B-side "(Funny) Bone" Format 7"12" Genre DiscoR&B | Released January 29, 1979 Recorded 1978 Length 6:55 | |
"I Want Your Love" is a song by American band Chic from their second album C'est Chic (1978). Featuring a solo lead vocal by Alfa Anderson, the song went on to become a very successful follow-up to their iconic "Le Freak".
Contents
Critical reception
"[The song] swirls around a tricky horn-and-strings riff that builds and builds until the track practically levitates," Rolling Stone stated. AllMusic's Jason Birchmeier called the song a "timeless floor-filler" and a "dancefloor anthem." Amy Hanson from AllMusic:
Chic's smooth, up-tempo follow-up to their searing disco epic "Le Freak," "I Want Your Love" was a chart-topper in its own right in early 1979. And while it may not have been as commercially heart-stopping as the former, it was a stunning, and often better, example of just how easily Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers could magic a song together.
Simple, yet extraordinarily textured, this is Rodgers' autobiographical and bittersweet lament of an unrequited love. Dominant here is the song's four-note riff, which plays out across the intro on bells before being swept up in the lilting strings which ultimately drive the melody. Echoed by both horns and vocals, the slightly melancholy refrain "I want your love, I need your love" was the passionate repetition that made the song so endearing an unending circle -- a sonic masterpiece.
Chart performance
In the United States, "I Want Your Love" peaked at #7 (#5 soul) on the Billboard pop chart in May 1979. The song remained on the charts for 19 weeks. In United Kingdom the song reached #4 (the highest position of any Chic singles) and spent 11 weeks on the charts.
- A. "I Want Your Love" – 3:28
- B. "(Funny) Bone" – 3:41
- A. "I Want Your Love" – 6:53
- B. "(Funny) Bone" – 3:41
Jody Watley cover
Singer/musician Jody Watley recorded "I Want Your Love" as part of her 2006 album, The Makeover. Watley's version was released as a single in 2007 and reached #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart for the week of June 16, 2007. The Watley cover was produced by DJ Spinna and featured Nile Rodgers on guitar. Chic co-founder (and co-writer of "I Want Your Love"), Bernard Edwards, had previously produced a massive hit for Watley in the form of her 1987 single, "Don't You Want Me".
Track listings
- "I Want Your Love" (Soulcast Icon Mix)
- "I Want Your Love" (Masi and Mellow Late Night Vocal Mix)
- "I Want Your Love" (Morgan Page Sunset Strip Mix)
- "I Want Your Love" (Angel Manuel Dirty Vox Mix)
- "I Want Your Love" (Zoned Out Vintage Vox Mix)
- "I Want Your Love" (Shawn Q Soltribe Mix)
- "I Want Your Love" (Cristian Paduraru Vocal Mix)
- "I Want Your Love" (Danny Krivit Edit)
- "I Want Your Love" (Chin Digital House Party Mix)
- "I Want Your Love" (Soulcast Radio Edit)
- "I Want Your Love" (Soulcast Icon Mix)
- "I Want Your Love" (Morgan Page Sunset Strip Mix)
- "I Want Your Love" (Masi + Mello Late Nite Vocal Mix)
- "I Want Your Love" (Danny Krivitz's Original Re-Edit)
- "I Want Your Love" (Soulcast Icon Radio Edit)
- "I Want Your Love" (Soulcast UK Radio Edit)
- "I Want Your Love" (Soulcast Icon Mix)
- "I Want Your Love" (Wideboy's Club Mix)
- "I Want Your Love" (Wideboy's Miami Mix)
- "I Want Your Love" (Thomas Gold Remix)