Love in the First Degree
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| “Love in the First Degree” | |||||
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| Single by Bananarama from the album Wow! |
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| B-side | Mr. Sleaze | ||||
| Released | October 1987 | ||||
| Format | 7" single, 12" single | ||||
| Recorded | March 1987 | ||||
| Genre | Pop, Dance | ||||
| Label | London Records | ||||
| Writer(s) | Matt Aitken, Sarah Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, Mike Stock, Pete Waterman, Keren Woodward | ||||
| Producer | Stock Aitken Waterman | ||||
| Bananarama singles chronology | |||||
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- This article is about a song by Bananarama. For the unrelated song by Alabama, see Love in the First Degree (Alabama song).
"Love in the First Degree" is a song written and recorded by English girl group Bananarama. It is included on their fourth studio album Wow! and was released as its second single except in the U.S., where it was the album's third single (following "I Can't Help It"). The track was co-written and produced by the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) trio.
The song is an uptempo pop tune similar to many hits produced by SAW during this time period. The surreal lyrics, composed by Siobhan Fahey and built upon by SAW and Bananarama members Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward, describes a dream in which they find themselves being tried in court for love. Some of the musical structure mimics Pachelbel's Canon.
The music video featured Bananarama (including a very pregnant Fahey) performing the song in a jail cell, dressed in prison uniforms, as several male dancers perform around them. The imagery plays off of Elvis Presley's 1957 movie Jailhouse Rock. As one of their final performances with Fahey, the group performed the song at the BRIT Awards with a large entourage of male dancers dressed only in black bikini briefs. The song was nominated for best British single at the BRIT Awards, but lost to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up".
"Love in the First Degree" is Bananarama's biggest-selling single in their native UK. It holds a three-way tie for their highest UK singles chart placing (number three). The single also became a top-ten success in Australia and earned a top-twenty placing in New Zealand. In the United States the song just missed the top-forty, but was a top-ten club hit.
By the time "Love in the First Degree" was released in the United States, Fahey had already announced her departure from Bananarama.
In 2007, a mash-up of the song with Basement Jaxx's 2005 hit "Oh My Gosh" became popular on the internet.
[edit] Charts
| Chart (1987) | Peak position |
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| UK Singles Chart | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 48 |
| U.S. Hot Dance Club Play | 10 |
| Australia ARIA singles | 5 |
| New Zealand singles | 11 |
| Switzerland singles chart | 18 |
| Spain singles chart | 12 |
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