B-side "Heart of Darkness" Genre Hard rock Label Capitol | Released June 1, 1985 Length 3:41 | |
Format 7", 12", CD Single (UK only) | ||
"What About Love" is a song originally recorded by Canadian rock group Toronto but is best known for the 1985 release by the rock group Heart. The song was Heart's "comeback" single. It was the first Heart track to reach the top 40 in three years, and their first top 10 hit in five. It was released as the first single from the band's self-titled 1985 album, Heart, as well as their first hit single on their new record label, Capitol Records. Grace Slick and Mickey Thomas, co-lead vocalists of Starship at the time, provide additional background vocals on the song.
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Background
The song was originally recorded in 1983 by Canadian rock group Toronto, of which songwriters Sheron Alton and Brian Allen were members. (The other songwriter, Jim Vallance, was not a member of Toronto, though he played drums on Toronto's recording of the song.) However, Toronto, by group vote, elected not to release their version at that time. Following the band's breakup, Brian Allen played Toronto's demo of the song to Michael McCarty at ATV Music Publishing. McCarty agreed to represent the song and he offered it to Heart who turned it into a worldwide hit. Toronto's original version remained commercially unreleased until 2002, when it appeared as a bonus cut on the CD Toronto: The Greatest Hits.
Reception
The song's sound marked a considerable change in the musical direction for Heart, moving from the hard rock and folk rock of their earlier work to a more polished, power ballad sound. "What About Love" received extensive airplay on MTV and returned Heart to the Top-10 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in five years, peaking at #10.
The song peaked at #14 on the UK Singles Chart upon its re-release in 1988. Exclusively in its UK release, "What About Love" was also featured in an extended version on 12" and CD single versions.
The song's chorus was featured in a series of Swiffer WetJet TV commercials from late 2010 into the following year. The campaign followed a series of previous Swiffer commercials using popular songs of the '70s and '80s.