A Groovy Kind of Love

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"A Groovy Kind of Love" is a pop song written by Toni Wine and Carole Bayer Sager and published by the Screen Gems music publishing company. It is heavily based on the Rondo movement of Sonatina in G major, op. 36 no. 5[1] by Muzio Clementi. The song was released first by Diane & Annita in 1965, and several covers have since appeared on worldwide music charts.

The song title was an early use of the then-new slang word "groovy". Wine, who was 17 years old when she wrote the song, said, "Carole came up with "Groovy kinda… groovy kinda… groovy…" and we're all just saying, 'Kinda groovy, kinda groovy, kinda…' and I don't exactly know who came up with "Love", but it was 'Groovy kind of love'. And we did it. We wrote it in 20 minutes. It was amazing. Just flew out of our mouths, and at the piano, it was a real quick and easy song to write."[2]

The Mindbenders version

"A Groovy Kind of Love"
File:MindbendersAGKoL.jpg
Single by The Mindbenders
from the album The Mindbenders
B-side "Love Is Good"
Released 1965 (1965)
Format 7"
Genre Pop
Length 1:59
Label Fontana
Writer(s) Carole Bayer Sager, Toni Wine
The Mindbenders singles chronology
"A Groovy Kind of Love"
(1965)		 "Can't Live with You, Can't Live Without You"
(1966)

Jack McGraw, who ran the London Screen Gems offices, thought the Wine/Bayer Sager song was a perfect match for the new group the Mindbenders, who recorded their version of "A Groovy Kind of Love" in 1965. They liked the result so much that they included the song on their first album The Mindbenders (US title "A Groovy Kind of Love") and released the song to radio as their debut single. It reached #2 in the UK the week of January 19–26, 1966 and it also hit #2 in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 for 2 weeks in late May and early June 1966. The song features a female backup chorus, who sings the words "You and me", and the repeated title towards the end of each verse of the song.

Chart performance

Country Peak
position
Ireland[3] 9
United Kingdom[4] 2
United States 2

Phil Collins version

"A Groovy Kind of Love"
Single by Phil Collins
from the album Buster: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
B-side "Big Noise"
Released 27 August 1988[5]
Format 7", 12", CD single
Recorded 1988
Genre Pop
Length 3:30
Writer(s) Carole Bayer Sager, Toni Wine
Producer(s) Phil Collins, Anne Dudley
Certification Gold (RIAA)
Phil Collins singles chronology
"In the Air Tonight"
(Remix)
(1988)		 "A Groovy Kind of Love"
(1988)		 "Two Hearts"
(1988)

Phil Collins recorded a new version of "A Groovy Kind of Love" in 1988. He had originally suggested the song as a good one for collaborator Stephen Bishop to record, with Collins producing. Collins originally recorded his demo version as a suggestion for the film Buster, then found out later that the demo was actually used in the film. He later decided to record it himself when he took the starring role in the film, which had a 1960s setting.[6] The song was originally released on Buster: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. A live version appeared on his Serious Hits... Live! album.

Unlike the Mindbenders' version, which was an upbeat guitar-based pop song, Collins's version was a slow ballad with a prominent piano and strings. This version hit No. 1 on both the U.S. and UK charts, and remains Collins' only single to top the charts in both countries; it was also his last No. 1 single in the UK.[7] It also reached No. 1 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart. The song earned Collins a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male in 1989.

Personnel

Chart performance

Chart (1988) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart[8] 2
Austrian Singles Chart[8] 6
Canadian Singles Chart 1
Dutch Top 40[9] 1
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[10] 4
French Singles Chart[8] 15
German Singles Chart 3
Irish Singles Chart[11] 1
Italian Singles Chart[12] 1
New Zealand Singles Chart[8] 3
Norwegian Singles Chart[8] 2
Swedish Singles Chart[8] 5
Swiss Singles Chart[8] 1
UK Singles Chart[4] 1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary Singles 1
Zimbabwe Singles Chart[13] 2

Other covers

Other covers include:

In 1979, Italian artist Ivan Graziani recorded "Agnese", his own adaptation of Clementi's Rondo, which has the same song structure.[14]

In 1989, Hong Kong singer Sandy Lam covered this song in Cantonese.

In 1998, ska/punk band My Superhero covered the song as "Groovy" on their album Solid State 14.

In 2011, a version of the song based on Phil Collins's slow ballad interpretation was featured in an advert for Walkers crisps featuring Gary Lineker.[15]

In 2011, the TV show New Girl featured the Phil Collins version in the episode "Wedding."

Preceded by UK number one single
4 September 1988		 Succeeded by
"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" by The Hollies
Preceded by Billboard Adult Contemporary (chart) number-one single
8 October 1988 (3 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"One Moment in Time" by Whitney Houston
Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number one single
22 October 1988 – 29 October 1988		 Succeeded by
"Kokomo" by The Beach Boys

References

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  1. ↑ op.36 from Muzio Clementi - Public domain scores in the IMSLP
  2. ↑ Songfacts Interviews:Toni Wine
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ [1][dead link]
  6. ↑ Allmusic: A Groovy Kind of Love (Phil Collins)
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ * Zimbabwe. Kimberley, C. Zimbabwe: singles chart book. Harare: C. Kimberley, 2000
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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