West India Company". He felt the song was a "likely Top 40 contender" which "should find favour with radio in its regular mix, while The Grid's deeper dance interpretations tie up the club end of things". Jim Lawn of '' The Lennox Herald'' remarked that Arthur "delivers a reasonable single with a nice hook and some radical dance remixes by The Grid". Penny Kiley of the '' Liverpool Echo'' described it as a "pleasant electro-pop song that is less quirky than his previous work". She felt the inclusion of "

Living on the Ceiling "Living on the Ceiling" is a song by English synth-pop band Blancmange. It was released as the band's third single in 1982, taken from their debut studio album ''Happy Families''. It became the band's first (and biggest) UK Top 40 hit, peaking at ...

" as a bonus track on the CD issues of the single "suggests Neil may not be so confident in his new stuff". Terry Staunton of '' NME'' was critical of the song, stating it "has 'ordinary' tattooed right across its forehead" and calling Arthur "a poor man's Pet Shop Boy if ever there was one" who "made a couple of decent records as half of Blancmange". He added, "A plain, tinny, synthetic backing track with the dullest of vocals across the top. Not in the least bit good in any way at all." In an article on 1980s New Wave band comebacks, Keith Creighton of ''Popdose'' described the song as "positively epic". Barry Page of ''The Electricity Club'', in a feature titled "30 Lost Songs of the CD Era", considered the song to be "rather pedestrian" in comparison to Arthur's "engaging" debut single " One Day, One Time".

Formats

Personnel

– vocals *

Sylvia Mason-James Sylvia Mason-James (born 8 December 1958) is a British singer who has worked extensively as a backing vocalist and solo artist. Early life and career Mason-James was born on 8 December 1958 in south London, United Kingdom to immigrants from J ...

Mary Cassidy Mary Cassidy is an Irish-born singer best known as the vocalist in bands Lulabox and Agnes. In 2010 she collaborated with Chris Standring Chris Standring (born 1 December 1960) is a British jazz guitarist known for his heavy use of 1970s- ...

– backing vocals * Mark Bandola – guitar Production *

– producer of "I Love I Hate" * John Mallinson, Ben Jones – engineers on "I Love I Hate" * James Thompson – assistant engineer on "I Love I Hate" * Phil Bodger – mix engineer on "I Love I Hate" * Neil Arthur – producer of "Festival", "Wendy You're a Bore" and "Oh No Not Yet"

Charts

References

External links

* {{authority control 1994 songs 1994 singles Chrysalis Records singles Songs written by Neil Arthur Song recordings produced by Marius de Vries