As Long as You Love Me

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“As Long As You Love Me”
“As Long As You Love Me” cover
International CD single part 1 cover
Single by The Backstreet Boys
from the album Backstreet's Back
Released September 29, 1997 (Int'l release)
November 25, 1997 (United States)
Genre Pop
Length 3:40 (Album)
3:34 (Radio)
Label Jive/Zomba
Certification .235 million
Backstreet Boys int'l singles chronology
"Everybody (Backstreet's Back)"
(1997)		 "As Long As You Love Me"
(1997)		 "All I Have To Give"
(1998)
Backstreet Boys US singles chronology
"Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)"
(1997)		 "As Long As You Love Me"
(1997)		 "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)"
(1998)

"As Long As You Love Me" is the second single by the Backstreet Boys from their debut album in the United States and the second single from Backstreet's Back internationally. It was released in September of 1997 internationally and in November of the same year in the United States. It is one of the bands' largest hits and considered one of their signature songs. It peaked at #1 in New Zealand and the Philippines, #2 in Australia and Austria, #3 in the United Kingdom, #4 in Switzerland and Sweden, and #5 in the Netherlands and Norway. [1]

In the US, although it was never released as a commercial single, it became an MTV staple and a radio airplay hit, spending 56 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart, with a peak of #4.

The song was a last minute addition to the album, as Clive Calder, then-chairman of Zomba, heard the song and called Jive Records president Barry Weiss, who then contacted the band's manager, Johnny Wright.[2] Due to an error on the part of someone in the production chain, an early mix of "As Long As You Love Me" was included on the 1997 US Backstreet Boys album, but not on Backstreet's Back. This allegedly annoyed writer and producer Max Martin. This version subsequently became the version released as a single to radio and video. It has different instrumentation and mixing, as well as a slightly different structure. The US version is usually listed as the "Radio" or "Video Version", while the international version is typically listed as "Album" or "LP Version".

Also, due to illness and the deadline for the song, member A. J. McLean's vocals do not appear on the recorded version of the song. He was taught the background vocals by Brian Littrell at the music video shoot.[2][3]

Contents

[edit] Track listing

Europe part 1

  1. As Long As You Love Me (Radio Version)
  2. Quit Playing Games (With My Heart) (e-Smoove Vocal Mix)
  3. Everybody (Backstreet's Back) (Funked Up Mix)
  4. Every Time I Close My Eyes

Europe part 2

  1. As Long As You Love Me (Radio Version)
  2. As Long As You Love Me (Unplugged Version)
  3. As Long As You Love Me (Instrumental Version)

Canada

  1. As Long As You Love Me (LP Verion)
  2. As Long As You Love Me (Soul Solution Club Mix)
  3. As Long As You Love Me (Plastik Vocal Edit)
  4. As Long As You Love Me (Soul Solution Edit)
  5. Every Time I Close My Eyes

The Remixes

  1. As Long As You Love Me (Radio Version)
  2. As Long As You Love Me (Unplugged Version)
  3. As Long As You Love Me (Matty's R&B Mix)
  4. As Long As You Love Me (Matty's House [Dee Zee AH])
  5. As Long As You Love Me (Soul Solution Club Mix)
  6. Every Time I Close My Eyes

Remixes double vinyl

  1. As Long As You Love Me (Soul Solution Club Mix)
  2. As Long As You Love Me (B-Boy Extended House Mix)
  3. As Long As You Love Me (Plastik Extended Vocal Mix)
  4. As Long As You Love Me (Jason Nevins Live On Sunset Strip Mix)
  5. As Long As You Love Me (Original Radio Version)
  6. As Long As You Love Me (Soul Solution Dub)
  7. As Long As You Love Me (Soul Solution Instrumental)
  8. As Long As You Love Me (Edge Factory Journey)
  9. As Long As You Love Me (Tranceatlantic Dub)
  10. As Long As You Love Me (Nevco Peep Show Dub)

[edit] Music video

The band performing chair routine.
The band performing chair routine.

The video was directed by Nigel Dick. It shows the band auditioning before six ladies. The number chosen so that the ladies would not appear to be matched up with the band members.[4] The ladies video tape the performances and take notes. The band members primarily sing and dance, but each member also has a short "screen test" vignette in which he dresses up in a costume and performs various unusual activities. At the bridge, the members switch places with the ladies and have them perform screen tests. The positions reverse again near the end of the song.

The dance for this song, as featured in the video, includes a dance that uses folding chairs as part of the choreography. For many years after the song's release, the band would end most performances of the song with the same chair dance routine.

There are special effects utilized in the video. Most notably, morphing sequences where the face of one member would morph into the next's, as well as quick dissolves or straight cuts between footage of the members each doing the chair routine in the same exact position of the set. The cuts cause a working fan in the background to appear to stutter in its spin.

One of the ladies in the video is Leighanne Wallace. After meeting her during the shooting of this video, Littrell would ultimately marry Wallace in 2000.

[edit] Chart Performance

Chart Peak
position
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart 1
Singapore Singles Chart 1
Latvian Airplay Top 1
Australia ARIA Singles Chart 2
Austrian Singles Chart 2
Chile 100 Singles Chart 1
UK Singles Chart 3
Swedish Singles Chart 4
Swiss Singles Chart 4
US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay 4
Dutch Singles Chart 5
Norwegian Singles Chart 5
United World Chart 3

[edit] References

  1. ^ charts.org.nz - Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
  2. ^ a b Interview with Backstreet Boys, management, and others from Entertainment Weekly 10th Anniversary Issue.
  3. ^ As noted in Backstreet Boys: All Access.
  4. ^ Backstreet Boys: All Access.
v • d • e
Backstreet Boys
Nick Carter · Howie Dorough · Brian Littrell · A. J. McLean
Kevin Richardson
Studio albums
Other albums
Singles
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