Only Your Love

"Only Your Love"
Single by Bananarama
from the album Pop Life
Released16 July 1990
RecordedMarch 1990
GenreDance-pop
Length
  • 3:58 (album version)
  • 4:02 (7-inch mix)
LabelLondon
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Youth
Bananarama singles chronology
"Megarama '89"
(1989) 		"Only Your Love"
(1990) 		"Preacher Man"
(1990)
Music video
"Only Your Love" on YouTube

"Only Your Love" is a song recorded by English girl group Bananarama, released as the first single from the group's fifth studio album, Pop Life (1991). The song was issued ten months prior to the release of the album. The Pop Life album marked Bananarama's break from their relationship with the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) production trio. "Only Your Love" was co-written and produced by Youth. The album version of the song was remixed for its single release.

The song's primary rhythm, complete with "woo woo" hoots, directly references "Sympathy for the Devil". This led Jonathan Ross to jokingly thank The Rolling Stones after Bananarama had performed the song on his TV show. The song also contains samples of "Loaded" by Primal Scream, "Fool's Gold" by The Stone Roses, and “Funky Drummer” by James Brown. Upon its release "Only Your Love" received positive critical reviews. The song was not released as a single in the United States.

"Only Your Love" peaked at number 27 on the UK Singles Chart, which the group considered to be a disappointment.[citation needed] The single did not fare much better in other countries, hitting number 49 in New Zealand and 51 in Australia.[1]

Critical reception

Mandi James from NME wrote, "'Only Your Love' could be any of the Nana's other singles seeing as they have the vocal capacity of a stretched elastic band, except in all their postmodern glory they've half-inched the funky drummer break from 'Fool's Gold', bastardises the 'oooh, oooh' from 'Sympathy for the Devil' and created a monster. Tacky, trashy and fun, fun, fun."[2] Another editor, Simon Williams, noted its "dancefloor hipness".[3]

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Only Your Love", directed by Philippe Gautier, features the girls on a studio set made to look like a cross between a train and a jungle gym, and uses silhouettes against multicoloured backdrops. They perform the song while dancing provocatively with various male dancers. The dancing features more physical contact between the girls and the male dancers than any of their other videos. The performance on the train is interspersed with shots of the girls singing on the front of the train engine in sunglasses and oversized dresses.

Track listing

Charts

Chart performance for "Only Your Love"
Chart (1990) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[1] 51
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100 Singles)[4] 73
Italy (Musica e dischi)[5] 21
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[6] 49
UK Singles (OCC)[7] 27

References

  1. ^ a b Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 23.
  2. ^ James, Mandi (21 July 1990). "Singles". NME. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  3. ^ Williams, Simon (18 May 1991). "Long Play". NME. p. 38. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  4. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 32. 11 August 1990. p. IV. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
  5. ^ "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 4 June 2022. Select "Singoli" in the "Tipo" field, type "Bananarama" in the "Artista" field and press "cerca".
  6. ^ "Bananarama – Only Your Love". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Bananarama: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 June 2022.