"Only Your Love" is a song recorded by English

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

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 ...

, released as the first single from the group's fifth studio album, '' Pop Life'' (1991). The song was issued several months prior to the release of the album. The ''Pop Life'' album marked Bananarama's break from their relationship with 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) production trio. "Only Your Love" was co-written and produced by

Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...

. The album version of the song was remixed for its single release. The song's primary rhythm, complete with "woo woo" hoots, directly references "

Sympathy for the Devil "Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones and the opening track from the band's 1968 album ''Beggars Banquet''. The song is a product of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' songwriting partnership. It is consi ...

". This led

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on ...

to jokingly thank The

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

after Bananarama had performed the song on his TV show. The song also contains samples of "Loaded" by

Primal Scream Primal Scream are a Scottish rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie. The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Simone Butler (bass), and Darrin Mooney (drums) ...

, "

Fool's Gold The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Fe S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue giv ...

" by

The Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. One of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist I ...

, and “

Funky Drummer "Funky Drummer" is a single released by James Brown in 1970. Its drum break, improvised by Clyde Stubblefield, is one of the most frequently sampled music recordings. Recording and composition "Funky Drummer" was recorded on November 20, 1969 ...

” by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

. Upon its release "Only Your Love" received positive critical reviews. The song was not released as a single in the United States. "Only Your Love" peaked at number 27 in 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 ...

, which the group considered to be a disappointment. The single did not fare much better in other countries, hitting number 49 in New Zealand and 51 in Australia.

Critical reception

Mandi James from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' wrote, "'Only Your Love' could be any of the Nana's other singles seeing as they have the vocal capacity of a stretched elastic band, except in all their postmodern glory they've half-inched the funky drummer break from '

', bastardises the 'oooh, oooh' from '

' and created a monster. Tacky, trashy and fun, fun, fun." Another editor, Simon Williams, noted its "dancefloor hipness".

Music video

The accompanying

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 "Only Your Love", directed by Philippe Gautier, features the girls on a studio set made to look like a cross between a train and a jungle gym, and uses silhouettes against multicoloured backdrops. They perform the song while dancing provocatively with various male dancers. The dancing features more physical contact between the girls and the male dancers than any of their other videos. The performance on the train is interspersed with shots of the girls singing on the front of the train engine in sunglasses and oversized dresses.

Remixes

* CD 1 single #"Only Your Love" (Milky Bar Mix) - (8:12) #:Remixed by Robin Goodfellow #"Only Your Love" (

& Thrash on the Mix) - (4:17) #"Only Your Love" (Hardcore Instrumental) - (3:27) * CD 2 single #"Only Your Love" (7" Mix) - (4:02) #"Only Your Love" (Milky Bar Mix) - (8:12) #:Remixed by Robin Goodfellow #"Only Your Love" (Hardcore Instrumental) - (3:27) #"Only Your Love" (Youth & Thrash on the Mix) - (4:17) * CD 3 single #"Only Your Love" (Milky Bar Mix) - (8:12) #:Remixed by Robin Goodfellow #"Only Your Love" (Hardcore Instrumental) - (3:27) #"Only Your Love" (Youth & Thrash on the Mix) - (4:17) #"Only Your Love" (Paris Texas Instrumental) - (5:33) * Other versions #"Only Your Love" (Album Version) - (3:58) #"Only Your Love" (Instrumental) #"Only Your Love" (The Monkey Drum Mooch) - (7:20) #:Remixed by

Terry Farley Terry Farley is a British DJ, remixer and producer from London, active since the mid-1980s. Career Farley started out going to clubs in the late 1970s and first visited Ibiza in 1982. He then started working as a DJ, performing at the same clubs ...

#"Only Your Love" (A Tribute to Barry Mooncult Mix) - (5:40) #:Remixed by Terry Farley

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1990 singles Bananarama songs London Records singles Songs written by Sara Dallin Songs written by Youth (musician) 1990 songs