Love Is All Around
Encyclopedia
"Love Is All Around" is a song composed by Reg Presley
and performed by The Troggs
. Purportedly inspired by a television transmission of the Joy Strings Salvation Army
band, the song was first released as a single in the UK in October 1967, peaking at No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart
in late November 1967 and No. 7 on the Hot 100 chart in the US on 18 May 1968. This version features a string quartet and a 'tick tock' sound on percussion.
"Love is All Around" has been covered
by numerous artists, including R.E.M., with whom the Troggs subsequently recorded their 1992 comeback album Athens Andover. R.E.M.'s cover was a B-side on their 1991 "Radio Song
" single, and they also played it during their first appearance at MTV's Unplugged
series that same year. Wet Wet Wet
's cover, for the soundtrack to the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral
, was an international hit and spent 15 weeks at number one in the UK Singles Chart
.
after two weeks and, fuelled by its appearance in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral
, remained there for fifteen consecutive weeks. All told, the song spent 37 weeks on the Top 75 survey. As of November 2011, the song had sold 1,298,131 physical copies in the United Kingdom. "We did everybody's head in the summer of 1994," commented the band's frontman, Marti Pellow
, exactly a decade later. This led to some radio stations banning the song. The band themselves eventually took the decision to delete the record from sale. Nevertheless, Pellow said, "I still think it's a brilliant record. Its strength is its sheer simplicity. Any band would give their eye teeth to have a hit record like that. I'm very proud of it."
Reg Presley famously spent some of the proceeds, which he received for composing the song, on crop circle
research.
Pellow recorded his own version of the song for inclusion on his 2002 album Marti Pellow Sings the Hits of Wet Wet Wet & Smile
.
CD 2 Limited Edition Digi Pack
MC
7"
" video, shot three years earlier. Regarding the Wets' recording of the song, R.E.M.'s Peter Buck
said, "People say they got the idea to do it from seeing us play - and I hope so, because it made Reg a million pounds or something. It's a great song. I thought it was a fine version."
"I heard their live version - they did it on TV once - and [Marti Pellow] sang it with the same little melody that I threw in there, which was kind of nice," added Mike Mills
. "That thing like uh-uh-uh-urrr at the end. That doesn't exist on the original version.""Oh, okay. I thought you meant bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah," concluded Michael Stipe
.
Čuki also released a video for their adaptation of the song, which, just like the Wet Wet Wet video, features the same technique of film projection onto blank cards.
(2003), which, like Four Weddings and a Funeral, was written by Richard Curtis
. On the film's DVD commentary track, Curtis says that after the success of the Wet Wet Wet version, he "couldn't think of a funnier way to start the film than by actually making [the British public] listen to the same song again." In the movie, a burned-out rock star character, Billy Mack (played by Bill Nighy
), changes the lyrics of the classic "Love Is All Around" to "Christmas Is All Around" and "come on and let it show" to "come on and let it snow" in what he freely admits is a cheap attempt to reach the Christmas number one spot, thus achieving a comeback "at any price". The Christmas version appears periodically throughout the movie, with frequent references made to its being "crap". The song is featured on the film's soundtrack album, which in 2004 reached Billboards Top 40 and ranked #2 on the soundtrack album chart. It also achieved gold record status in Mexico
and Australia
.
lyrics written by Peter Stedt in 1994.
Reg Presley
Reg Presley is an English singer-songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer with prominent 1960s rock and roll band The Troggs, whose best known hit was "Wild Thing", though their only UK number one single was "With A Girl Like You"...
and performed by The Troggs
The Troggs
The Troggs are an English rock band from the 1960s that had a number of hits in UK and the US. Their most famous songs include, "Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You", and "Love Is All Around"...
. Purportedly inspired by a television transmission of the Joy Strings Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
band, the song was first released as a single in the UK in October 1967, peaking at No. 5 on the 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 ...
in late November 1967 and No. 7 on the Hot 100 chart in the US on 18 May 1968. This version features a string quartet and a 'tick tock' sound on percussion.
"Love is All Around" has been covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by numerous artists, including R.E.M., with whom the Troggs subsequently recorded their 1992 comeback album Athens Andover. R.E.M.'s cover was a B-side on their 1991 "Radio Song
Radio Song
"Radio Song" is the fourth single released by R.E.M. from their 1991 album Out of Time, where it appeared as the opening track.Singer Michael Stipe once said that he hoped everyone had enough sense of humor to realize that he was "kind of taking the piss of everyone," himself included.Stipe also...
" single, and they also played it during their first appearance at MTV's Unplugged
MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged is a TV series showcasing many popular musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show has received the George Foster Peabody Award and 3 Primetime Emmy nominations among many accolades.-Unplugged:...
series that same year. Wet Wet Wet
Wet Wet Wet
Wet Wet Wet are a Scottish pop rock band that formed in the 1980s. They scored a number of hits in the British charts and around the world. The band is composed of Marti Pellow , Tommy Cunningham , Graeme Clark and Neil Mitchell...
's cover, for the soundtrack to the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral is a 1994 British comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It was the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to feature Hugh Grant...
, was an international hit and spent 15 weeks at number one in the 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 ...
.
Charts
| Chart (1967/1968) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| 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 ... |
5 |
| US 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... |
7 |
Wet Wet Wet version
Wet Wet Wet's version of "Love Is All Around" was released on 9 May 1994. It topped the UK Singles ChartUK 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 ...
after two weeks and, fuelled by its appearance in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral is a 1994 British comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It was the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to feature Hugh Grant...
, remained there for fifteen consecutive weeks. All told, the song spent 37 weeks on the Top 75 survey. As of November 2011, the song had sold 1,298,131 physical copies in the United Kingdom. "We did everybody's head in the summer of 1994," commented the band's frontman, Marti Pellow
Marti Pellow
Marti Pellow has been the lead singer of the Scottish pop group Wet Wet Wet since their formation in 1982. He has also recorded solo material.-Early life:...
, exactly a decade later. This led to some radio stations banning the song. The band themselves eventually took the decision to delete the record from sale. Nevertheless, Pellow said, "I still think it's a brilliant record. Its strength is its sheer simplicity. Any band would give their eye teeth to have a hit record like that. I'm very proud of it."
Reg Presley famously spent some of the proceeds, which he received for composing the song, on crop circle
Crop circle
A crop circle is a sizable pattern created by the flattening of a crop such as wheat, barley, rye, maize, or rapeseed. Crop circles are also referred to as crop formations, because they are not always circular in shape. While the exact date crop circles began to appear is unknown, the documented...
research.
Pellow recorded his own version of the song for inclusion on his 2002 album Marti Pellow Sings the Hits of Wet Wet Wet & Smile
Marti Pellow Sings the Hits of Wet Wet Wet & Smile
Marti Pellow Sings the Hits of Wet Wet Wet & Smile is a compilation/cover album by Wet Wet Wet frontman Marti Pellow. The album contains re-recordings of Wet Wet Wet hits. It was released on 18 November 2002....
.
Track listings
CD 1- "Love Is All Around"
- "I Can Give You Everything" (7" Arthur BakerArthur Baker (musician)Arthur Baker is an American record producer and DJ best known for his work with hip hop artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Planet Patrol, and the British group New Order.-Early career:...
soul remix) - "Ain't No Stoppin'/Le Freak"
CD 2 Limited Edition Digi Pack
- "Love Is All Around
- "Is This Love?" (live)
- "Love Is All Around" (TV mix)
- "I Can Give You Everything" (12" house mix)
MC
- "Love Is All Around"
- "I Can Give You Everything" (7" Arthur Baker soul remix)
7"
- "Love Is All Around"
- "I Can Give You Everything" (7" Arthur Baker remix)
R.E.M. connection
The employment of film projection onto blank cards in the song's video is reminiscent of R.E.M.'s "Radio SongRadio Song
"Radio Song" is the fourth single released by R.E.M. from their 1991 album Out of Time, where it appeared as the opening track.Singer Michael Stipe once said that he hoped everyone had enough sense of humor to realize that he was "kind of taking the piss of everyone," himself included.Stipe also...
" video, shot three years earlier. Regarding the Wets' recording of the song, R.E.M.'s Peter Buck
Peter Buck
Peter Lawrence Buck , is an American rock guitarist who is best known for playing in and co-founding alternative rock band R.E.M....
said, "People say they got the idea to do it from seeing us play - and I hope so, because it made Reg a million pounds or something. It's a great song. I thought it was a fine version."
"I heard their live version - they did it on TV once - and [Marti Pellow] sang it with the same little melody that I threw in there, which was kind of nice," added Mike Mills
Mike Mills
Michael Edward "Mike" Mills is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock group R.E.M.. Though known primarily as a bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and pianist, his musical repertoire includes also keyboards, guitar, and percussion instruments...
. "That thing like uh-uh-uh-urrr at the end. That doesn't exist on the original version.""Oh, okay. I thought you meant bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah," concluded Michael Stipe
Michael Stipe
John Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...
.
Slovenian-language adaptation
A Slovenian adaptation of Wet Wet Wet version was also recorded, with the lyrics in Slovenian language, by the Slovenian pop band Čuki, as Vsepovsod ljubezen (Slovenian literally for Love everywhere), soon after the original Wet Wet Wet version was released.Čuki also released a video for their adaptation of the song, which, just like the Wet Wet Wet video, features the same technique of film projection onto blank cards.
Christmas song
A parody of the song appears as a central theme in the British Christmas/romantic comedy Love ActuallyLove Actually
Love Actually is a 2003 British romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are shown to be interlinked as their tales progress...
(2003), which, like Four Weddings and a Funeral, was written by Richard Curtis
Richard Curtis
Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis, CBE is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, music producer, actor and film director, known primarily for romantic comedy films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill, Love Actually and The Girl in the Café, as well as the hit...
. On the film's DVD commentary track, Curtis says that after the success of the Wet Wet Wet version, he "couldn't think of a funnier way to start the film than by actually making [the British public] listen to the same song again." In the movie, a burned-out rock star character, Billy Mack (played by Bill Nighy
Bill Nighy
William Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...
), changes the lyrics of the classic "Love Is All Around" to "Christmas Is All Around" and "come on and let it show" to "come on and let it snow" in what he freely admits is a cheap attempt to reach the Christmas number one spot, thus achieving a comeback "at any price". The Christmas version appears periodically throughout the movie, with frequent references made to its being "crap". The song is featured on the film's soundtrack album, which in 2004 reached Billboards Top 40 and ranked #2 on the soundtrack album chart. It also achieved gold record status in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Other cover versions
The song was also covered by Lotta Engbergs orkester as "Du ger mig av din kärlek" with SwedishSwedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
lyrics written by Peter Stedt in 1994.
Peak positions
| Chart (1994) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart | 1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 17 |
| 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 |
| Eurochart Hot 100 | 1 |
| French SNEP Singles Chart | 2 |
| German Singles Chart | 2 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 2 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart | 1 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 2 |
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| US 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... |
41 |
| US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 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... |
8 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (1994) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 2 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 5 |
| French Singles Chart | 14 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 5 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification | Date | Sales certified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | Platinum | 22 November 1994 | 30,000 |
| Germany | Platinum | 1995 | 500,000 |
| Netherlands | Gold | 1994 | 40,000 |
| Sweden | Platinum | 25 October 1994 | 20,000 |
| UK | 2× Platinum | 1 August 1994 | 1,200,000 |
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 hits in Norway
- List of number-one hits (Sweden)
- List of number-one singles from the 1990s (UK)