I Want to Know What Love Is
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| “I Want to Know What Love Is” | |||||
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| Single by Foreigner from the album Agent Provocateur |
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| Released | 1984 | ||||
| Recorded | 1984 | ||||
| Genre | Power ballad | ||||
| Length | 5:05 | ||||
| Label | Atlantic Records | ||||
| Writer(s) | Mick Jones | ||||
| Producer | Mick Jones, Alex Sadkin | ||||
| Certification | Gold (RIAA) | ||||
| Foreigner singles chronology | |||||
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"I Want to Know What Love Is" is a power ballad recorded by the British-American rock band Foreigner. The song hit #1 in both the UK and the U.S. and is their most successful single. It remains, alongside "Urgent" and "Waiting for a Girl Like You", one of the band's best known songs.
Written by Mick Jones and produced by him and Alex Sadkin, it was the first single released from the album Agent Provocateur (1984). The song features backing vocals from the New Jersey Mass Choir (of the GMWA), Dreamgirls star Jennifer Holliday, and the Thompson Twins. The choir appears in the song's music video.
"I Want to Know What Love Is" reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on January 13, 1985, and stayed there for three weeks. It reached the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on February 2, 1985, where it stayed for two weeks. It was Foreigner's first and only Pop chart-topper in either country, although the band had four #1 Mainstream Rock and one #1 Adult Contemporary radio hits in the U.S.
Soon after Foreigner's single topped the charts, the New Jersey Mass Choir released its own, similar-sounding version of the song, on an album also titled I Want to Know What Love Is. Their single peaked at #37.
In 2004 "I Want to Know What Love Is" was voted #476 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
In 2006 this song was included on VH1's program "Top 100 Songs of the 80's".
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[edit] Other covers
In 1997 this song was covered by Tina Arena on her album In Deep and released as a single. This version is produced by Mick Jones himself.
In 1997 this song was also covered by slain South African reggae star Lucky Dube on his Taxman album. It featured strong South African reggae drum beats by ace drummer Mnca Mtshali.
In 2002 this song was covered by Gloria Gaynor on the K-Tel compilation Tina Turner & Gloria Gaynor, Back To Back.
In 2003 this song was covered by Wynonna Judd on her album What The World Needs Now Is Love. Released as a single, the track was also remixed for dance clubs.
In 2006 this song was covered by Clay Aiken on his album A Thousand Different Ways.
[edit] The Foreigner recording in popular culture
In 2006, the song was made part of the videogame Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories soundtrack as well as being the background music for the game's first trailer and intro cutscene. In 2007, the game SingStar '80s included this song.
[edit] Chart performance
| Chart[1] | Peak Position |
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| Austrian Singles Chart | 7 |
| French Singles Chart | 18 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 1 (5) |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 1 (5) |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 7 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | 85 |
[edit] External links
| Preceded by "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid |
UK number one single January 15, 1985 - January 29, 1985 |
Succeeded by "I Know Him So Well" by Elaine Paige and Barbra Dickson |
| Preceded by "Like a Virgin" by Madonna |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single February 2, 1985 – February 9, 1985 |
Succeeded by "Careless Whisper" by Wham! featuring George Michael |
| “I Want To Know What Love Is Single” | |||||
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| Single by Tina Arena | |||||
| Released | August 6, 1998 | ||||
| Genre | Pop, Rock | ||||
| Label | Columbia Records | ||||
| Certification | Silver (France) | ||||
| Tina Arena singles chronology | |||||
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[edit] Tina Arena cover
I Want To Know What Love Is was covered by Tina Arena and her recording was released as a single in 1997. Arena's version of the Foreigner song was produced by Foreigner band member Mick Jones, who was the song's writer.
[edit] Track listings
[edit] CD1
Catalog 666286.2
- "I Want To Know What Love Is" (Single Edit)
- "I Want To Know What Love Is" (R & B Mix)
- "I Want To Spend My Lifetime Loving You" (G-Vo Extended Mix)
- "Not For Sale"
[edit] CD2
- "I Want To Know What Love Is" (Single Edit)
- "Now I Can Dance" (Spanglish Version)
- "Now I Can Dance" (Live)
- "If I Didn't Love You" (Remix)
[edit] Australian Maxi Single
- "I Want To Know What Love Is" (R'n'B Mix)
- "I Want To Know What Love Is" (Urban Mix)
- "I Want To Know What Love Is" (Extended Urban Mix)
- "I Want To Know What Love Is" (Single Edit)
[edit] Chart performance
| Chart | Peak Position |
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| Australian Singles Chart | 36 |
| French Singles Chart | 13 |
[edit] References
- ^ "I Want to Know What Live Is", in various Singles Charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved on February 2, 2008)
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