The inspiration for the song came to Graydon in the bathroom. He explained to Songfacts, "'Turn Your Love Around' was a gift, and it's the gift that keeps giving. I was in the bathroom when I came up with the melody, and I was sitting down, if you get my drift. Well, I got off the can as fast as I could and got to a cassette machine so I wouldn't forget it. George Benson was coming in town Tuesday, so I had four days to come up with a song for The George Benson Collection. And I was gettin' nothing. And then bang! I just came up with this melody for the chorus when I was in the bathroom."[2]
The song was one of the first pop hits to use a Linn LM-1drum machine, programmed by the session drummer Jeff Porcaro.[3]
"Turn Your Love Around" reached number one on the soul singles chart and number five on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in early 1982, as well as the top ten on the jazz chart.[14] It was ranked as the 27th biggest hit of 1982. In Canada, the song spent two weeks at number 10.[15]
In 1995 Tony Di Bart recorded a cover version of Turn Your Love Around which appeared on the album Falling for You. Compared to the original, this version is Eurodance-heavy . In addition to the studio album, it is also included on the compilations Dance Now! 14.[16]