| "It Must Be Love" | ||||||||||
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| Single by Madness | ||||||||||
| from the album Complete Madness | ||||||||||
| Released | November 25, 1981 | |||||||||
| Format | vinyl record 7" | |||||||||
| Recorded | 1981 | |||||||||
| Genre | Ska/Pop | |||||||||
| Length | 3:19 | |||||||||
| Label | Stiff Records | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Labi Siffre | |||||||||
| Producer | Clive Langer Alan Winstanley |
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| Madness singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"It Must Be Love" is a song written and originally recorded in 1971 by Labi Siffre. However, the best known version was recorded by ska/pop band Madness in 1981.
The song was featured in the 1989 movie, The Tall Guy starring Jeff Goldblum, Rowan Atkinson and Emma Thompson. Suggs also appeared in the movie whilst singing this song. The single was reissued to tie in with the film but was not a hit on that occasion.
A version with altered lyrics was used to advertise Midland Bank in 1994, and Madness' version was also used to advertise LoveFilm in 2009. Siffre's original version also appeared in a 2007 UK television advertisement for Vodafone.
The singer of the Belgian group Arid, Jasper Steverlinck, also released a cover of this song
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The original Labi Siffre recording was released as a single in 1971, and reached number 14 in the UK singles chart. It also appeared on his 1972 album Crying Laughing Loving Lying.
Madness' version was originally issued as a standalone single in 1981 and appeared on their UK number one compilation album Complete Madness the following year, and on many other Madness compilations since. In 1983, it peaked in the US Billboard Magazine chart at #33.
The video mostly shows band members playing in a white room and standing over a grave. It also features guitarist Chris Foreman and saxophonist Lee Thompson playing their instruments underwater. Foreman appears at the start of the video warning viewers not to attempt the "very dangerous stunt" they are about to see, presumably referring to the swimming pool sequence. Labi Siffre makes a cameo appearance as a violin player.
Madness' recording was re-issued in 1992, and this time reached #6 in the UK charts. A slightly remixed version with a definite ending instead of the original fade-out, appeared on the 2002 compilation Our House: the Best of Madness. More recently, in 2007, a remixed version of the song appeared in the German Edgar Wallace spoof movie Neues vom Wixxer, along with a new recording called “NW5”. As well as the remix to the song, a new video was filmed, including the band and members of the cast.
Also in 2007, Paolo Nutini covered the song for BBC Radio 1's cover compilation album, Radio 1 Established 1967.
Two other UK issues of the Madness version appeared but did not chart. In 1987 "It Must Be Love" was released on the re-issue label Old Gold Records, backed with "My Girl", and in 1988 Virgin released a 7" to coincide with the song's appearance in The Tall Guy, backed with "Return of the Los Palmas 7".
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