"Shadows of Love" is a song by new wave duo

Wax Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are lipophilic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to giv ...

, released by

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

in 1986 as the third single from their debut studio album '' Magnetic Heaven''. The song was written by band members

Andrew Gold Andrew Maurice Gold (August 2, 1951 – June 3, 2011) was an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer who influenced much of the Los Angeles-dominated pop rock, pop/soft rock sound in the 1970s. Gold played on scor ...

and

Graham Gouldman Graham Keith Gouldman (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician, best known as the co-lead singer and bassist of the art rock band 10cc. He has been the band's only constant member since its formation in 1972. Before 10cc ...

, and produced by

Phil Thornalley Philip Thornalley (born 5 January 1960) is an English songwriter-producer who has worked in the music industry since 1978. He is perhaps best known for co-writing (with Scott Cutler and Anne Preven) the song " Torn" (made famous by Natalie Imbr ...

Music videos

Two music videos were made for the single. The video for the UK and European market was directed by John Scarlett-Davis for the production company Aldabra. It features Wax performing the song in a "pop-up book" setting. The video for the North American market, which revolves around a young pair who meet in a bar, was directed by

Storm Thorgerson Storm Elvin Thorgerson (28 February 1944 – 18 April 2013) was an English graphic designer and music video director. He is best known for closely working with the group Pink Floyd through most of their career, and also created album or other a ...

and produced by Antony Taylor for PMI.

Critical reception

Upon its release as a single, William Leith of ''

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 ...

'' described "Shadows of Love" as "not a bad start" for Wax. He noted that the "combination of swelling and pounding keyboard-patterns is workable, if a little childlike" and also added that the song is "a little chock with obvious rhymes". Adrian Bishop of '' The Western Gazette'' noted that the song is "built round the bass and synth, which make an effective combination, but it tails away into a poor MOR melody". He added that it "never reaches the heights of such solid Gold tracks as ' Lonely Boy' and '

Never Let Her Slip Away "Never Let Her Slip Away" is a song written by American musician Andrew Gold, who recorded it for his third album, ''All This and Heaven Too (album), All This and Heaven Too'' (1978). The single reached number five on the UK Singles Chart and nu ...

' or any of Gouldman's

10cc 10cc are an English rock band formed in Stockport in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – who had written and recorded together since 1968. The group featured t ...

classics". ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' picked it as one of their "sure hits" in their issue of 5 July 1986 and added that it is a "remarkable" song from their "splendid ebutalbum". In the US, ''

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 ...

'' described it as a "disco-pop tune elevated on one of the artier walls of sound".

Track listing

7–inch single (UK, Europe, Australia and Japan) #"Shadows of Love" – 4:29 #"Magnetic Heaven" – 3:30 7–inch promotional single (UK and Europe) #"Shadows of Love" (DJ version) – 4:14 #"Magnetic Heaven" – 3:30 7–inch single (US and Canada) #"Shadows of Love" – 4:39 #"Magnetic Heaven" – 3:30 7–inch promotional single (US and Canada) #"Shadows of Love" – 4:39 #"Shadows of Love" – 4:39 12–inch single (UK and Europe) #"Shadows of Love" – 4:39 #"Magnetic Heaven" – 3:30 #"People All Over This World" – 3:40

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the ''Magnetic Heaven'' vinyl LP liner notes and the 12-single vinyl single. Wax *

– vocals, backing vocals, keyboards, guitar, drums and programming *

– bass guitar, backing vocals Production *

– producer and engineer ("Shadows of Love", "Magnetic Heaven") * Andrew Gold, Graham Gouldman – producers ("People All Over This World") Other *

Simon Fowler Simon Geoffrey Fowler (born 25 May 1965 in Meriden, Warwickshire) is an English singer and acoustic guitarist, best known as the frontman of Ocean Colour Scene. The Fanatics Simon Fowler commenced his music career as the lead singer and songwr ...

– photography * Jason Bratby – front cover painting * The Leisure Process – design, art direction

Charts

References

{{authority control 1986 songs 1986 singles Wax (British band) songs Songs written by Graham Gouldman Songs written by Andrew Gold Song recordings produced by Phil Thornalley RCA Records singles