A Groovy Kind of Love
Encyclopedia
"A Groovy Kind of Love" is a pop song written by Toni Wine
and Carol Bayer
for the Screen Gems
music publishing company. It is heavily based on the Rondo movement of Sonatina in G major, op. 36 no. 5 by Muzio Clementi
. The song was released first by Diane & Annita in 1965, and several covers have since appeared on worldwide music charts.
The song title was an early use of the then-new slang word "groovy". Wine, who was 17 years old when she wrote the song, said, "Carole came up with "Groovy kinda… groovy kinda… groovy…" and we're all just saying, 'Kinda groovy, kinda groovy, kinda…' and I don't exactly know who came up with "Love", but it was 'Groovy kind of love'. And we did it. We wrote it in 20 minutes. It was amazing. Just flew out of our mouths, and at the piano, it was a real quick and easy song to write."
, who recorded their cover of "A Groovy Kind of Love" in 1965. They liked the result so much that they named their first album A Groovy Kind of Love and released the song to radio as their debut single. It soon reached number two in the UK, and did the same in the United States when it was released there a year later.
recorded a new version of "A Groovy Kind of Love" in 1988. He had originally suggested the song as a good one for collaborator Stephen Bishop
to record, with Collins producing, but decided to record it himself when he took a starring role in the film Buster
, which had a 1960s setting. The song was originally released on Buster: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
, and also appeared on his Serious Hits... Live! album, as well as several Phil Collins compilation albums.
This version went the Mindbenders release one better, hitting #1 in both the US and UK charts, and it remains the only Collins single to top the charts in both countries. It also reached #1 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary
chart. The song earned Collins a nomination for Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
in 1989; he lost to Bobby McFerrin
's song "Don't Worry, Be Happy
".
In 1979 Italian artist Ivan Graziani
recorded "Agnese", his own adaptation of Clementi's Rondo, which has the same song structure.
The song is played on violins in the Friends
television episode "The One with the Wedding Part 2".
Toni Wine
Toni Wine is an American pop music songwriter, who wrote songs for such artists as The Mindbenders , Tony Orlando and Dawn , Elvis Presley, and Checkmates Ltd. in the late 1960s and 1970s...
and Carol Bayer
Carole Bayer Sager
Carole Bayer Sager is an American lyricist, songwriter, singer, and painter.-Introduction:Born in New York City, Sager graduated from New York University, where she majored in English, dramatic arts and speech...
for the Screen Gems
Screen Gems
Screen Gems is an American movie production company and subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation....
music publishing company. It is heavily based on the Rondo movement of Sonatina in G major, op. 36 no. 5 by Muzio Clementi
Muzio Clementi
Muzio Clementi was a celebrated composer, pianist, pedagogue, conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer. Born in Italy, he spent most of his life in England. He is best known for his piano sonatas, and his collection of piano studies, Gradus ad Parnassum...
. The song was released first by Diane & Annita in 1965, and several covers have since appeared on worldwide music charts.
The song title was an early use of the then-new slang word "groovy". Wine, who was 17 years old when she wrote the song, said, "Carole came up with "Groovy kinda… groovy kinda… groovy…" and we're all just saying, 'Kinda groovy, kinda groovy, kinda…' and I don't exactly know who came up with "Love", but it was 'Groovy kind of love'. And we did it. We wrote it in 20 minutes. It was amazing. Just flew out of our mouths, and at the piano, it was a real quick and easy song to write."
The Mindbenders version
Jack McGraw, who ran the London Screen Gems offices, thought the Wine/Bayer Sager song was a perfect match for the new group The MindbendersThe Mindbenders
The Mindbenders was a 1960s beat group from Manchester, England. They were part of the mid 1960s British Invasion with their chart-toppers "Game of Love" and "A Groovy Kind of Love"....
, who recorded their cover of "A Groovy Kind of Love" in 1965. They liked the result so much that they named their first album A Groovy Kind of Love and released the song to radio as their debut single. It soon reached number two in the UK, and did the same in the United States when it was released there a year later.
Chart performance
| Country | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Ireland | 9 |
| United Kingdom UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
2 |
| United States Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
2 |
Phil Collins version
Phil CollinsPhil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
recorded a new version of "A Groovy Kind of Love" in 1988. He had originally suggested the song as a good one for collaborator Stephen Bishop
Stephen Bishop (musician)
Stephen Bishop is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and guitarist.-History:Bishop was born in San Diego, California, and attended Will C. Crawford High School...
to record, with Collins producing, but decided to record it himself when he took a starring role in the film Buster
Buster (film)
Buster is a 1988 comedy-drama film starring musician Phil Collins, Julie Walters, Larry Lamb and Sheila Hancock. The soundtrack featured two Phil Collins singles which eventually topped the Billboard 100 singles chart.-Plot:...
, which had a 1960s setting. The song was originally released on Buster: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Buster (soundtrack)
Buster: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack for the 1988 British film Buster. The album is essentially a collection of oldies, tucked in between two Phil Collins songs that were recorded for the film, in which he starred...
, and also appeared on his Serious Hits... Live! album, as well as several Phil Collins compilation albums.
This version went the Mindbenders release one better, hitting #1 in both the US and UK charts, and it remains the only Collins single to top the charts in both countries. It also reached #1 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
chart. The song earned Collins a nomination for Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance was awarded between 1966 and 2011...
in 1989; he lost to Bobby McFerrin
Bobby McFerrin
Robert "Bobby" McFerrin, Jr. is an American vocalist and conductor. He is best known for his 1988 hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy". He is a ten-time Grammy Award winner.-Life:...
's song "Don't Worry, Be Happy
Don't Worry, Be Happy
"Don't Worry, Be Happy" is a song by musician Bobby McFerrin. Released in September 1988, it became the first a cappella song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a position it held for two weeks. On the UK Singles Chart, the song reached number 2 during its fifth week on the chart...
".
Chart performance
| Chart (1988) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... |
2 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 6 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
1 |
| French Singles Chart | 15 |
| German Singles Chart | 3 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 2 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 5 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary Singles | 1 |
Other covers
Other covers include:- the 1965 B-side of "All or Nothing", by Patti Labelle & The Blue BellesLabelleLabelle is an American all female singing group who were a popular vocal group of the 1960s and 1970s. The group was formed after the disbanding of two rival girl groups in the Philadelphia/Trenton areas, the Ordettes and the Del-Capris, forming as a new version of the former group, later changing...
- a 1966 cover by Petula ClarkPetula ClarkPetula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
- a 1966 cover with Italian lyrics ("Non c'è più nessuno") by I Camaleonti
- a 1967 cover by Gene PitneyGene PitneyEugene Francis Alan Pitney, known as Gene Pitney , was an American singer-songwriter, musician and sound engineer. Through the mid-1960s, he enjoyed success as a recording artist on both sides of the Atlantic and was among the group of early 1960s American acts who continued to enjoy hits after the...
- a 1967 cover by Sonny & CherSonny & CherSonny & Cher were an American pop music duo, actors, singers and entertainers made up of husband-and-wife team Sonny and Cher Bono in the 1960s and 1970s. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector....
- a 1970 recording by author Toni WineToni WineToni Wine is an American pop music songwriter, who wrote songs for such artists as The Mindbenders , Tony Orlando and Dawn , Elvis Presley, and Checkmates Ltd. in the late 1960s and 1970s...
- a 1970 cover by Elkie & Owen and The Rim Ram Band
- a 1970 cover with Italian lyrics ("Ora che sei qui") by Remo Germani
- a 1977 cover by Les GrayLes GrayThomas Leslie "Les" Gray was an English singer best known for his work with the band Mud. Gray was also known for his distinctive vocal impersonation of Elvis Presley.-Early life and career:...
formerly of MudMudMud is a mixture of water and some combination of soil, silt, and clay. Ancient mud deposits harden over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone . When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries the resultant layers are termed bay muds...
which made #34 in the UK - a 1983 cover by Doenja
- a 1991 cover by Argentinian singer Pablo Ruiz with Spanish lyrics, titled Espejos Azules
- a 1993 cover by Neil DiamondNeil DiamondNeil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
- "Look at Us", a 2000 re-recording by Sarina ParisSarina Paris-Notes:...
- "Like a Butterfly", a 2000 re-recording by Aba 7
- a 2000 instrumental by Hank MarvinHank MarvinHank Brian Marvin is an English guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows. The group, which primarily performed instrumentals, was formed as a backing band for vocalist Cliff Richard...
on the album Marvin at the Movies - a 2001 cover by Dan FinnertyDan Finnerty-Early and personal life:Finnerty was born in Rochester, New York, but grew up in the small town of Bath, New York and attended Emerson College in Boston. He was a member of the hit off-Broadway show Stomp in New York City. On August 8, 1995, he married actress Kathy Najimy. Gloria Steinem...
, for the film The Wedding PlannerThe Wedding PlannerThe Wedding Planner is a 2001 romantic comedy film directed by Adam Shankman, written by Michael Ellis and Pamela Falk, and starring Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey.-Plot:... - Richard Clayderman made a cover of this song for his 2002 compilation album 'The Ultimate Collection'
In 1979 Italian artist Ivan Graziani
Ivan Graziani
Ivan Graziani was an Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist.-Biography:Graziani was born at Teramo, Abruzzo....
recorded "Agnese", his own adaptation of Clementi's Rondo, which has the same song structure.
The song is played on violins in the Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
television episode "The One with the Wedding Part 2".