My Love Is for Real
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"My Love Is for Real" is a song by American singer and songwriter
Paula Abdul Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreographe ...
with backing vocals from Israeli singer Ofra Haza. It was released on May 30, 1995, as the first single from Abdul's third studio album, '' Head over Heels'' (1995). Intended as Abdul's comeback single, "My Love Is for Real" reached number one in Hungary and the top 20 in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, but it stalled outside the top 20 in the United States, peaking at number 28 in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and failed to make a major impact in Europe.


Song information

"My Love Is for Real" was written by Abdul and
Rhett Lawrence James Everett "Rhett" Lawrence is an American record producer and songwriter. He has produced, mentored, and helped launch the career of 5 artists amongst the top 200 artists to be featured on Billboard magazine's top charts from 1955-2012, who ...
. The song is a fusion of
trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tem ...
and traditional
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
instruments as well as
Middle Eastern music The various nations of the region include the Arabic-speaking countries of the Middle East, the Iranian traditions of Persia, the Jewish music of Israel and the diaspora, Armenian music, Kurdish music, Azeri Music, the varied traditions of Cypri ...
with backing vocals by Israeli singer Ofra Haza. The song carries a dark sound not present in Abdul's earlier hits and also contains elements of industrial music. The single's
B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
is the mid-tempo song "Didn't I Say I Love You", written by Elliot Wolf and Stacey Piersa. The single featured remixes by British dance music group
Strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
, who subsequently recorded and released their own version of "My Love Is for Real" featuring singer Victoria Newton. Their version of the song became a top 5 UK Dance hit.


Critical reception

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 ''
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 adverti ...
'' viewed the song as "an overlooked pop-treasure", describing it as "cute" and "fun". Chuck Campbell from ''Knoxville News Sentinel'' described it as "Middle Eastern-flavored" and "slow chugging".Campbell, Chuck (June 23, 1995). "Bjork Returns With Lyrical Surprises". ''Knoxville News Sentinel''. In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton wrote, "Her new single goes for the Electronic dance music, dance angle, reminiscent of her first hit "Straight Up (Paula Abdul song), Straight Up" but this time round unlikely to become too big a hit for her." A reviewer from ''Music Week'' gave it four out of five, adding, "Smooth, soulful vocals with a funky rhythm and Music of Asia, oriental touches show Abdul back on form."


Chart performance

"My Love Is for Real" was intended to be a comeback single for Abdul, who had not released an album since 1991's triple platinum ''Spellbound (Paula Abdul album), Spellbound''. The single was not as successful as Abdul's previous releases and peaked at number 28 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song fared better on the ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs, Hot Dance Club Play chart, where it reached the number-one position. Internationally, "My Love Is for Real" peaked at number seven in Australia and became a top-20 hit in New Zealand and Canada. In the United Kingdom, the song peaked at number 28 on the UK Singles Chart and number three on the UK R&B Singles and Albums Charts, UK R&B Chart. The song did not impact Ireland or mainland Europe at all, save for Hungary, where it topped the country's chart, and Germany, where it reached number 87.


Music video

The accompanying music video for "My Love Is for Real", directed by Michael Haussman, features Middle Eastern inspired imagery with Abdul appearing as the head mistress of a harem. The video received two MTV Video Music Award nominations: Best Dance Video and Best Choreography in a Video.


Track listings

* US and cassette CD single # "My Love Is for Real" (radio edit) – 4:23 # "Didn't I Say I Love You" – 3:29 # "My Love Is for Real" (LP version) – 5:21 # "My Love Is for Real" (R&B remix) – 4:04 * US 7-inch single :A. "My Love Is for Real" (radio edit) – 4:23 :B. "Didn't I Say I Love You" – 3:29 * US 12-inch single :A1. "My Love Is for Real" (E-Smoove's Fever mix) – 8:25 :A2. "My Love Is for Real" (
Strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
's Pink Wig dub) – 6:48 :B1. "My Love Is for Real" (downtempo club dub) – 8:02 :B2. "Didn't I Say I Love You" – 3:05 * UK CD single # "My Love Is for Real" (E-Smoove's Fever 7-inch edit) – 3:47 # "My Love Is for Real" (LP version) – 5:21 # "My Love Is for Real" (Strike Straight Up There mix) – 7:05 # "Didn't I Say I Love You" – 3:29 * UK cassette single and European CD single # "My Love Is for Real" (LP version) – 5:21 # "Didn't I Say I Love You" – 3:29 * Australian CD single # "My Love Is for Real" (LP version) – 5:21 # "My Love Is for Real" (E-Smoove's Fever 7-inch edit) – 3:47 # "My Love Is for Real" (Strike Straight Up There mix) – 7:05 # "Didn't I Say I Love You" – 3:29


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Release history


Strike version

British electronic dance music group
Strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
released their version of "My Love Is for Real" in November 1996. It was released at the fourth single from their only studio album, ''I Saw the Future (Strike album), I Saw the Future'' (1997). The single reached number 35 in the United Kingdom and number 45 in Scotland. Outside Europe, the song reached number 157 in Australia.


Critical reception

British magazine ''Music Week'' rated Strike's version of "My Love Is for Real" four out of five, adding, "The magic is still there from the band who have got making commercial dance-pop, pop dance down to a fine art. Another smash."


Track listings

* UK 12-inch single (1996) # "My Love Is 4 Real" (Strike's Big Outback 12-inch mix) # "My Love Is 4 Real" (Strike's Small Upfront dub) # "My Love Is 4 Real" (Ramp vocal mix) # "My Love Is 4 Real" (Ramp dub) * UK CD single (1996) # "My Love Is for Real" (radio edit) – 3:48 # "My Love Is for Real" (Strike's Big Outback 12-inch mix) – 6:11 # "My Love Is for Real" (Strike's Small Upfront dub) – 6:35 # "My Love Is for Real" (Ramp vocal mix) – 6:37 # "My Love Is for Real" (Ramp dub) – 7:33


Charts


See also

*List of number-one dance hits (United States)


References

{{Authority control 1995 songs 1995 singles 1996 singles Music videos directed by Michael Haussman Number-one singles in Hungary Paula Abdul songs Song recordings produced by Rhett Lawrence Songs written by Paula Abdul Songs written by Rhett Lawrence Strike (band) songs Trip hop songs Virgin Records singles World music songs