"Looking for a New Love" is a song by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

singer

Jody Watley Jody Vanessa Watley (born January 30, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and artist,USA Today (February 16, 1996), Best Bets: Albums Jody Watley Greatest Hits, "Few singers fired up the disco like Jody Watley who set trends ...

. It was released in January 1987 as the first single from her eponymous debut album. The song became one of the biggest pop and R&B singles of 1987. Watley re-recorded and re-issued the song in various remixes in 2005.

History

The single hit number two for four consecutive weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in May 1987 and spent three weeks at number-one on the Billboard

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

. It is the only single between 1985 and 1990 in the United States to have spent four weeks in the runner-up position and not have reached number one. On the Hot 100, the single would get stuck behind

Cutting Crew Cutting Crew are an English rock band formed in London in 1985. They are best known for their debut album ''Broadcast'' and hit single, " (I Just) Died in Your Arms". History 1985–1986: Formation While still in his teens, Nick Van Eede (b ...

's " (I Just) Died in Your Arms" and U2's "

With or Without You "With or Without You" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the third track on their fifth studio album, '' The Joshua Tree'' (1987), and was released as the album's lead single on 16 March 1987. The song was the group's most successful sing ...

" for two weeks each, and during its run at the top of the then-Black Singles, Club Nouveau's Hot 100 number-one single " Lean on Me" was stuck behind "Looking for a New Love" for those same three weeks. It ranked number 16 on Billboard's year-end chart for 1987. The song also reached number-one on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Singles Chart in Canada. In 1988 the song was nominated for two

Soul Train Music Awards The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards show which previously aired in national broadcast syndication, and honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the makers of ''Soul Train'', the pro ...

for Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video, and Best R&B/Soul Single, Female. She was also nominated for a

Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (previously called Best Rhythm and Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female) was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards ...

. While listening to a tape of instrumental tracks given to her by producer

André Cymone André Cymone (born Andre Simon Anderson; June 27, 1958) is an American bassist, songwriter and record producer. Cymone was a bass guitarist for Prince's touring band, pre-Revolution. Cymone began a solo career in 1981. His song, "The Dance El ...

, Watley reflected on a recent sour romantic breakup. Fusing her own feelings of "I'll show you" with the feel of the track, Watley came up with the basic premise of "Looking for a New Love." The released record is the eight-track demo of the song; that way the emotional urgency of Watley's vocal was still intact. One of the song's key phrases became a popular saying: "Hasta la vista, baby." It wound up on innumerable answering machines and was used by

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

in the 1991 film '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' (see ''

Hasta la vista, baby "Hasta la vista, baby" is a catchphrase associated with Arnold Schwarzenegger's title character from the 1991 science fiction action film '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day''. Origin and use The term "Hasta la vista", literally "Until the view", ...

'').

2005 version

In 2005, Jody Watley re-recorded and released "Looking for a New Love" on Curvve Recordings in conjunction with her own Avitone label, and Peace Bisquit. The new recording was remixed in various styles:

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

, electro,

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK ...

. The newly imagined "Looking for a New Love" peaked at No. 1 on the

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, making her the first artist ever to take the same song to No. 1 in two decades.

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 ...

, directed by

Brian Grant Brian Wade Grant (born March 5, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player. He played the power forward and center positions for five teams during 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association. He was known for his tenacious ...

was released in March 1987 to promote the song. Grant previously made videos for

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

and

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer o ...

Track listing

Maxi-CD 2005

1987 Official versions

*Looking For A New Love (Extended Club Version) 7:28 *Looking For A New Love (Instrumental) 7:28 *Looking For A New Love (A Cappella) 5:06 *Looking For A New Love (Radio Edit) 5:06 *Looking For A New Love (Bonus Beats) 4:33 *Looking For A New Love (Video Version) 4:10

Awards and nominations

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Looking For A New Love Jody Watley songs 1987 debut singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by André Cymone 1986 songs Songs written by Jody Watley MCA Records singles