"What About Love" is a song by American band

'Til Tuesday Til Tuesday is an American new wave band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The band, consisting of Aimee Mann (lead vocals, bass), Robert Holmes (guitar), Joey Pesce (keyboards), and Michael Hausman (drums), was active from 198 ...

, which was released in 1986 as the lead single from their second studio album '' Welcome Home''. The song was written by

Aimee Mann Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released ten studio albums as a solo artist. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyrics about dark subjects, often d ...

and produced by

Rhett Davies Rhett Davies (born 1949 in London) is an English record producer and engineer. Davies' father was the trumpet player Ray Davies. Davies became a studio engineer at Island Records in the early 1970s. One of his first recording sessions was for B ...

. "What About Love" peaked at No. 26 on 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 advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

Background

'Til Tuesday wanted " Coming Up Close" to be the first single from ''Welcome Home'', rather than "What About Love". Mann told ''

The Atlanta Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merge ...

'' in 1986, "I really love 'Coming Up Close' and we did want it to be the first single. But we sort of realized that 'What About Love' was more immediate." She described "What About Love" as a "radio song". The album and its two singles achieved modest commercial success in the United States but did not live up to the expectations of Epic Records or the band.

Music video

The song's music video was directed and produced by Ken Ross and Richard Levine. It was filmed on an estate in

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

. To achieve the desired effects, the video was shot using both a 35mm camera and a Super 8. The video achieved power 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

On its release, ''

'' described "What About Love" as an "easygoing dance tune" and a "pretty pop song that bites". They added that the song "gets its impact from Mann's sharp-focus lead". Bill Novak of ''

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'' rated the single two and a half out of four stars, describing it as "not a very imaginative single but the vocals are good and the musicians are adequate." ''

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'' considered the song to be "a moody number with a good build-up that, considering the success of

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's '

Take My Breath Away "Take My Breath Away" is a song written by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock for the 1986 film ''Top Guns soundtrack, performed by American new wave band Berlin and included on their album '' Count Three & Pray''. The song won the Academy ...

', could do well in Europe." In a review of ''Welcome Home'', Sam Gnerre of the ''News-Pilot'' described "What About Love" as a "fine song" and a "dead ringer for

the Pretenders The Pretenders are a British rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (ba ...

, with Mann's smoky vocals and some sharp guitar work combining to sound remarkably like one of Chrissie Kerr's stately ballads". Duncan Strauss of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' considered it to be "an engaging tune that brings all of the Boston quartet's strengths together". Cheryl Wenner of ''

The Morning Call ''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second-longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after '' The Express-Times''. The newspaper is owned by Alden Global Capital ...

'' picked the song as a highlight and described it as "an engaging song about living on hope that features some fancy guitar work by Robert Holmes".

Track listing

;7–inch single #"What About Love" – 4:01 #"Will She Just Fall Down" – 2:50 ;7–inch and 12–inch single (US promo) #"What About Love" – 4:01 #"What About Love" – 4:01 ;12–inch single #"What About Love" (Long Version) – 6:30 #" Voices Carry" – 4:13 #"Will She Just Fall Down" – 2:50 ;12–inch single (UK release) #"What About Love" – 4:01 #"Voices Carry" – 4:22 #"Will She Just Fall Down" – 2:50

Personnel

'Til Tuesday *

– vocals, bass * Robert Holmes – guitar, backing vocals * Joey Pesce – synthesizer, backing vocals *

Michael Hausman Michael Hausman is an American musician and talent manager, known for his collaboration with former-girlfriend and bandmate Aimee Mann. Hausman attended Berklee College of Music and played with a Boston band called The Dark before becoming the dr ...

– drums, percussion Production *

– producer of "What About Love" and "Will She Just Fall Down" * Bruce Lampcov – engineering and mixing on "What About Love" and "Will She Just Fall Down" * Mark McKenna – engineering on "What About Love" and "Will She Just Fall Down" *

Mike Thorne Mike Thorne (born 25 January 1948) is an English record producer, arranger, composer, engineer, and musician. He started playing the piano at the age of 10. After studying physics at Hertford College, Oxford, in the late 1960s he worked as a t ...

– producer of "Voices Carry" *

Bob Clearmountain Bob Clearmountain (born Chiaramonte, January 15, 1953) is an American mixing engineer and record producer, best known for his work with major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Roxy Music, Pretenders, and Bryan A ...

– mixing on "Voices Carry" *

Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists, including Led Zeppeli ...

– mastering

Charts

References

{{authority control 1986 songs 1986 singles 'Til Tuesday songs Epic Records singles Songs written by Aimee Mann Song recordings produced by Rhett Davies