Released September 6, 1981 Recorded 1980 Label Sire/Warner Bros. | Format Vinyl record (7") Genre Post-disco | |
Length 3:36 (7")
5:34 (LP)
7:24 (12") | ||
"Genius of Love" is a 1981 hit song by Tom Tom Club from their eponymous debut album.
Contents
Song
"Genius of Love" was Tom Tom Club's second single. Although the album had not been released in North America, over 100,000 copies of the single sold as imports from Island Records's UK, at which point Sire Records made a deal to release the single and the album in North America in late 1981.
Tom Tom Club appeared in the 1984 Talking Heads concert movie Stop Making Sense performing "Genius of Love", although this incarnation of the group did not include Tina Weymouth's sisters Laura and Lani.
The B-side of the "Genius of Love (Long Version)" 12" vinyl has a lesser-known underground hit called "Yella". On some pressings, the song is sometimes credited to Mr. Yellow and, on others, it is credited to Yella.
Chart performance
"Genius of Love" became a commercial success that performed better than Talking Heads' previous singles. Chris Frantz credited the song for convincing David Byrne to continue with Talking Heads. On its release in November 1981, "Genius of Love" became a huge hit in the clubs and on the R&B and dance charts worldwide, soon earning the Tom Tom Club LP a Gold Sales Award in 1982. In the U.S. the song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Disco Top 80 chart along with "Wordy Rappinghood," and also reached No. 2 on the Hot Soul Singles chart. It later went on to peak at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1982, becoming the Tom Tom Club's only entry on the Hot 100.
"Genius of Love" reached No. 65 in the UK Singles Chart, while both of the other two singles released from the Tom Tom Club LP achieved Top 30 placings in the UK. A song based on the keyboards-and-bass rhythm in "Genius of Love" was later used in a long-running TV advertising campaign in the UK by the Bird's desserts company between 1985 and 1992, the commercials featuring a spin on the psychedelic animation of the Tom Tom Club video using rudimentary CGI. In 2002, it was also used in a popular TV commercial for Kia Motors.
The single also became a club success all around Europe, and peaked at number 28 in New Zealand, the first of three Top 40 hits for the band there.
Samples
The song is one of the most sampled rhythm tracks of the 1980s, particularly within the rap/R&B/hip-hop genre, with dozens of unsolicited remixes and versions, most notably Dr. Jeckyl & Mr. Hyde's "Genius Rap" in 1981; Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's "It's Nasty" in 1982; Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" in 1995, and The X-Ecutioners' "Genius of Love 2002" in 2002.
Other artists have incorporated "Genius of Love" into their works, including Public Enemy's "Leave This Off Your Fu*kin Charts", Redman's "Brick City Mashin'", Cam'ron's "Me, My Moms & Jimmy", 2nd II None's "Niggaz Trippin'", Fresh Kid Ice's "Roll Call", 2Pac's "High Speed", Seagram's "I Don't Give a Fuck", Busta Rhymes' "One", Ant Banks' "Roll 'Em Phat", P.M. Dawn's "Gotta Be... Movin' On Up", Annie's "Chewing Gum", Menajahtwa's "I Ain't Nasti", 50 Cent's "When I Get Out", Erick Sermon's "Genius E Dub", Mac Dre's "Chop that Ho", Dream Warriors' "And Now the Legacy Begins", T.I.'s "Down Like That", Mark Morrison's "Return of the Mack", Ice Cube's "Bop Gun (One Nation)", Warren G's "What's Love Got to Do with It" and the D-Influence Real Live Mix of Billie's "Girlfriend".
The song's musical bridge, which contains a repeated chant of "Bohannon", was one of several theme songs used for many years by a syndicated US talk radio program hosted by Jim Bohannon. However, the chant was a reference to record producer and disco pioneer Hamilton Bohannon.
In other media
The song has appeared in the films Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013), Shame (2011), and The Family (2013). It appears in the season 19 premiere of South Park named "Stunning and Brave" (2015). It also appears in the 10th episode of season 9 and the 10th episode of season 12 of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. In March 2016, a version of the song by Tinashe was used in a television advertising campaign for Target Corporation.
Personnel
Music video
Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel produced the animated music video based on the pop art work of James Rizzi, featured on the Tom Tom Club album cover. Frank Zappa, in an interview with MTV, mentioned that the music video was his favorite at the time, due to its being "animated and clever."