"That's Love, That It Is" is a song by the English

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

duo

Blancmange Blancmange (, from , ) is a sweet dessert popular throughout Europe commonly made with milk or cream, and sugar, thickened with rice flour, gelatin, corn starch, or Chondrus crispus, Irish moss (a source of carrageenan), and often flavoured wit ...

, released on 18 November 1983 as the second single from their second studio album ''

Mange Tout Mange tout (French for "eat all") or mangetout may refer to: *Sugar pea or edible-pod pea including: ** Snap pea with rounded pods and thick pod walls ** Snow pea The snow pea is an edible-pod pea with flat pods and thin pod walls, in contras ...

'' (1984). It was written by Neil Arthur and Stephen Luscombe, and produced by John Luongo. "That's Love, That It Is" reached No. 33 in the UK and remained in the charts for eight weeks. In January 1985, the song, paired with "Game Above My Head", reached No. 16 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Dance/Disco chart. A

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was filmed to promote the single. It was directed by

Tim Pope Timothy Michael Pope (born 12 February 1956) is a film director most known for his music videos, for having directed feature films, and for a brief pop career. Early life and career Pope grew up in the north London suburb of Enfield. Both his ...

and achieved light rotation on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

Critical reception

Upon release,

Jools Holland Julian Miles Holland (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Marc Almond, Jayne County, To ...

, reviewing for '' Number One'', stated: "I like the song. The production, however, is a little bit 'standard contemporary'." ''

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 advertis ...

'' commented: "Domestic issue of a single that saw some chart action as an import earlier this year; duo's electronic zest is good for a second listen." In a retrospective review of ''Mange Tout'' (1984), Bill Cassel of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

commented: "While the singles " Don't Tell Me" and " Blind Vision" are nigh irresistible, the similar "That's Love That It Is" gets to be a bit much." Paul Scott-Bates of ''

Louder Than War ''Louder Than War'' is a music and culture website and magazine focusing on mainly alternative arts news, reviews, and features. The site is an editorially independent publication that was started by the English musician and journalist John R ...

'' commented: ""That's Love That It Is" remains one of their finest moments. It's often psychotic, over-the-top bombardment of sound and vocal really shouldn't have worked but it did, and with great success."

Track listing

7" single # "That's Love, That It Is" – 4:18 # "Vishnu" – 5:18 7" single (UK 2x vinyl, limited edition release) # "That's Love, That It Is" – 4:18 # "Vishnu" – 5:18 # "Blind Vision" – 3:58 # "Heaven Knows Where" – 3:25 12" single # "That's Love, That It Is" – 6:34 # "Vishnu" – 5:16 12" single (UK #2 release) # "That's Love, That It Is (Re-Mix)" – 6:56 # "Vishnu" – 4:51 12" single (UK 2× vinyl, limited edition release) # "That's Love, That It Is (Remix)" – 6:56 # "Vishnu" – 4:51 # "Blind Vision" – 9:39 # "Heaven Knows Where" – 3:25 # "On Our Way To?" – 5:36 12" single (US release) # "That's Love, That It Is (Extended Remix Version)" – 7:30 # "Game Above My Head (Extended Remix Version)" – 7:06 # "Don't Tell Me (Dance Remix)" – 6:45 12" single (US promo) # "That's Love, That It Is (Extended Remix)" – 7:30 # "That's Love That It Is (7" Version/Edit)" – 4:18 # "That's Love That It Is (Instrumental)" – 8:09

Personnel

Blancmange * Neil Arthur – lead vocals, producer of "Game Above My Head", "Heaven Knows Where" and "On Our Way To?" * Stephen Luscombe – keyboards, synthesizers, producer of "Game Above My Head" Additional personnel * Brenda White,

Tawatha Agee Tawatha Agee (born November 14, 1954) is an American vocalist and songwriter. Her voice has been described in ''The New York Times'' as an "acrobatic, gospel-charged soprano." She was the lead singer of funk and soul band Mtume; her soulful lead ...

, Vernice – backing vocals on "That's Love, That It Is" * David Rhodes – guitar on "That's Love, That It Is" * Jim Clouse, Vinnie Della-Rocca – saxophone on "That's Love, That It Is" * Jack Gale, Keith O'Quinn – trombone on "That's Love, That It Is" * Joe Mosello – trumpet on "That's Love, That It Is" *

Bashiri Johnson Bashiri Johnson (born May 12, 1955) is an American percussionist, whose work has appeared on many records, as well as in commercials, films, television, video games, and concert performances. He is known to be one of the most recorded percussio ...

, Gerry Marotta – percussion on "That's Love, That It Is" * James Biondolillo – maestro on "That's Love, That It Is" Production and artwork * John Luongo – producer of "That's Love, That It Is", "Vishnu" and "Blind Vision" * John Owen Williams – producer of "Game Above My Head" * Peter Collins – producer of "Don't Tell Me" *

Mark Kamins Mark Kamins (April 11, 1950 – February 14, 2013) was an American record producer, remixer, and disc jockey famous for his role in the New York club scene. He is best known for helping launch the career of singer Madonna by bringing her to Sir ...

– remixing on "Don't Tell Me (Dance Remix)" * Joseph Watt – editing on "That's Love, That It Is (Extended Remix Version)" and "Game Above My Head (Extended Remix Version)" * Jay Mark – engineer on "That's Love, That It Is" * Matthew Wallace, Elisa Gura,

Glenn Rosenstein Glenn Rosenstein is an American record producer, engineer, sound mixer and guitarist based in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, who engineered and produced many albums including the Grammy-winning ''One Bright Day'' by Ziggy Marley. Rosenstein worked at Sig ...

, Jimmy Santis, Linda Randazzo, Femi Jiya, James Doherty, John Potaka, Michael Hutchinson – assistant engineers on "That's Love, That It Is" *

John Fryer John Fryer may refer to: *John Fryer (physician, died 1563), English physician, humanist and early reformer *John Fryer (physician, died 1672), English physician *John Fryer (travel writer) (1650–1733), British travel-writer and doctor *Sir John ...

– engineer on "Heaven Knows Where Heaven Is" and "On Our Way To?" * Sukita – photography

Chart performance

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:That's Love, That It Is 1983 songs 1983 singles Blancmange (band) songs London Records singles Sire Records singles Songs written by Neil Arthur Songs written by Stephen Luscombe