I Want to Know What Love Is

"I Want to Know What Love Is" is a 1984 power ballad recorded by the British-American rock band Foreigner. The song hit #1 in both the UK and the U.S. and is the band's biggest hit. It remains one of the band's best known songs and most enduring radio hits, charting in the top 25 in 2000, 2001 and 2002 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Recurrents chart.^[1][2]

Song information

Written by Mick Jones,^[3][4] and produced by Jones 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 15 January 1985 and stayed there for three weeks. It reached the top of the US Billboard Hot 100 on 2 February 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 US. This was the band's third of four #1 singles on the mainstream rock chart. The song spent five weeks at #1 in Australia and also hit the top of the charts in Canada, Norway, and Sweden, peaking at #2 in Switzerland and South Africa.

The song was also issued as a 12" single with a slightly longer time length of 6:23. This version contains a slightly longer intro and an extended vocal chorus/fadeout ending.

The single's B-Side "Street Thunder (Marathon Theme)" is an instrumental track originally appearing on The Official Music of the XXIII Olympiad - Los Angeles 1984 and later on the band's 2-CD compilation Jukebox Heroes: The Foreigner Anthology in 2000.

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 on the Hot Black Singles chart and #12 on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart.

The Foreigner song was ranked by Billboard as the number four Hot 100 single of the year 1985.^[5] It was the band's fourth Gold single in the U.S.^[6] and their first and only Gold single in the UK.^[7]

Originally consisting of three verses, a pre-chorus and a chorus, the song was extended with a bridge written by original songwriter Mick Jones specifically for Tina Arena's cover in 1998.

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" at #65.

The song was used on the 16th episode of Miami Vice in the first season, entitled "Rites of Passage" on 8 February 1985. The song was made part of the videogame Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories soundtrack in 2006, and was the background music for the game's first trailer and intro cutscene. In 2007, the game SingStar '80s included the song. The song was played in a scene in Larry The Cable Guy: Health Inspector and in the "Valentine's Day" episode of the TV show Ed. The song also features in the 1998 Swedish film Show Me Love. The song was sung twice on General Hospital in 2009; first by the character Spinelli to his girlfriend Maxie at Jake's karaoke night, and second by guests at a reception, to Spinelli and Maxie. The song appears in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.

Chart performance

Tina Arena version

"I Want to Know What Love Is" was covered by Australian singer Tina Arena and her recording was released as a single in 1998 from her album In Deep. Arena's version of the song was produced by Foreigner band member Mick Jones, who was the song's writer. This version of the song includes a previously unrecorded bridge between the second and third choruses, specifically written for Tina Arena by Mick Jones.

Track listings

European Maxi Single

1. "I Want to Know What Love Is" (Single Edit)
2. "I Want to Know What Love Is" (R & B Mix)
3. "I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You" (G-Vo Extended Mix)
4. "Not For Sale"

Australian CD1 Maxi Single

1. "I Want To Know What Love Is" (Single Edit)
2. "Now I Can Dance" (Spanglish Version)
3. "Now I Can Dance" (Live)
4. "If I Didn't Love You" (Remix)

Australian CD2 Maxi Single - The Remixes

1. "I Want to Know What Love Is" (R'n'B Mix)
2. "I Want to Know What Love Is" (Urban Mix)
3. "I Want to Know What Love Is" (Extended Urban Mix)
4. "I Want to Know What Love Is" (Single Edit)

Charts

The song peaked at number 13 in France and finished 60th on the end-of-year chart of 1999.^[20]

Wynonna Judd version

"I Want to Know What Love Is" was covered by American country singer Wynonna Judd and her recording was released in August 24, 2004 from her album What the World Needs Now Is Love as fourth single. Wynonna's version of the song was produced by Narada Michael Walden, known to produce for Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin and George Michael, and Wynonna. This version of the song was included in a popular Brazilian soap opera, Senhora do Destino.

Track listings

Digital download

1. "I Want To Know What Love Is" — 5:41

Remixes

1. "I Want To Know What Love Is" (Piper Remix) — 4:05
2. "I Want To Know What Love Is" (Piper Club Mix) — 7:42

Charts

In the US, the song peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary. On the Hot Dance Club Songs of Billboard, it debuted at number 50 and peaked at number 12. It is also her first single to chart in Sweden, where it debuted at number 67 and peaked at number 15.

Release history

Mariah Carey version

"I Want to Know What Love Is" was covered by American singer Mariah Carey and released as the second single from her twelfth studio album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (2009).^[32] The single, produced by Carey, C. "Tricky" Stewart and James "Big Jim" Wright, was sent to European radio stations on August 28^[33] and official impacted U.S. radio on September 14, 2009.^[33] Mick Jones said of her version: "I think she's actually retained the integrity of the song. You know, the arrangement is very similar to the original. They haven't tampered with the song too much. She's captured a certain emotional thing, a feeling."

Critical reception

The single garnered universal acclaim; Australian magazine Rhyme & Reason stated that "[While Carey stayed] [...] true to the original, this piano-led remake is less an overhaul of the classic '80s hit than it is a modest but impressive update."^[34] The UK Daily Star gave it a 5 out of 5 rating: "[The song is] given the Carey treatment and [is] complete with choir and karaoke climax. It's a great rework."^[35] Bill Lamb from About.com said that "Mariah Carey's new version could leave you speechless. The diversity of vocal coloring expressed in this recording is stunning. While the single Obsessed remains disappointing, this single is a reminder of just how formidable Carey's talents are given a strong production and arrangement".^[33] Los Angeles Times said "[T]ackling a well-known power ballad seems like a safe choice. It's a comfortable fall-back plan after "Obsessed" performed well, but did far from blockbuster numbers. It will undoubtedly be a hit, but it's giving me more reason to fear Imperfect Angel. The sort-of-real/sort-of-not feud with Eminem seemed largely a ploy to keep Carey in the headlines, and covering Foreigner seems just as calculated to steer Carey back onto familiar ground".^[36] Entertainment Weekly said "Mariah + Gospel Choir + "I Want to Know What Love Is" = Ecstasy".^[37]

Performances and promotion

• Carey debuted "I Want to Know What Love Is" at her Live At The Pearl concerts in the Pearl Arena at The Palms Casino & Resport, Las Vegas, on September 11 and 12, 2009.^[38]
• Carey performed the song live on The Oprah Winfrey Show on September 18.^[39] Carey taped a performance of the song in front of The View's studio audience on September 28 for an episode aired on October 2. On October 2, Carey performed the song live on The Today Show.
• A New York radio station contest featured as its prize a mini concert by Carey at the P.C. Richard Theater in TriBeCa, New York on October 5, where she sang the song as well as "Obsessed" and "H.A.T.E.U.", also from the album.^[40]
• During an international promotional trip, Carey taped an appearance performing the song on the television show Sketchbook in South Korea on October 13, for an episode to air on October 23. Carey performed the song in Japan on the television show Music Station on October 16.
• Carey performed the single on Italy's X factor on November 11, and in France where she did various radio interviews.^[41]
• The Mariah Carey: T4 Special aired in the UK featuring an interview and a performance on November 14. On November 19 she was interviewed and performed on the first show of the second series of Alan Carr's Chatty Man and switched on the Christmas lights at the Westfield London shopping center. Carey performed the song on The X Factor on November 22, GMTV on the 23rd and This Morning on the 24th.

Music video

Carey filmed a music video for "I Want to Know What Love Is" in September 2009 in New York City, directed by Hype Williams.^[42] The video premiered on Mariah's official website on November 13, 2009.^[43] The video features Carey singing in Yankee Stadium, intercut with shots of audience members, often accompanied by loved ones, and some glimpses into the tough times in their past, as they grow emotional from the song's performance. A gospel choir joins Carey at the center of the stadium at the video's end. Carey wears the signature curly hairstyle from the initial stages of her career ca. 1990–1993, maintaining the Memoirs theme of the album.

Formats and track listings

Digital download

1. "I Want to Know What Love Is" (album version) — 3:26

UK digital single^[44]

1. "I Want to Know What Love Is" (album version) — 3:26
2. "I Want to Know What Love Is" (Moto Blanco Club Edit) — 3:25
3. "I Want to Know What Love Is" (Chew Fu Radio Fix) — 3:51

European CD single^[45]

1. "I Want to Know What Love Is" — 3:39
2. "Obsessed" (Cahill club edit) — 6:21

Charts

The song peaked on the U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary Tracks chart at number ten, bringing Carey's total number of Top Ten hits on that chart to 20, one short of Celine Dion's record. She has since surpassed this and is now tied with Celine Dion after her single Oh Santa! reached number one in 2010.^[46] However, on the U.S. Hot 100, it peaked at number 60. On the UK Singles Chart, the song debuted at number 19 on the week ending November 29, becoming her highest debuting and peaking song since 2008's "Touch My Body", which peaked at number five.^[47]

The song debuted at number six in France, selling 1,910 physical CDs in its first week,^[48] and 39,720 copies of all formats there as of late 2009.^[49] becomes the best charting version of this song there.It placed 93rd on the Year-End Chart.

It also reached number three in Japan.

In Brazil, the song stayed at number one for a record 27 weeks the album is pending Platinum certification for shipments of over 60,000 copies, though it has been certified Gold. One of the reasons for the song's radio success there was its frequent inclusion in a popular new soap opera, Viver a Vida. According to Crowley Broadcast Analysis, Carey's version has broken the record for longest Brazilian Hot 100 Airplay Chart run at 27 consecutive weeks.^[50]

Release history

Other covers

Laura Branigan and John Farnham performed a duet to the song on live television for the 1986 Logie Awards, an Australian awards show.^[78][79]

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. Filipina singer Regine Velasquez covered the song in her 1997 album Retro, a collection of remakes.

The chorus of this song was briefly sung by Faith No More's Mike Patton at the end of their song "Epic" during their Civic Hall, Wolverhampton show at the UK on 01-12-97.

A Spanish-language version by The Barrio Boyzz, entitled "Quiero Saber Que Es Amor/I Want to Know What Love Is", hit #40 on Billboard's Latin Tropical/Salsa Airplay chart on April 7, 2001. In 2001, singer Rhona covered it on her debut self-titled album. A cover by Gloria Gaynor appears on the 2002 K-Tel compilation Tina Turner & Gloria Gaynor, Back to Back.

In 2002, the victims of fires in a disco in Sweden and a bar in the Netherlands recorded this song as a way for these young people to learn to cope with their memories and their injuries. Their single, released under the artist name Volendam meets Göteborg, reached #39 in the Dutch charts.^[80]

In 2004, a cover by Sarah Geronimo from her album Sweet Sixteen was a hit in her native Philippines. That year, the song was performed on Australian Idol Season 2 by eventual runner-up Anthony Callea on the Top 6 '80s show. The performance was well received by the judges and audience and a studio cover by Callea was included on the album Australian Idol Season 2: The Final 10 Cast Album.

The song was one of several covers chosen by Clay Aiken to appear on his 2006 album A Thousand Different Ways.

French-Canadian singer Nathalie Simard covered this song on her 2007 album Il Y Avait Un Jardin.

In 2008 this song was covered by David Phelps on his album The Voice. The song was also performed by Celtic Thunder's Keith Harkin in concert, and it appears on that band's 2008 album Act Two.

Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song for the 2009 movie Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel and its soundtrack. Leela James covered the song on her 2009 sophomore release Let's Do It Again.

Other covers of this song have been recorded by familiar artists as diverse as Progressive rock keyboardist Geoffrey Downes, pop chanteuses Rita Coolidge and Shirley Bassey, Latin crooner Julio Iglesias, Memphis soul singer Ann Peebles and Christian pop artist Kathy Troccoli.

References