Love Is All Around
"Love Is All Around" | ||||
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Pye, London | ||||
Genre | Baroque pop, soft rock[2] | |||
Length | 2:59 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | Reg Presley | |||
Producer(s) | Larry Page | |||
The Troggs singles chronology | ||||
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"Love Is All Around" is a song recorded by English rock band the Troggs. Released as a single in October 1967, it was a top-ten hit in both the UK and US.[3][4]
"Love Is All Around" has been
Writing and original recording
On the UK Record Retailer chart (since recognised as the official chart for this period), "Love Is All Around" spent a total of 14 weeks on the chart, reaching its peak at number 5 in the fourth week of November 1967.[3] Whilst, in the US, although it was released there in November 1967, the song did not enter the Billboard Hot 100 until February 1968. It spent a total of 16 weeks on the chart, reaching its peak at number 7 in the third week of May.[12] "Love Is All Around" also performed well in Europe, becoming a top-twenty hit in several countries, though it failed to recapture the success of the Troggs' early singles such as "Wild Thing" and "With a Girl Like You". However, the song performed best in Southern Africa, where it topped the charts in South Africa and Rhodesia.[13][14]
Critical reception
Reviewing for New Musical Express, Derek Johnson wrote that "Love Is All Around" is "set to a fairly slow rhythm, with an appealing scoring of guitars, violins and cellos – plus a melody that takes a little time to register, but once you've got it in your mind, it sticks there! Reg sings warmly and sincerely – departing from that rather stilted style which has characterised many of the group's discs".[15] Peter Jones for Record Mirror described it as "optimistic and cheery and full of sentiment. Like the way the string section is insinuating itself as it builds. Rather a serene slice of Troggs".[16] For Disc and Music Echo, Penny Valentine wrote that "although this has none of their trademark of suggestive hip-thumping rhythm and Reg Presley making love to the mike, it is quite pleasant. At the beginning, I liked it very much with its closed-up gentle sound and pretty strings. It would have been nice if something had happened, but it just went on, which I somehow think will be its downfall".[17]
Billboard wrote that "this smooth, easy beat ballad with good lyric line should be just the commercial entry to put the British group back in their top selling bag in the U.S.".[18] Cash Box described it as a "steady-moving, romance-slanted soft rocker... [that] could make noise".[19]
Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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Wet Wet Wet version
"Love Is All Around" | ||||
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Single by Wet Wet Wet | ||||
from the album Four Weddings and a Funeral and Picture This | ||||
Released | 9 May 1994 | |||
Studio | The Brill Building (Glasgow, Scotland) | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 3:59 | |||
Label |
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Songwriter(s) | Reg Presley | |||
Producer(s) | Wet Wet Wet | |||
Wet Wet Wet singles chronology | ||||
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Richard Curtis approached Scottish band Wet Wet Wet about recording a cover song to soundtrack his 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral.[39] The band got to pick between three choices of songs, the other two being "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor and "Can't Smile Without You" by Barry Manilow.[39] Singer Marti Pellow related that the decision to pick "Love is All Around" was an easy choice "because we knew we could make it our own".[39] The song, which has a different introduction from the Troggs' version, was released on 9 May 1994.[40]
Critical reception
In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton said, "Just when you thought all was lost, along comes a record to restore your faith in pop music."[43] Chris Roberts for Melody Maker wrote, "Magnificent. Gorgeous. Sumptuous. All the more so because NOBODY agrees with me about the very splendid Wets and the indescribably astute vocalising of the horribly smug Marti Pellow."[44] A reviewer for pan-European magazine Music & Media deemed it a "sugary ballad", adding, "Let's see if Marti Pellow can shake his hips like Reg Presley!"[45]
Chart performance
On 15 May 1994, "Love Is All Around" entered the
Reg Presley famously spent some of his songwriting royalties on crop circle research.[50] Pellow also recorded his own version of the song for inclusion on his 2002 album Marti Pellow Sings the Hits of Wet Wet Wet & Smile.
In 2004, Pellow told the
As of 2024, it has sold 1.91 million copies in the United Kingdom, making it the country's best-selling love ballad of all time (including download and physical sales only), in front of songs including Bryan Adams's chart topping film theme (number 3 with 1.87 million copies sold) and "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston (number 5 with 1.66 million sales).[52][53]
Music video
A music video was produced to accompany the song, which included projected footage from the film, and was directed by German director Marcus Nispel.
Track listings
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Credits and personnel
Credits are lifted from the UK CD1 liner notes and the Picture This album booklet.[54][60]
Studio
- Recorded at The Brill Building (Glasgow, Scotland)
Personnel
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Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
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Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Australia (ARIA)[85] | 3× Platinum | 210,000^ |
Austria (IFPI Austria)[101] | Platinum | 50,000* |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[102] | Gold | 45,000‡ |
Germany (BVMI)[103] | Platinum | 500,000^ |
Netherlands (NVPI)[104] | Gold | 50,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ)[105] | Platinum | 10,000* |
Sweden (GLF)[106] | Platinum | 50,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[107] | 3× Platinum | 1,900,000[52] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Release history
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
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United Kingdom | 9 May 1994 |
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The Precious Organisation | [40] |
United States | 7 June 1994 | London
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[108] | |
Japan | 24 September 1994 | CD | The Precious Organisation | [109] |
Other cover versions and film uses
Prior to achieving international success with their single "
The song appeared in Get Real (1998) directed by Simon Shore, screenplay by Patrick Wilde. After its use in Four Weddings and a Funeral, the song appeared in several of Richard Curtis' other projects, including the 2003 film Love Actually (reinvented as the Christmas song "Christmas Is All Around" performed by actor Bill Nighy as fictional rock star Billy Mack), and an episode of hit sitcom The Vicar of Dibley where it is performed by a church choir. It also played in a season two episode of Orphan Black and included on the TV show's official soundtrack. R.E.M. also covered "Love Is All Around" for the soundtrack to the 1996 film I Shot Andy Warhol.[112] A Wet Wet Wet arrangement of the song is also covered diegetically in season one, episode two, of the TV show Derry Girls.[113]
See also
- List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1990s
- List of number-one hits of 1994 (Austria)
- List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 1994
- List of European number-one hits of 1994
- List of number-one singles in 1994 (New Zealand)
- List of number-one songs in Norway
- List of number-one singles and albums in Sweden
- List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 1990s
- List of million-selling singles in the United Kingdom
References
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Since its June 7 commercial release in the U.S., 'Love Is All Around' has...
- ^ "愛にすべてを | Wet Wet Wet" [Everything in Love | Wet Wet Wet] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
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