"Lessons in Love" is a single from the English band

Level 42 Level 42 is an English jazz-funk band formed on the Isle of Wight in 1979. They had a number of UK and worldwide hits during the 1980s and 1990s. Their highest-charting single in the UK was " Lessons in Love", which reached number three on the ...

, released in 1986 from the album ''

Running in the Family ''Running in the Family'' is the seventh studio album by British band Level 42, released in 1987. It features the UK hit singles: "Lessons in Love" (which reached No. 3 in May 1986), "Running in the Family" (No. 6 in February 1987), "To Be wit ...

'', issued one year later. This single is the band's biggest hit in their homeland, where it reached number three 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 ...

, and internationally, entering the top 10 in numerous countries, reaching the number-one spot in five of them: Spain, Germany, South Africa, Switzerland, and Finland. "Lessons in Love" is also one of the few singles from the band that broke into the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, where it reached number 12 in 1987. It is the first of five singles from their 1987 album, ''Running in the Family'', and it made way for the success of other singles from the album. In 2012,

David Quantick David Quantick (born 14 May 1961) is an English novelist, comedy writer and critic, who has worked as a journalist and screenwriter. A former freelance writer for the music magazine ''NME'', his writing credits have included '' On the Hour'', '' ...

described it in '' Q'' magazine as 'one of the best singles of the 80s'.

Writing and recording

According to bassist Mark King, the song started out as a melody from an add-on closing sequence for the live rendition of "Physical Presence" (from the ''

World Machine ''World Machine'' is the sixth studio album by British pop group Level 42, released in 1985. It was the band's breakthrough album internationally and features one of their most successful singles, "Something About You (Level 42 song), Something ...

'' album) on The Tube on 18 October 1985. In December 1985, just after Christmas, King put together a rough version of the song using a Sony digital recorder, featuring a verse, chorus and a bridge. The following January, he and producer/co-writer

Wally Badarou Waliou Jacques Daniel Isheola "Wally" Badarou (born 22 March 1955) is a French musician. Born in France with ancestry from Benin, West Africa, Badarou is known for his close association with the English group Level 42, and for his prolific work ...

revisited the tapes and deemed the original chorus weak; so the latter re-wrote the song’s chorus from turning around the chorus chords and suggested King a new vocal line. A couple of months later, in early March 1986, the song was recorded with the band at Maison Rouge Studios in London. Altogether it has seven basslines - three analog synths, two FM synths and two electric basses (one thumb line and a finger-style line). Synths included a

Synclavier The Synclavier is an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation manufactured by New England Digital Corporation of Norwich, Vermont. It was produced in various forms from the late 1970s into the early 1 ...

Prophet-5 The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential (company), Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith (engineer), Dave Smith and John S. Bowen (sound designer), John Bowen in 1977, who used Microprocessor, m ...

, Prophet-600,

Yamaha DX7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 1980 ...

and Yamaha TX816 rack — these were all kept in sync with a Garfield Electronics Doctor Click rhythm controller.

Track listing

*United Kingdom (1986) 12" #"Lessons in Love" (Extended version) #" Something About You" (Remix) #"

Hot Water Water heating is a heat transfer process that uses an energy source to heat water above its initial temperature. Typical domestic uses of hot water include cooking, cleaning, bathing, and space heating. In industry, hot water and water heated t ...

" (live) *Australia (1986) 12" #"Lessons in Love (Extended version) #"

" #"Hot Water" (live) *United States (1987) 7" #"Lessons in Love" #"Hot Water" (live)

Chart performance

Weekly charts

¹Remix

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

References

{{authority control 1986 singles 1986 songs Level 42 songs Number-one singles in Finland Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in South Africa Number-one singles in Spain Number-one singles in Switzerland Polydor Records singles Songs written by Boon Gould Songs written by Mark King (musician)