"I Love Saturday" is a song by British

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

duo

Erasure Erasure () is an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985, consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter Andy Bell with songwriter, producer and keyboardist Vince Clarke, previously known as co-founder of the band Depeche Mode and a membe ...

, released as the third single from their sixth studio album, '' I Say I Say I Say'' (1994), on 18 November 1994 in Japan. The track was written by

Vince Clarke Vincent John Martin (born 3 July 1960), known professionally as Vince Clarke, is an English synth-pop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985, and was previously ...

and Andy Bell, and produced by

Martyn Ware Martyn Ware (born 19 May 1956) is an English musician, composer, arranger, record producer, and music programmer. As a founding member of both the Human League and Heaven 17, Ware was partly responsible for hit songs such as " Being Boiled" and ...

. In the United Kingdom, Mute credited the first CD single as the ''I Love Saturday'' EP, which contains several new tracks; it was released on 21 November 1994. "I Love Saturday" was issued via

Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderm ...

in the UK and

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

in the US. The single peaked at number 20 on both 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 the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Dance Music/Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...

chart. The song also reached number 34 in Sweden and number 69 in Germany.

Critical reception

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 ...

editor Ned Raggett wrote that "I Love Saturday" "neatly balances pepped up energy on

Clarke Clarke is a surname which means "clerk". The surname is of English and Irish origin and comes from the Latin . Variants include Clerk and Clark. Clarke is also uncommonly chosen as a given name. Irish surname origin Clarke is a popular surname i ...

's part with a lower-key delivery from

Bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...

", and called it a "striking combination".

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

'' described it as a "bouncy foray into

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

-colored

hi-NRG Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a music genre, typified by fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the ...

waters." He complimented Bell's "always striking voice". Ross Jones from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' commented, "Every melancholic pop

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

from the last 10 years lovingly stitched together with asphyxiating grace." Chris Gerard from ''

Metro Weekly ''Metro Weekly'' is a free weekly magazine for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in Washington, D.C., United States. It was first published on May 5, 1994. ''Metro Weekly'' includes national and local news, interviews w ...

'' said the song is "great" and "infectious", adding that it "features Bell showing off his

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...

in the verses." Mario Tarradell for ''

The Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.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 ...

'' stated, "Saturday night fever is ruling again. Only the musical format has changed from

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

to camp

electro pop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a r ...

with, as ever, a high sing-along quotient." John Kilgo from ''The Network Forty'' deemed it "another fun pop hit".

Music video

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was produced to promote the single. It was directed by Caz Gorham and Francis Dickenson and was released on November 21, 1994. The video is made as a jaunty holiday clip shot in Andy Bell's Majorcan home.

Track listings

* UK CD1 (''I Love Saturday'' EP) # "I Love Saturday" # "Ghost" # "Truly, Madly, Deeply" # "Tragic" (live vocal) * UK CD2 : Australian CD and cassette single : Japanese mini-CD single # "I Love Saturday" # "I Love Saturday" ( JX mix) # "I Love Saturday" (

Beatmasters The Beatmasters are an English electronic music group who gained success in the UK in the late 1980s with four top 20 hit singles. They then went on to produce and remix records for many other artists. The group's string of chart hit singles ...

dub mix) # "Dodo" * UK CD3 # "I Love Saturday" (Beatmasters club mix) # "I Love Saturday" (Flower mix) # "I Love Saturday" (303 mix) # "

Always Always may refer to: Film and television * ''Always'', a 1985 film directed by Henry Jaglom * ''Always'' (1989 film), a 1989 romantic comedy-drama directed by Steven Spielberg * ''Always'' (2011 film), a 2011 South Korean film, also known as '' ...

" (X dub cut) * UK 12-inch single :A1. "I Love Saturday" :A2. "I Love Saturday" (Beatmasters club mix) :B1. "I Love Saturday" (JX mix) :B2. "I Love Saturday" (Flower mix) * UK cassette single # "I Love Saturday" # "Dodo" # "Because You're So Sweet" * US maxi-CD single # "I Love Saturday" (JX mix) # "I Love Saturday" (Beatmasters dub mix) # "I Love Saturday" (Beatmasters club mix) # "I Love Saturday" (Flower mix) # "Dodo" # "Because You're So Sweet" * US 12-inch single :A1. "I Love Saturday" (JX mix) :A2. "I Love Saturday" (Beatmasters dub mix) :B1. "I Love Saturday" (Beatmasters club mix) :B2. "I Love Saturday" (Flower mix) * US cassette single # "I Love Saturday" # "Dodo"

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1994 singles 1994 songs Elektra Records singles Erasure songs Mute Records singles Songs written by Vince Clarke Songs written by Andy Bell (singer)