"I Love Music" is a song by American R&B group

The O'Jays The O'Jays are an American Rhythm and blues, R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in summer 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appea ...

. It was written by production team

Gamble and Huff Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production duo credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as ...

. The song appeared on The O'Jays 1975 album, ''

Family Reunion A family reunion is an occasion when many members of an extended family congregate. Sometimes reunions are held regularly, for example on the same date of every year. A typical family reunion will assemble for a meal, some recreation and discuss ...

''. The single reached number five on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number one on the soul singles chart. In the UK, the song peaked at number 13 in the Top 40 singles charts in March 1976. The single spent eight weeks at number one on the US Disco File Top 20 chart. Because of the song's length of 6:51, only the first part of the song received the airplay of 3:37. This song is noteworthy for the use of the Bongos, heard in the intro, as well as the electric guitar solo, heard in the instrumental second part of the song. Also, the saxophone solos are heard between the choruses and the verses and bridges. Strings, trumpets, bass, piano, vibes, and drums dominate the accompaniment of the song.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other cover versions

In 1976, a live cover version appears on the album ''LIVE'' performed by 3M Productions, also known as Major Harris, Blue Magic and Margie Joseph, recorded at the Latin Casino. In 1990, Chicago House music vocalist

Darryl Pandy Darryl Pandy (December 24, 1962 – June 10, 2011Gregory Paratore: "Darryl Pandy RIP"
...

released a version of the song on

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

which remained faithful to the original version. The track featured a prominent keyboard riff, brass, and a driving House beat.

Rozalla version

In November 1993, the

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

n-born singer

Rozalla Rozalla Miller (born 18 March 1964), better known as simply Rozalla, is a Zimbabwean electronic music performer who was born in what was then Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). She is best known for her three 1991/92 hit singles " Faith (In the Po ...

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

"I Love Music" for her second album, '' Look No Further'' (1995). Her version of the song was produced by Jellybean and also appeared on the soundtrack to the 1993 film ''

Carlito's Way ''Carlito's Way'' is a 1993 American crime drama film directed by Brian De Palma and written by David Koepp, based on the novels '' Carlito's Way'' (1975) and '' After Hours'' (1979) by Judge Edwin Torres. It stars Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelop ...

'', starring

Al Pacino Alfredo James Pacino ( ; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Known for his intense performances on stage and screen, Pacino is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. His career spans more than five decades, duri ...

. The single was the first of a series of cover versions Rozalla was to record over the years. It was also her first "new" song to be released on

Sony Records Sony Records was a record label founded by R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner in 1963. It was not affiliated with Sony Group Corporation. Ike Turner produced singles by members of the Kings of Rhythm and the Ikettes on Sony Records. Records on the la ...

, as her earlier releases had all been first put out by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

indie label Pulse 8. Rozalla's recording of "I Love Music" reached number-one on the US ''Billboard''

Hot Dance Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart. It also dented the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number 76. In Europe, the song got to number 18 on the UK Singles Chart in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, marking something of a comeback after various earlier singles had failed to crack the top 40 (this was still 5 places lower than the original version by The O'Jays had reached however). The song also peaked at number five in Iceland, number six in Finland and number nine in Zimbabwe.* Zimbabwe. Kimberley, C. ''Zimbabwe: singles chart book''. Harare: C. Kimberley, 2000

Critical reception

The song received favorable reviews from many music critics. Barry Walters from ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...

'' deemed it a "respectful rendering".

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 musi ...

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 advertis ...

'' magazine described it as a "spirited reading of the

O'Jays The O'Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in summer 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appearance with the m ...

classic". He noted that Rozalla "has developed a smoother, more soulful vocal quality". Gil L. Robertson IV from ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' named it a standout track of the ''Look No Further'' album. Dave Sholin from the ''

Gavin Report The ''Gavin Report'' was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs. The ...

'' wrote, "International sensation Rozalla and producer Jellybean extract every ounce of excitement out of this 1976 O'Jays hit." Alan Jones from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' said, "Though she acquits herself well, not one of the mixes approaches the classy exaltation of the original. For all that, this is sure to give Rozalla yet another hit." In 1994, another ''Music Week'' editor, Andy Beevers, gave it a score of four out of five, calling it a "rather routine Jellybean-produced cover". Wendi Cermak from ''The Network Forty'' named it "a fabulous remake". Mark Sutherland from UK magazine ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' was negative and deemed it "an inutterably duff discoed-up version of the O'Jays "classic" (which was pretty useless in the first place)".

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Usage in film

The song appears in the 1993 film ''

'' and in the 2007 film ''

Pride Pride is a human Emotion, secondary emotion characterized by a sense of satisfaction with one's Identity (philosophy), identity, performance, or accomplishments. It is often considered the opposite of shame or of humility and, depending on conte ...

''.

References

* Billboard, Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & artist website

External links

* Song reviewon

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 ...

* {{authority control 1975 singles 1993 singles The O'Jays songs Songs written by Leon Huff American disco songs Rozalla songs Songs about music Philadelphia International Records singles Sony Music singles 1975 songs Songs written by Kenny Gamble