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Love City Groove (song)

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"Love City Groove"
Single by Love City Groove
from the album Hard Times
Released27 March 1995 (1995-03-27)[1]
Genre
Length
  • 3:55 (7-inch mix)
  • 5:47 (12-inch mix)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Beanz
  • George Stewart
Eurovision Song Contest 1995 entry
Country
Artist(s)
  • MC Reason
  • Paul Hardy
  • Beanz
  • Jay Williams
As
Language
English
Composer(s)
  • Stephen Rudden
  • Tatiana Mais
  • Paul Hardy
  • Jay Williams
Lyricist(s)
  • Stephen Rudden
  • Tatiana Mais
  • Paul Hardy
  • Jay Williams
Conductor
Finals performance
Final result
10th
Final points
76
Entry chronology
◄ "We Will Be Free (Lonely Symphony)" (1994)
"Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit" (1996) ►
Music video
"Love City Groove" on YouTube

"Love City Groove" is a song by British rap group Love City Groove that represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest 1995.[2]

The song

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The song was written by Stephen "Beanz" Rudden, Tatiana Mais, Paul Hardy, and Jay Williams. It was released by China Records and Planet 3 as a single from Love City Groove's album Hard Times on 27 March 1995. It was subsequently released in several versions in the same year, with three remixed versions released in Germany in 1996. Another version was released in Japan in 2003 for DJ use only.

Chart success

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"Love City Groove" reached number seven on the UK Singles Chart that May,[3][4] selling over 200,000 copies.[5] The vocals were performed in hip hop style by Williams and the only female band member, Yinka Charles, performing as Reason.[3]

Critical reception

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John Bush from AllMusic deemed "Love City Groove" "an upbeat pop/reggae track".[6] Larry Flick from Billboard described it as a "fun" and "infectious hybrid of reggae, pop, and hip-hop styles".[7] In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton noted that the song, being in "a soul/dance vein", "certainly [is] one of the most credible records to be a British Eurovision entry for years".[8]

Tim Jeffery from Music Week's RM Dance Update wrote, "A very pleasant mid-tempo groove with great vocals and a bit of rapping that swings along beautifully in quite old-fashioned jazz funk way and it really gets on your brain. Only trouble is it's a real summer tune — released at the right time this could be another Zhane."[9] Iestyn George from NME praised it as an "impossibly sunny soulful hip-hop groove", noting that it features Saint Etienne collaborator QT, RPM's Jay Williams and Dina Carroll backing vocalist Paul Hardy.[10]

Eurovision Song Contest 1995

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Jonathan King, then working for BBC Television, tasked with finding and producing an entry for Eurovision, requested that the song be submitted for the "A Song for Europe" contest in 1995. The selectors were looking for something different from past British Eurovision entries, that better represented what was popular in the charts. The band members were all from different backgrounds, and multi-racial. Hardy's father was from Cyprus, Williams is of Hispanic background, and Reason (Yinka Charles) is Jamaican/Irish.[11]

After "Love City Groove" won A Song for Europe with 70,000 votes, controversy arose when it was alleged that the song had broken contest rules for receiving extensive airplay before the selection process, as it had been previously available as a white label release. At the time, the rules stated that a song was not allowed to receive airplay before the contest, but seven British radio stations broadcast the song 27 times in early 1995, including BBC Radio 1. Following an investigation led by A Song for Europe producer Kevin Bishop, it was determined that the song had not violated contest rules since its airplay ultimately did not affect the contest's results. This decision upset several managers of the competing entrants, including Tom Watkins (representing Deuce) and Laurie Jay (representing Dear Jon). Jay called the decision a "scam," and Watkins refused to participate in the contest again, saying, "People might say I've got sour grapes, but I'm in third place anyway so I'm out of the running. I just think it's a bloody mockery."[12]

On the night of the Eurovision Song Contest, "Love City Groove" was performed 15th in the running order, following Belgium's Frédéric Etherlinck with "La voix est libre" and preceding Portugal's Tó Cruz with "Baunilha e chocolate". It received 76 points, placing 10th in a field of 23.[13] It was succeeded as UK representative at the 1996 contest by Gina G with "Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit".[citation needed]

Charts

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References

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  1. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 25 March 1995. p. 35.
  2. ^ Osborn, Michael (16 May 2006). "Entertainment; Rapping for glory at Eurovision". BBC News. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  3. ^ a b Osborn, Michael (16 May 2006). "Rapping for glory at Eurovision". BBC News. Archived from the original on 27 June 2006. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  4. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 331. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  5. ^ Westbrook, Caroline (13 February 2016). "Here's the moment that Voice hopeful Paul Phoenix took to the Eurovision stage..." Metro. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  6. ^ Bush, John. "Love City Groove – Love City Groove". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  7. ^ Flick, Larry (20 May 1995). "Dance Trax: Victor Simonelli Rolls 'Em Down The Aisles" (PDF). Billboard. p. 24. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  8. ^ Masterton, James (9 April 1995). "Week Ending April 15th 1995". Chart Watch UK. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  9. ^ Jeffery, Tim (11 February 1995). "Hot Vinyl" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental insert). p. 10. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  10. ^ George, Iestyn (25 February 1995). "Groove Check". NME. p. 19. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  11. ^ Hardy, Paul (5 June 2020). "Paul Hardy on the UK: 'We always use the political bias as an excuse'". ESCBubble (Interview). Interviewed by Anthony, Matthew. Retrieved 10 July 2023. Includes video of the song.
  12. ^ "Airplay Row Hits Song for Europe". Music Week. 15 April 1995. p. 3.
  13. ^ "Love City Groove". Eurovision Universe. 21 April 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  14. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12, no. 21. 27 May 1995. p. 31. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  15. ^ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (18.06.1995 – 24.06.1995)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 16 June 1995. p. 24. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  16. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Love City Groove". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  17. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  18. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  19. ^ "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  20. ^ "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  21. ^ "The RM Club Chart" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental insert). 18 March 1995. p. 8. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  22. ^ "Top 100 Singles 1995". Music Week. 13 January 1996. p. 9.
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Preceded by United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
1995 		Succeeded by
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