B-side Love Machine (Part 2) Format 7" single | Released October 1975 Recorded 1975 | |
Length 2:55 (single version)6:52 (album version) | ||
"Love Machine" is a 1975 single recorded by Motown group The Miracles, taken from their album City of Angels. This song was a #1 Pop smash on the Billboard Hot 100, and the biggest-selling hit single of The Miracles' career. This single was one of two Billboard Hot 100 Top 20 hits recorded by The Miracles with Billy Griffin as lead vocalist; the other is 1973's "Do It Baby". Griffin had replaced Miracles founder Smokey Robinson as lead singer in 1972. The song features a growling vocal by Miracle Bobby Rogers, with group baritone Ronnie White repeating "Yeah Baby" throughout the song.
Contents
Background
Engineered and mixed by Kevin Beamish, "Love Machine" was produced by Freddie Perren, a former member of The Corporation brain trust in charge of the early Jackson 5 hits. It was written by Billy Griffin and his Miracles group-mate, original Miracle Pete Moore, with whom he wrote the rest of the City of Angels tracks as well. The song's lyrics, delivered over a disco beat, compare a lover to an electronic device such as a computer or a robot. The seven-minute song was split into two parts for its release as a single, with "Part 1" receiving most notoriety.
"Love Machine" was a multi-million selling Platinum single, and a number-one smash hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, the best-selling single of The Miracles' career, having sold over 4.5 million copies. The single went to #5 on the Hot Soul Singles chart, and went to #20 on Record World's National Disco file Top 20 chart. It was also a Top 10 hit in the UK, peaking at number three on the UK Singles Chart.
Chart positions
By 1979, the song saw its first cover version, performed by Thelma Houston. Houston's version became a popular song with club DJs at the time in the United States, although it did not chart. In Asia, and especially in Japan, "Love Machine" became Houston's most successful single, topping the Japanese charts. The success prompted her album Ride to the Rainbow to be reissued as Love Machine for the Japanese release.
Wham! performed a cover version of "Love Machine" on their 1983 album, Fantastic.
"Love Machine", to which Griffin and co-writer Miracle Pete Moore retained publishing rights through their publishing company Grimora Music (instead of Motown's music publishing company, Jobete), is the most-used song in Motown history and has generated more than $15 million in revenues.