The Loving Kind
Encyclopedia
"The Loving Kind" is a song performed by British girl group Girls Aloud
, taken from their fifth studio album Out of Control
(2008). The song was written by Pet Shop Boys
, Miranda Cooper
, Brian Higgins
and his production team Xenomania
, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. Described as a "synth pop ballad", "The Loving Kind" was originally written for inclusion on Pet Shop Boys' Yes
(2009) before being given to Girls Aloud. Upon its release in January 2009, "The Loving Kind" entered the UK Singles Chart
at number ten, thereby continuing their six-year streak of top ten hits.
In the music video, the group portrays the "good" and "bad" Girls Aloud as they perform in mirrored boxes. "The Loving Kind" was promoted through numerous live appearances and was performed on 2009's Out of Control Tour
. The song was largely praised by most contemporary music critics, although maligned by others for its similarities with "Call the Shots
".
in common time
and a tempo
of 128 beats per minute. The basic chord progression
of the song is G♭, D♭, B♭m, Fm, and A♭. The song begins instantly with a synthesised
introduction
, followed by the first verse and refrain
. There is an emotive bridge
and a middle 8. The verse repeats, followed by the chorus, an instrumental section, and the chorus again. The radio mix differs slightly; the introduction is less abrupt and the song lasts six seconds longer.
Xenomania and Pet Shop Boys wrote the song in sessions for the latter's album Yes
. Both parties had previously agreed there would be just three co-written songs on the album, and having noticed Chris Lowe
's "slight retinence" towards the song, Higgins suggested that Girls Aloud record "The Loving Kind". Pet Shop Boys member Neil Tennant
said that they co-wrote the song while working with Xenomania, and described it as "beautiful but still dancey". It was the second song Girls Aloud recorded for Out of Control. It was said that "the lyrics have the sadness and melancholy of a massive proper ballad but the production drags the song straight to the dancefloor and lends it an undeniable sense of optimism." Lowe said he was "absolutely over the moon" with the result.
, and features the intro and outro from the famous Stars on 45
medleys. There was also 7" picture disc made available, which included a previously unreleased b-side entitled "Memory of You", originally called "Japan". Remixes by Wideboys
and Utah Saints
were also commissioned.
. Tabloid paper News of the World
wrongly identified the track as an "underground tune" that Kimberley Walsh
and Nicola Roberts
had recorded outside of Girls Aloud. Popjustice
featured a 30-second clip of "Memory of You" as their Song of the Day prior to release. It was later included in high quality on an official Girls Aloud singles box set.
gave the song five stars, saying it "weds hauntingly melancholy vocals [...] to a sense of dancefloor euphoria totally at odds with the teary-eyed lyrics" and was "nothing short of dazzling, meaning 'The Loving Kind' deserves a place [...] on the list of Girls Aloud's finest ever singles." They called it "the standout track" from Out of Control and "one of the most emotionally resonant songs of the group's career." Dorian Lynskey of The Observer
agreed, calling it "best of all [...] It's bracing to hear Girls Aloud traffic in grown-up emotions". "The Loving Kind" has also been called "the best thing they've ever done." Nicola Roberts
was praised for her vocals, which Slant Magazine
felt "provide some of the album's most affecting moments."
However, "The Loving Kind" was criticised due to its similarities with 2007's "Call the Shots
", with NME
even calling the song as "a letdown sequel". BBC Music
felt the song was "hugely disappointing." Popjustice
said that although it isn't "amazing by Girls Aloud PLUS Xenomania PLUS Pet Shop Boys standards", it was still "really properly amazing." In a blog for BBC
, Fraser McAlpine agreed that "it's easy to get caught up on the idea of this being some immense pop event," but it was still an "extremely well done piece of heartbroken pop."
At the 2009 Popjustice £20 Music Prize
, Nicola Roberts
expressed dislike for the song and even nominated it for the Twenty Quid Invoice Prize, presented to what judges deem to be the worst single of any given year.
at number 87 on downloads alone. The following week, it entered the top forty at number 38. In the run-up to the single's release, chart commentators began to speculate that the song could possibly become the first single by the group to miss the top 10. James Masterton wrote on his Yahoo!
chart blog, "Their problem is the continuing chart performance of former number 1 hit 'The Promise'. [...] Good reviews do not chart placings make and "this song is too good to be a flop" is as much a myth as "team X are far too good to get relegated"." After its physical release, "The Loving Kind" still managed to peak at number ten, becoming Girls Aloud's twentieth consecutive top ten single. It fell to number 14 the following week, but spent eighteen weeks in the top 100. "The Loving Kind" entered the Irish Singles Chart
at number 49, before rising to number 24 the following week. It peaked at number sixteen.
, was premièred on 4Music
at 7pm and was shown on Channel 4
at 11:05pm on 3 December 2008. The making of the video was aired on MTV Hits
on 13 December 2008, with reruns on both MTV Hits and TMF
.
In the video, "the girls appear to be duplicated as they perform against a backdrop of multiple mirrors." The boxes are either coloured black, red, or white. The girls portray the "good" Girls Aloud, who are the lovable kind, and their "bad" alter egos, who are not. The bad Girls Aloud throw wine and smash the glass that covers their boxes. Cheryl Cole
cut herself when she smashed her hand through the glass and similarly Nadine Coyle
injured herself when kicked her foot through the glass. Pop music blog PopJustice
noted that "twenty singles in, Girls Aloud have made their best video yet."
variety show
The Girls Aloud Party
. The group performed in matching black tutus, described as "mini prom dresses." They perform with slow, ballet
-like motions and make their way to a catwalk. As Sarah Harding
adlib
s into the final chorus, pyrotechnics
explode on both sides of the stage. On The Paul O'Grady Show
, they performed in pink and purple dresses. On GMTV
, they performed in the outfits from the music video. The performance received attention for Harding's "bum note".
On the group's 2009 Out of Control Tour
, each girl is positioned in front of boxes with flashing lightbulbs, similar to those in the music video. Neon
designs and scenes from the music video appear on the screens above the boxes. The ramp
s in front of them, used throughout the tour, also flash with neon lights. As the performance comes to a close, the lights all turn off.
UK 7" picture disc (Fascination / 1794887)
iTunes Exclusive digital download
Digital download
Mobile download
The Singles Boxset (CD20)
|-
!Chart (2009)
!Position
|-
|UK Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|149
|-
Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London. They were created through the ITV1 talent show Popstars The Rivals in 2002. The group consists of Cheryl Cole , Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. They are signed to Fascination Records, a Polydor...
, taken from their fifth studio album Out of Control
Out of Control (Girls Aloud album)
Out of Control is the fifth studio album by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud. It was released in the United Kingdom on 3 November 2008 by Fascination Records. Like their previous albums, Out of Control was crafted by the production team of Brian Higgins and Xenomania...
(2008). The song was written by Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
, Miranda Cooper
Miranda Cooper
Miranda Eleanor De Fonbrune Cooper has been on the UK charts longer than any other female songwriter in the country. In 2007 Harper's Bazaar wrote of her: ‘If it's a hit you want, you'd better talk to Cooper...
, Brian Higgins
Brian Higgins (producer)
Brian Thomas Higgins is a British music producer who has written and produced albums and tracks for several highly successful pop music singers and groups, most notably Girls Aloud, through his Xenomania production group...
and his production team Xenomania
Xenomania
Xenomania is a British songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent, England. Formed after Higgins met Miranda Cooper, Xenomania has written and produced for renowned artists such as Cher, Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue, Pet Shop Boys, and Sugababes...
, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. Described as a "synth pop ballad", "The Loving Kind" was originally written for inclusion on Pet Shop Boys' Yes
Yes (Pet Shop Boys album)
Yes is the tenth studio album by English electronic duo Pet Shop Boys. The album was recorded throughout 2008 and is produced by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania. Xenomania also co-wrote three of the tracks. Guitarist Johnny Marr and string arranger Owen Pallett appear as well...
(2009) before being given to Girls Aloud. Upon its release in January 2009, "The Loving Kind" entered 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 ...
at number ten, thereby continuing their six-year streak of top ten hits.
In the music video, the group portrays the "good" and "bad" Girls Aloud as they perform in mirrored boxes. "The Loving Kind" was promoted through numerous live appearances and was performed on 2009's Out of Control Tour
Out of Control Tour
The Out of Control Tour is Girls Aloud's fourth arena-based concert tour and their fifth tour overall. The tour started on 24 April 2009 in Manchester's MEN Arena, with the final show on 6 June 2009 in Newcastle's Metro Radio Arena...
. The song was largely praised by most contemporary music critics, although maligned by others for its similarities with "Call the Shots
Call the Shots
"Call the Shots" is a song performed by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their fourth studio album Tangled Up . The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania...
".
Background and composition
"The Loving Kind" is a "synth pop ballad", in the same vein as much of the Pet Shop Boys' output. It has been described as an "elegantly sad account of a waning relationship." The song is written in D♭ major with a time signatureTime signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
in common time
Common Time
"Common Time" is a science fiction short story written by James Blish. It first appeared in the August 1953 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and has been reprinted several times: in the 1959 short-story collection Galactic Cluster; in The Testament of Andros ; in The Penguin Science Fiction...
and a tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
of 128 beats per minute. The basic chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
of the song is G♭, D♭, B♭m, Fm, and A♭. The song begins instantly with a synthesised
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
introduction
Introduction (music)
In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...
, followed by the first verse and refrain
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
. There is an emotive bridge
Bridge (music)
In music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section...
and a middle 8. The verse repeats, followed by the chorus, an instrumental section, and the chorus again. The radio mix differs slightly; the introduction is less abrupt and the song lasts six seconds longer.
Xenomania and Pet Shop Boys wrote the song in sessions for the latter's album Yes
Yes (Pet Shop Boys album)
Yes is the tenth studio album by English electronic duo Pet Shop Boys. The album was recorded throughout 2008 and is produced by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania. Xenomania also co-wrote three of the tracks. Guitarist Johnny Marr and string arranger Owen Pallett appear as well...
. Both parties had previously agreed there would be just three co-written songs on the album, and having noticed Chris Lowe
Chris Lowe
Chris Lowe is an English musician, who, with colleague Neil Tennant, makes up the pop duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...
's "slight retinence" towards the song, Higgins suggested that Girls Aloud record "The Loving Kind". Pet Shop Boys member Neil Tennant
Neil Tennant
Neil Francis Tennant is an English musician, singer and songwriter, who, with bandmate Chris Lowe, makes up the successful electronic dance music duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...
said that they co-wrote the song while working with Xenomania, and described it as "beautiful but still dancey". It was the second song Girls Aloud recorded for Out of Control. It was said that "the lyrics have the sadness and melancholy of a massive proper ballad but the production drags the song straight to the dancefloor and lends it an undeniable sense of optimism." Lowe said he was "absolutely over the moon" with the result.
Release
The single was confirmed on 21 November 2008 via Girls Aloud's official website. The CD single includes a Girls Aloud megamix, released to celebrate Girls Aloud's twentieth single release. The megamix was created by Jewels & StoneJulian Gingell
Julian Gingell , known as Jules, is a British songwriter and record producer, best known for his partnership with fellow writer and producer Barry Stone under the name Jewels and Stone....
, and features the intro and outro from the famous Stars on 45
Stars on 45
Stars on 45 was a Dutch novelty pop act that was briefly very popular in the United Kingdom, throughout Europe, the United States and Australia in the early 1980s. The group later shortened its name to Stars On in the U.S., while in the U.K. and Ireland it was known as Starsound...
medleys. There was also 7" picture disc made available, which included a previously unreleased b-side entitled "Memory of You", originally called "Japan". Remixes by Wideboys
Wideboys
The Wideboys are UK house, Bassline and UK garage Record producers and remixers.The Wideboys are managed by Matt Waterhouse from MWR/Hyperactive. In 2008, they signed to Sony ATV Music Publishing. Prior to this, The Wideboys had been signed in various deals with the likes of Warner, Univeral and...
and Utah Saints
Utah Saints
Utah Saints is a dance band based in Leeds, England. The music is produced by Jez Willis and Tim Garbutt, who are joined on-stage by other musicians whenever the band plays live...
were also commissioned.
B-side
There was a mild controversy surrounding the fact that the single's B-side "Memory of You" was only available on the vinyl format and not in CD or digital quality. The song was originally called "Japan". Fans campaigned to get the song available in a high quality format, which even gained the attention of The SunThe Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
. Tabloid paper News of the World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
wrongly identified the track as an "underground tune" that Kimberley Walsh
Kimberley Walsh
Kimberley Jane Walsh is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model, television presenter and actress. She is best known for being a member of girl group Girls Aloud, formed through ITV's reality television programme Popstars: The Rivals...
and Nicola Roberts
Nicola Roberts
Nicola Maria Roberts is a British recording artist and entrepreneur. In 2002 Roberts auditioned for the reality televisions series and competition Popstars The Rivals which saw her finish in the final line-up of a girl group named Girls Aloud...
had recorded outside of Girls Aloud. Popjustice
Popjustice
Popjustice is a music website founded in 2000 and is the work of UK freelance music journalist Peter Robinson, who has worked for NME, The Guardian, Attitude and many others....
featured a 30-second clip of "Memory of You" as their Song of the Day prior to release. It was later included in high quality on an official Girls Aloud singles box set.
Critical reception
The song received mostly positive reviews from contemporary music critics. Digital SpyDigital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
gave the song five stars, saying it "weds hauntingly melancholy vocals [...] to a sense of dancefloor euphoria totally at odds with the teary-eyed lyrics" and was "nothing short of dazzling, meaning 'The Loving Kind' deserves a place [...] on the list of Girls Aloud's finest ever singles." They called it "the standout track" from Out of Control and "one of the most emotionally resonant songs of the group's career." Dorian Lynskey of The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
agreed, calling it "best of all [...] It's bracing to hear Girls Aloud traffic in grown-up emotions". "The Loving Kind" has also been called "the best thing they've ever done." Nicola Roberts
Nicola Roberts
Nicola Maria Roberts is a British recording artist and entrepreneur. In 2002 Roberts auditioned for the reality televisions series and competition Popstars The Rivals which saw her finish in the final line-up of a girl group named Girls Aloud...
was praised for her vocals, which Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
felt "provide some of the album's most affecting moments."
However, "The Loving Kind" was criticised due to its similarities with 2007's "Call the Shots
Call the Shots
"Call the Shots" is a song performed by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their fourth studio album Tangled Up . The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania...
", with NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
even calling the song as "a letdown sequel". BBC Music
BBC Music
BBC Music is a team working in the department of Audio and Music Interactive at the BBC. Responsible for the BBC Music website - the portal site to music content across the BBC website....
felt the song was "hugely disappointing." Popjustice
Popjustice
Popjustice is a music website founded in 2000 and is the work of UK freelance music journalist Peter Robinson, who has worked for NME, The Guardian, Attitude and many others....
said that although it isn't "amazing by Girls Aloud PLUS Xenomania PLUS Pet Shop Boys standards", it was still "really properly amazing." In a blog for BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, Fraser McAlpine agreed that "it's easy to get caught up on the idea of this being some immense pop event," but it was still an "extremely well done piece of heartbroken pop."
At the 2009 Popjustice £20 Music Prize
Popjustice £20 Music Prize
The Popjustice £20 Music Prize is an annual prize awarded by a panel of judges organised by music website Popjustice to the singer of the best British pop single of the past year....
, Nicola Roberts
Nicola Roberts
Nicola Maria Roberts is a British recording artist and entrepreneur. In 2002 Roberts auditioned for the reality televisions series and competition Popstars The Rivals which saw her finish in the final line-up of a girl group named Girls Aloud...
expressed dislike for the song and even nominated it for the Twenty Quid Invoice Prize, presented to what judges deem to be the worst single of any given year.
Chart performance
On 14 December 2008, "The Loving Kind" entered 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 ...
at number 87 on downloads alone. The following week, it entered the top forty at number 38. In the run-up to the single's release, chart commentators began to speculate that the song could possibly become the first single by the group to miss the top 10. James Masterton wrote on his Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
chart blog, "Their problem is the continuing chart performance of former number 1 hit 'The Promise'. [...] Good reviews do not chart placings make and "this song is too good to be a flop" is as much a myth as "team X are far too good to get relegated"." After its physical release, "The Loving Kind" still managed to peak at number ten, becoming Girls Aloud's twentieth consecutive top ten single. It fell to number 14 the following week, but spent eighteen weeks in the top 100. "The Loving Kind" entered the Irish Singles Chart
Irish Singles Chart
The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...
at number 49, before rising to number 24 the following week. It peaked at number sixteen.
Music video
The music video, directed by Trudy BellingerTrudy Bellinger
Trudy Bellinger is a British music video director. Bellinger is currently affiliated with Merge @ Crossroads Films. In addition to music videos, she has also directed TV adverts for Rimmel and M & S fashion Spring and Autumn-Videography:1997...
, was premièred on 4Music
4Music
4Music is a music and entertainment channel in the United Kingdom and available on some digital television providers in the Republic of Ireland - its web component can be found at with its own and pages. It is the only channel within the Box Television Network to be branded under Channel 4 and...
at 7pm and was shown on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
at 11:05pm on 3 December 2008. The making of the video was aired on MTV Hits
MTV Hits
MTV Hits is an American music video channel that debuted on May 1, 2002. The format of the network resembles that of the classic MTV before the additional of other programming to that network in the 1990s and their slow decline of music video programming...
on 13 December 2008, with reruns on both MTV Hits and TMF
The Music Factory
The Music Factory is a pop music television channel that operates in Belgium .TMF previously operated channels in the Netherlands , the UK with TMF UK and Australia with . The brand is owned by MTV Networks International...
.
In the video, "the girls appear to be duplicated as they perform against a backdrop of multiple mirrors." The boxes are either coloured black, red, or white. The girls portray the "good" Girls Aloud, who are the lovable kind, and their "bad" alter egos, who are not. The bad Girls Aloud throw wine and smash the glass that covers their boxes. Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Ann Cole is an English pop and R&B recording artist, songwriter, dancer, actress and model. She rose to fame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the reality television show Popstars: The Rivals on ITV. The programme announced that Cole had won a place as a member of the girl group, Girls...
cut herself when she smashed her hand through the glass and similarly Nadine Coyle
Nadine Coyle
Nadine Coyle is an Irish singer, songwriter, actress, and model who rose to fame in the early 2000s as a member of the band Six before becoming a member of successful girl-group Girls Aloud. The group amassed a joint fortune of £25 million by May 2009...
injured herself when kicked her foot through the glass. Pop music blog PopJustice
Popjustice
Popjustice is a music website founded in 2000 and is the work of UK freelance music journalist Peter Robinson, who has worked for NME, The Guardian, Attitude and many others....
noted that "twenty singles in, Girls Aloud have made their best video yet."
Live performance
Girls Aloud's first performance of the song occurred on their ITV1ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
The Girls Aloud Party
The Girls Aloud Party
The Girls Aloud Party was a one-off Christmas variety show starring British girl group Girls Aloud, produced for ITV. The show was aired on 13 December 2008, in between The X Factor series finale and its results show....
. The group performed in matching black tutus, described as "mini prom dresses." They perform with slow, ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
-like motions and make their way to a catwalk. As Sarah Harding
Sarah Harding
Sarah Nicole Harding is an English singer-songwriter, actress and model best known for being a member of the pop group Girls Aloud, formed through ITV's reality television programme Popstars: The Rivals...
adlib
AdLib
Ad Lib, Inc. was a manufacturer of sound cards and other computer equipment founded by Martin Prevel, a former professor of music and vice-dean of the music department at the Université Laval...
s into the final chorus, pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics is the science of using materials capable of undergoing self-contained and self-sustained exothermic chemical reactions for the production of heat, light, gas, smoke and/or sound...
explode on both sides of the stage. On The Paul O'Grady Show
The Paul O'Grady Show
The Paul O'Grady Show was a BAFTA award-winning British comedy chat show hosted by Birkenhead-born comedian Paul O'Grady. The format was originally devised by Granada Television and was broadcast on ITV before moving to Channel 4...
, they performed in pink and purple dresses. On GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...
, they performed in the outfits from the music video. The performance received attention for Harding's "bum note".
On the group's 2009 Out of Control Tour
Out of Control Tour
The Out of Control Tour is Girls Aloud's fourth arena-based concert tour and their fifth tour overall. The tour started on 24 April 2009 in Manchester's MEN Arena, with the final show on 6 June 2009 in Newcastle's Metro Radio Arena...
, each girl is positioned in front of boxes with flashing lightbulbs, similar to those in the music video. Neon
Neon
Neon is the chemical element that has the symbol Ne and an atomic number of 10. Although a very common element in the universe, it is rare on Earth. A colorless, inert noble gas under standard conditions, neon gives a distinct reddish-orange glow when used in either low-voltage neon glow lamps or...
designs and scenes from the music video appear on the screens above the boxes. The ramp
Inclined plane
The inclined plane is one of the original six simple machines; as the name suggests, it is a flat surface whose endpoints are at different heights. By moving an object up an inclined plane rather than completely vertical, the amount of force required is reduced, at the expense of increasing the...
s in front of them, used throughout the tour, also flash with neon lights. As the performance comes to a close, the lights all turn off.
Tracklisting
UK CD (Fascination / 1794885)- "The Loving Kind" (Radio Mix) — 3:59
- "Girls on 45, Volume 2" — 7:25
UK 7" picture disc (Fascination / 1794887)
- "The Loving Kind" (Radio Mix) — 3:59
- "Memory of You" (Girls Aloud, Cooper, Higgins, Powell, Giselle Sommerville) — 3:48
iTunes Exclusive digital download
- "The Loving Kind" (Utah Saints Club Mix) — 6:14
Digital download
- "The Loving Kind" (Wideboys Club Mix) — 6:37
Mobile download
- "The Loving Kind" (Wideboys Radio Edit) — 2:49
The Singles Boxset (CD20)
- "The Loving Kind" (Radio Mix) — 3:59
- "Girls on 45, Volume 2" — 7:25
- "Memory of You" — 3:48
- "The Loving Kind" (Utah Saints Club Mix) — 6:14
- "The Loving Kind" (Wideboys Club Mix) — 6:37
- "The Loving Kind" (Wideboys Radio Edit) — 2:49
- "The Loving Kind" (Wideboys Dub) — 6:38
- "The Loving Kind" (Utah Saints Radio Mix) — 3:15
- "The Loving Kind" (Utah Saints Dub) — 5:57
Charts
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
End-of-year charts
{|class="wikitable sortable"|-
!Chart (2009)
!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 ...
| style="text-align:center;"|149
|-