Released October 1967 Recorded 1967 Length 2:45 | Format 7" single Genre Rock | |
B-side "When Will the Rain Come" | ||
"Love Is All Around" is a song recorded by English rock band the Troggs, featuring a string quartet and a 'tick tock' sound on percussion, in D-major. It was written by lead singer Reg Presley and was purportedly inspired by a television transmission of the Joy Strings Salvation Army band's "Love That's All Around". The song was first released as a single in the UK in October 1967, peaking at number 5. On the Hot 100, the record entered at number 98 on 24 February 1968, peaked at number 7 on 18 May 1968, was on the chart a total of 16 weeks, and ranked number 40 for all of 1968.
Contents
- Charts
- Wet Wet Wet version
- Chart performance
- Track listings
- Other cover versions and film uses
- References
"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 consecutive weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart.
Charts
On the UK Singles Chart top 50, the record debuted at number 50 on 18 October 1967 (using the Wednesday date system) (date derived from 21 October 1967 and 28 October 1967), peaked at number 5 on 22 November 1967 (using the Wednesday date system) (date derived from 25 November 1967), and appeared 15 straight times.
Wet Wet Wet version
Richard Curtis approached Wet Wet Wet about recording a cover song to soundtrack his film Four Weddings and a Funeral. The band got to pick between three choices of songs, the other two being "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor and "Can't Smile Without You" by Barry Manilow. Singer Marti Pellow related that the decision to pick "Love is All Around" was an easy choice "because we knew we could make it our own". The song, which has a different introduction from the Troggs' version, was recorded in B flat major on 4 January 1994 and released in May.
Chart performance
On 15 May 1994, "Love Is All Around" entered the UK Singles Chart at number four. After climbing to number two the following week, it finally got to number one on 29 May. It then remained there for 15 weeks, the second longest UK chart reign of all time (beaten only by Bryan Adams' "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You", which was number one for 16 weeks, though equalled recently by Drake's "One Dance"), before it was finally knocked off the top spot by Whigfield's "Saturday Night" on 11 September. The song spent a further 22 weeks in the UK Top 75. Throughout its chart run, some radio stations even banned the song, as many listeners were fed up of hearing it. The band themselves eventually took the decision to delete the record from sale. As of February 2016, it has sold 1.88 million copies in the United Kingdom, making it the country's best-selling love ballad of all time.
Reg Presley famously spent some of his songwriting royalties on crop circle research. Pellow also recorded his own version of the song for inclusion on his 2002 album Marti Pellow Sings the Hits of Wet Wet Wet & Smile.
In 2004, Pellow told the Daily Record, "We did everybody's head in the summer of 1994." 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." In 2013, the year that Reg Presley died, "Love Is All Around" was named as the number one song in VH1's The Ultimate Movie Soundtrack: Top 100.
Track listings
- "Love Is All Around (Remix)"
- "Love Is All Around"
- "Love Is All Around"
- "I Can Give You Everything" (7" Arthur Baker soul remix)
- "Ain't No Stoppin'/Le Freak"
- "Love Is All Around"
- "Is This Love?" (live)
- "Love Is All Around" (TV mix)
- "I Can Give You Everything" (12" house mix)
- "Love Is All Around"
- "I Can Give You Everything" (7" Arthur Baker soul remix)
- "Love Is All Around"
- "I Can Give You Everything" (7" Arthur Baker remix)
Other cover versions and film uses
Prior to achieving international success with their single "These Eyes", "Love Is All Around" was covered by The Guess Who around 1967/68, and is available on compilation album This Time Long Ago. The song was also covered by Lotta Engbergs orkester as "Du ger mig av din kärlek" with Swedish lyrics written by Peter Stedt in 1994 while the Spanish rendering "El Amor Me Envuelve (Sabes Que Te Amo)" was recorded by Rocío Banquells for her 1999 album Fuerza Del Amor.
The song appeared in Get Real (1998) directed by Simon Shore, screenplay by Patrick Wilde. After its use in Four Weddings and a Funeral, the song appeared in several of Richard Curtis' other projects including the 2003 film Love Actually (reinvented as the Christmas song "Christmas Is All Around" performed by Bill Nighy as fictional rock star Billy Mack) and an episode of his sitcom The Vicar of Dibley where it is performed by a church choir. It also played in a season two episode of Orphan Black and included on the TV show's official soundtrack. R.E.M. also covered "Love Is All Around" for the soundtrack to the film I Shot Andy Warhol.