"Love in the First Degree" is a song by English girl group

Bananarama Bananarama are an English pop duo from London, formed as a trio in 1980 by friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. Thei ...

from their fourth studio album, ''

Wow! WideOpenWest (doing business as WOW!) is the sixth largest cable operator in the United States with their network passing 3,248,600 homes and businesses. The company offers landline telephone, cable television, and broadband Internet services ...

'' (1987). It was released on 28 September 1987 as the album's second single, except in the United States, where it was released in 1988 as the third single (following " I Can't Help It"). The track was co-written and produced by the

Stock Aitken Waterman Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as SAW) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s. SAW is considered ...

(SAW) trio. The song is an uptempo pop tune similar to many hits produced by SAW during this time period. The surreal lyrics, composed by

Siobhan Fahey Siobhan Maire Fahey (; born 10 September 1958) is an Irish singer whose vocal range is a light contralto. She was a founding member of the group Bananarama, who have had ten top-10 hits including the US number one hit single "Venus". She later ...

and built upon by SAW and Bananarama members

Sara Dallin Sara Elizabeth Dallin (born 17 December 1961) is an English singer and a founding member of the pop group Bananarama. The group has achieved 28 UK top 50 and 11 US top 100 singles, including a US number one with "Venus" (1986). Other hits includ ...

and

Keren Woodward Keren Jane Woodward (born 2 April 1961) is an English singer and, with Sara Dallin and Siobhan Fahey, a founding member of the girl group Bananarama. In 1986, the trio reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 with their version of "Ven ...

, describes a dream in which they find themselves being tried in court for love. The musical structure could be compared to

Pachelbel's Canon Pachelbel's Canon (also known as the Canon in D, P 37) is an accompanied canon by the German Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel. The canon was originally scored for three violins and basso continuo and paired with a gigue, known as ''Canon and G ...

. Producer

Pete Waterman Peter Alan Waterman, (born 15 January 1947) is an English record producer, songwriter, radio and club DJ, television presenter, president of Coventry Bears rugby league club and a keen railway enthusiast. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterm ...

variously claimed he came up with the idea for the song while in the bath, and after waking up one morning with the tune in his head. However Dallin has stated that he was not present during the song's composition. Waterman further claimed he had to threaten to pull SAW off the ''Wow!'' project in order to force the release of the track as a single, after it was dismissed by the band and label as too commercial. "Love in the First Degree" peaked at 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 ...

, tying with " Robert De Niro's Waiting..." (1984) and "

Help! ''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their Help! (film), film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the singles "Help! ( ...

" (1989) as Bananarama's highest-charting single in the United Kingdom to date. The single also charted within the top 10 in Australia, Belgium, Ireland, Norway and South Africa, and the top 20 in Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. In the United States, the song reached number 48 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 10 on ''

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 ...

''s

Hot Dance 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 t ...

chart. As one of their final performances with Fahey, the group performed the song at the

1988 Brit Awards Brit Awards 1988 was the 8th edition of the Brit Awards, an annual pop music awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. It was organised by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 8 February 1988 at Royal Albert Hall in London. This ...

with a large entourage of male dancers dressed only in black bikini briefs. The song was nominated for

British Single of the Year The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

at that year's

Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

, but lost to

Rick Astley Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer, songwriter and radio personality, who has been active in music for several decades. He gained worldwide fame in the 1980s, having multiple hits including his signature song "Ne ...

's "

Never Gonna Give You Up "Never Gonna Give You Up" is the debut single recorded by English singer and songwriter Rick Astley, released on 27 July 1987. It is one of Astley's most famous songs. It was written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, and was released as ...

", also produced by Stock Aitken Waterman. By the time "Love in the First Degree" was released in the United States, Fahey had already announced her departure from Bananarama. The record sleeves for "Love in the First Degree" and " I Can't Help It", were switched with each other, for UK, and North American markets. The song was featured in episode 3 of the 2019 comedy-drama TV series '' Back to Life'', sung in a recording by teenage girls. In 2021, British magazine ''

Classic Pop Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

'' ranked it number 5 in their list of "Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs".

Music video

The

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 ...

for "Love in the First Degree", directed by

Andy Morahan Andrew Douglas Morahan (born 11 August 1958) is a British commercial, film and music video director. He is the son of director Christopher Morahan and the half-brother of actress Hattie Morahan. Married to Joanna Lewis, he has two children. Vi ...

, features the group performing the song in a jail cell, alternately dressed in black outfits and prison uniforms. Several male dancers perform around them. The imagery plays off of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

's 1957 film '' Jailhouse Rock''. Fahey was pregnant with her first child at the time of filming. Sections of the video featuring acrobatics used body doubles. On Bananarama's '' The Greatest Hits Collection'' video compilation, the music video for "Love in the First Degree" is intercut with the live performance of the song at the

, which was Fahey's last performance with the group.

Track listings

*7-inch single # "Love in the First Degree" (Album Version) – 3:33 # "Mr. Sleaze" – 4:45 *UK 12-inch single # "Love in the First Degree" (Jailer's Mix) – 6:03 #: Available on the CD album " The Greatest Remixes Collection". # "Love in the First Degree" (Escapee Instrumental) – 3:33 # "Mr. Sleaze" (Single Version) – 4:45 *2nd 12-inch single / German 12-inch single # "Love in the First Degree" (Eurobeat Style) – 7:15 #: Available on the CD album " Greatest Hits Collection". # "Mr. Sleaze" (Rare Groove Mix) – 6:00 *US 12-inch single # "Love in the First Degree" (Eurobeat Style) – 7:15 # "Love in the First Degree" (7" Mix) – 3:33 # "Love in the First Degree" (Jailer's Mix) – 6:03 # "Ecstacy" (Wild Style) – 5:35

Other versions

# "Love in the First Degree" (House Mix / House Mix Edit) – 5:45 #: Available on the CD single "

I Want You Back "I Want You Back" is the first national single by the Jackson 5. It was released by Motown on October 6, 1969, and became the first number-one hit for the band on January 31, 1970. It was performed on the band's first television appearances, on ...

". #"Love in the First Degree" (Love In The House Mix / Full House Mix) – 8:35 #: Available on the CD album ''

Wow Wow or WoW may refer to: Games and toys *''World of Warcraft'', a massively multiplayer online role-playing game *''World of Warplanes'', an online flight simulator *''World of Warships'', an online naval simulator *''Wizard of Wor'', a 1981 a ...

'' (2013 deluxe edition 2CD/DVD re-issue) #"Love in the First Degree" (House Dub) – 4:57 #: Available on the CD Compilation ''Megarama - The Mixes'' #"Love in the First Degree" (Jailer's Mix With Intro) – 6:15 #:Available on the CD album ''

'' (2013 deluxe edition 2CD/DVD re-issue)

Personnel

Bananarama *

– vocals *

– vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 1987 singles 1987 songs Bananarama songs London Records singles Music videos directed by Andy Morahan Song recordings produced by Stock Aitken Waterman Songs written by Keren Woodward Songs written by Matt Aitken Songs written by Mike Stock (musician) Songs written by Pete Waterman Songs written by Sara Dallin Songs written by Siobhan Fahey