"Who Needs Love Like That"
Original 1985 single cover
Single by Erasure
from the album Wonderland and Pop! The First 20 Hits
B-side"Push Me Shove Me"
Released
  • 2 September 1985 (1985-09-02) (original version)[1]
  • 26 October 1992 (1992-10-26) (Hamburg Mix)[2]
Genre
Length3:16
Label
Songwriter(s)Vince Clarke
Producer(s)Flood
Erasure singles chronology
"Who Needs Love Like That"
(1985)		 "Heavenly Action"
(1985)
"Take a Chance on Me"
(1992)
"Who Needs Love Like That" (Hamburg Mix)
(1992)
"Always"
(1994)
Alternative cover
1992 remix single cover
Music video
"Who Needs Love Like That" on YouTube

"Who Needs Love Like That" is the debut single of English synth-pop duo Erasure. The song was released in the UK on Mute Records in 1985 as a prelude to their debut album, Wonderland (1986). The accompanying music video was directed by John Scarlett Davies and produced by Nick Verden for Aldabra. While the original 1985 release enjoyed only minor success, the later "Hamburg Mix" version (issued in 1992 to promote the Pop! compilation) reached the top 10 in both the UK and Ireland.

History

"Who Needs Love Like That" is an uptempo pop song written by Vince Clarke. The lyrics are a cast-off to a destructive love relationship, in which the protagonist asks "who needs love like that?" The music video takes place in a mock Western, with Clarke, Andy Bell and various extras dressed as cowboys. Both Bell and Clarke appear in dual roles, the others being woman's drags.

Upon its release, the song spent two weeks in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 55. In 1992, the song was remixed and tacked on to the end of Erasure's greatest hits collection Pop! The First 20 Hits (although in the US it only appears on the cassette release). The "Hamburg Mix" (slightly retitled to put "Like That" in parentheses) was released as a single and became a Top 10 UK hit, peaking at number ten.

Critical reception

In 1986, Robert Hilburn from Los Angeles Times said, "Agreed, Yaz founder Vince Clarke's dance-ready, techno-pop approach was more soulful when Alison Moyet was handling lead vocals, but the percolator-styled beat is still hard to dismiss."[4] Upon the release of the 1992 remix, Music Week wrote, "It was a brilliant introductory single, and its lack of success first time out—it peaked at number 55—is baffling. A straightforward reissue would have been preferable, as the song has very strong melodic verses, which are exorcised completely from the remix, but its dancefloor sensibilities are more than sufficient to ensure it becomes a major success."[5] Steven Wells from NME viewed it as a "catchy little flibbertygibbet".[6] Another editor, Ian McCann, noted its "operatic, faintly hysterical vocal, a hissing hi-hat, a disco bassdrum and a bleeping synth."[7] A reviewer from People Magazine stated that Clarke "has not lost his ability to make his music-box synth-sound pulse, as he does in such songs" as "Who Needs Love Like That".[8] Mark Frith from Smash Hits described it as "Human League-esque", giving it two out of five.[9]

Retrospective response

Ned Raggett from AllMusic felt that songs like "Who Needs Love Like That" "aren't quite as strong but work in the general formula quite well regardless".[10] In an 1995 review, Howard Cohen from Knight-Ridder Newspapers described it as "frothy dance".[11] In 2014, Chris Gerard from Metro Weekly wrote that it is "a little simple and raw compared to their later work (and the video is hilariously campy), but it has a classic dance groove and keyboard riff that beams the listener back nearly 30 years, and its hard to play without smiling and singing along".[12] In 2009, Darren Lee from The Quietus stated that the song "bears Yazoo's unmistakeable imprint, with Andy Bell content to mimic Alison Moyet's dulcet vocals".[13]

Track listings

Charts

Original version

Chart (1985–1986) Peak
position
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] 23
UK Singles (OCC)[15] 55
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[16]
with "Heavenly Action"		 8
US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)[17]
with "Heavenly Action"		 13
West Germany (Official German Charts)[18] 48

Hamburg Mix

Chart (1992) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[19] 18
Denmark (IFPI)[20] 5
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[21] 25
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[22] 13
Germany (Official German Charts)[23] 27
Greece (Pop + Rock)[24] 9
Ireland (IRMA)[25] 8
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[26] 31
UK Singles (OCC)[15] 10

References

  1. ↑ Smith, Robin (31 August 1985). "News: Erasure for Vince". Record Mirror. p. 6.
  2. ↑ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 24 October 1992. p. 21.
  3. ↑ Admorosi, Ad (25 August 2020). "Erasure, "The Neon"". FLOOD. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  4. ↑ Hilburn, Robert (19 April 1986). "Summer Pop Has Arrived On Airwaves". Los Angeles Times.
  5. ↑ "Mainstream: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 17 October 1992. p. 20. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  6. ↑ Wells, Steven (24 October 1992). "Singles". NME. p. 19. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  7. ↑ McCann, Ian (14 November 1992). "Singles". NME. p. 16. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  8. ↑ "Picks and Pans Review: Wonderland". People. 28 April 1986. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  9. ↑ Frith, Mark (28 October 1992). "New Singles". Smash Hits. p. 54. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  10. ↑ Raggett, Ned. "Erasure – Wonderland". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  11. ↑ Cohen, Howard (6 August 1995). "Can't duck disco". p. 4E. Wisconsin State Journal.
  12. ↑ Gerard, Chris (17 September 2014). "Erasure's 40 Greatest Tracks". Metro Weekly. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  13. ↑ Lee, Darren (27 February 2009). "Erasure – TOTAL POP! ERASURE'S FIRST 40 HITS". The Quietus. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  14. ↑ "Erasure – Who Needs Love Like That". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  15. 1 2 "Erasure: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  16. ↑ "Erasure Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  17. ↑ "Erasure Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  18. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Erasure – Who Needs Love Like That" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  19. ↑ "Erasure – Who Needs Love (Like That) %281992%29" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  20. ↑ "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 50. 12 December 1992. p. 22. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  21. ↑ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 47. 21 November 1992. p. 23. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  22. ↑ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-31-2503-5.
  23. ↑ "Erasure – Who Needs Love (Like That) [1992"] (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  24. ↑ "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 2. 9 January 1993. p. 12. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  25. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Who Needs Love (Like That)". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  26. ↑ "Erasure – Who Needs Love (Like That) %281992%29". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
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