"That's the Way Love Is" is a song by

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

-based

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

trio

Ten City Ten City (derived from ''intensity'') is an American, Chicago, Illinois-based R&B and house music act, that enjoyed a number of club hits and Urban radio hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was one of the first exponents of deep house. ...

, released in 1989 as a single from their debut album, ''Foundation'' (1989). The song reached number eight in the UK and number eighteen in West Germany, and was also the group's highest charting single on both the ''

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 ...

'' R&B and dance charts in the US. It peaked at number twelve on the

Hot R&B Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart, and number one on the

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. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' ranked "That's the Way Love Is" number 165 in their list of "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time" in 2022.

Release

The single release featured two main versions - on most releases, an

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthesiz ...

mix by

Steve "Silk" Hurley Steve W. "Silk" Hurley (born November 9, 1962), also known as J. M. Silk (for "Jack Master Silk"), is an American club DJ, house music producer, and songwriter. From 1985 to 1988, he had four top-10 singles on the US Dance chart, including the ...

(variously titled either "Deep House Mix" or "Acieeed Mix") was the A-side, while a string-led mix by

Timmy Regisford DJ Timmy Regisford is an American DJ and producer. After working at the WBLS radio station in New York and as an A&R Director at Atlantic Records and MCA Records, he became Vice President of A&R at Motown Records, then Vice President of A&R at ...

, named the "Underground Mix", appeared on the B-side. Both mixes also had corresponding radio edits and dub versions.

Critical reception

Tim Jeffery from ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'' wrote, "The time has come. Ten City's 'That's The Way Love Is' is not just the latest club record to hit the charts, but a significant event that, along with their forthcoming album, ''Foundation'', could turn out to be one of the major turning-points of

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

when the history books are written in years to come." Another editor, Betty Page commented, " Deeeeeep house, we now discover, is really just

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...

in disguise — but with that insistently brilliant house beat, of course. Ten City encapsulate this form of dance-with-feeling, and seem destined on this showing to be a Big Act rather than just a faceless name on a dance record. I particularly liked the

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

-meets-

acid In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

bits."

Chart performance

"That's the Way Love Is" was a notable hit in Europe, New Zealand and the US, and is also the trio's most successful song on the charts. It entered the top 10 in the UK, peaking at number eight in its third week at 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 ...

on January 29, 1989. Having debuted as number 33, it spent two weeks as number eight, before dropping to number 13 and 19 the following weeks. It entered the top 20 in West Germany (18) and Ireland (11), while peaking within the top 30 in Belgium (21) and the Netherlands (23). Outside Europe, "That's the Way Love Is" entered the top 30 also in New Zealand, peaking at number 24. In the US, the song charted on two different ''

'' charts, peaking at number one on the

chart and number 12 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart.

Impact and legacy

Alex Henderson from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

said it "aren't simply about the beat and the track, but also the rich vocals that would have sounded great even if

had gone a cappella." He noted that "these guys enthusiastically recall the great

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

of the mid- to late 1970s and make no secret of their love of that era." In 1995, British DJ

Graham Gold Graham Gold (born 5 July 1954) is a British DJ. Gold is primarily known as a DJ whose sets were broadcast live Friday nights on Kiss and distributed on the Universal Music TV label. These weekly live broadcasts were considered revolutionary in ...

picked it as one of his favourite songs, saying, "I used to play this at Gullivers. The first time you ever hear

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

's voice you're sold – hook, line and sinker." In 1999, the Chicago alt rock-soul group

Poi Dog Pondering Poi Dog Pondering is an American musical group which is noted for its cross-pollination of diverse musical genres, including various forms of acoustic and electronic music. Frank Orrall founded the band in Hawaii in 1984, initially as a solo pr ...

covered the song on their album Natural Thing. The group proceeded to remix the song several more times on their That's the Way Love Is (Re-Mix EP), which featured remixes by Maurice Josusah, Mike Dunn, Lego, Jesse De La Pena and Bunky. In 2018, British magazine ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was prin ...

'' included the song in their ranking of "Vocal House: The 30 All-Time Biggest Anthems". Tillie Wood wrote, In 2022, American magazine ''

'' ranked "That’s the Way Love Is" number 165 in their list of "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time".

Track listing

* 7" single, US (1989) #"That's the Way Love Is" (Acieed Mix/Edited Version) – 4:10 #"That's the Way Love Is" (Underground Mix/Edited Version) – 4:12 * 12", US (1989) #"That's the Way Love Is" (Deep House Mix/Extended Version) – 6:44 #"That's the Way Love Is" (Underground Mix/Extended Version) – 8:08 * 12", Europe (1989) #"That's the Way Love Is" (Acieed Mix/Extended Version) – 6:44 #"That's the Way Love Is" (Underground Mix/Extended Version) – 8:08 #"Devotion" (Radio Mix) – 4:00

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Byron Stingily version

Ten years later, former Ten City lead singer

Byron Stingily Byron Stingily is an American R&B and house-music singer born in Chicago, Illinois, known for his falsetto voice. He is now a part-time principal at a school in Chicago while still performing. Career Stingily had several hit records in the 1 ...

returned to the top of the dance chart with his own recording of the song.{{cite book , title= Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003, last=Whitburn , first=Joel , authorlink=Joel Whitburn , year=2004 , publisher=Record Research , page=247

References

1989 singles 1999 singles 1989 songs Electronic songs House music songs Acid house songs