"Genius of Love" is a 1981 hit song by Tom Tom Club from their eponymous debut album.
Contents[]
- 2 Chart performance
- 3 Samples
- 4 Music video
- 5 Singles
- 6 Charts
- 7 See also
- 8 References
- 9 External links
Song[edit][]
"Genius of Love" was Tom Tom Club's second single. Although the album had not been released in North America, over a hundred thousand copies of the single sold as imports from Island Records's UK, at which point Sire Records made a deal to release the single and the album in North America in late 1981.
Tom Tom Club appeared in the 1984 Talking Heads concert movie Stop Making Sense performing "Genius of Love," although this incarnation of the group did not include Tina Weymouth's sisters Laura and Lani. Director Jonathan Demme added "Genius of Love" to the concert primarily so that David Byrne could exit the stage and change into his oversized suit, and he assured Weymouth that the performance would not be included on the final cut of the film. When Weymouth saw an early screening of the film she was thus surprised and irritated to see "Genius of Love," but Demme refused to change anything before the official release.
The B-side of the "Genius of Love (Long Version)" 12" vinyl has a lesser-known underground hit called "Yella". On some pressings, the song is sometimes credited to Mr. Yellow and, on others, it is credited to Yella. It is assumed that this is really the Tom Tom Club using a pseudonym. This cover repeats the chorus: "You've got to have a strong heart to live in New York..."
Chart performance[edit][]
On its release in November 1981, "Genius of Love" became a huge hit in the clubs and on the R&B and dance charts worldwide, soon earning the Tom Tom Club LP aGold Sales Award in 1982. Like its predecessor "Wordy Rappinghood", it peaked at #1 in the U.S. Hot Dance Play chart, and also reached #2 on the Hot Soul Singles chart. It later went on to peak at #31 on the USBillboard Hot 100,[1] becoming the Tom Tom Club's only entry on the US Billboard Hot 100. Although primarily associated with the dance club culture of the early 1980s, the track was also a surprise hit on the US Mainstream Rock chart where it peaked at #24.
"Genius of Love" was not quite as popular in the United Kingdom as some of the Tom Tom Club's other releases, as it only reached #65 in the UK Singles Chart (both of the other two singles released from the Tom Tom Club LP achieved Top 30 placings in the UK). However, despite its relatively low chart position, the song still received a great deal of airplay on UK radio (although the radio version was heavily edited due to the song's length, and also in part due to its references to the recreational drug, cocaine) and the full-length version became a club favorite in Britain, helped by the popularity of the accompanying music video. A song based on the keyboards-and-bass rhythm in "Genius of Love" was later used in a long-running TV advertising campaign in the UK by the Bird's desserts company between 1985 and 1992, the commercials featuring a spin on the psychedelic animation of the Tom Tom Club video using rudimentary CGI. In 2002, it was also used in a popular TV commercial for Kia Motors.
The single also became a major club success all around Europe, and peaked at #28 in New Zealand, the first of three Top 40 hits for the band there.
Samples[edit][]
The song is one of the most sampled rhythm tracks of the 1980s,[2] particularly within the rap/R&B/hip-hop genre, with dozens of unsolicited remixes and versions, most notably Dr. Jeckyl & Mr. Hyde's "Genius Rap" in 1981; Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's "It's Nasty" in 1982; Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" in 1995, and The X-Ecutioners' "Genius of Love 2002" in 2002.
Other artists have incorporated "Genius of Love" into their works, including Public Enemy's "Leave This Off Your Fu*kin Charts", Redman's "Brick City Mashin'", Cam'ron's "Me, My Moms & Jimmy", 2nd II None's "Niggaz Trippin'", Fresh Kid Ice's "Roll Call", 2Pac's "High Speed", Busta Rhymes' "One", Ant Banks' "Roll 'Em Phat", P.M. Dawn's "Gotta Be... Movin' On Up", Annie's "Chewing Gum", Menajahtwa's "I Ain't Nasti", 50 Cent's "When I Get Out", Erick Sermon's "Genius E Dub", Mac Dre's "Chop that Ho", Dream Warriors' "And Now the Legacy Begins", T.I.'s "Down Like That", Mark Morrison's "Return of the Mack", Ice Cube's "Bop Gun (One Nation)", Warren G's "What's Love Got to Do with It" and the D-Influence Real Live Mix of Billie's "Girlfriend".
The song's musical bridge, which contains a repeated chant of "Bohannon", was one of several theme songs used for many years by a syndicated US talk radio program hosted by Jim Bohannon. However, the chant was intended for record producer and disco pioneer Hamilton Bohannon.
Music video[edit][]
Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel produced the animated music video based on the pop art work of James Rizzi, featured on the Tom Tom Club album cover.
Singles[edit][]
- "Genius of Love" / "Lorelei" (Instrumental) UK, 1981 (7"/12")[3]
- "Genius of Love" / "Lorelei" (Instrumental) Netherlands, 1981 (7"/12")[3]
- "Genius of Love" / "Lorelei" (Instrumental) Germany, 1981 (7")[3]
- "Genius of Love" / "Lorelei" (Instrumental) USA, 1981 (7"/12")[3]
Charts[edit][]
| Chart (1982) | Peak
position |
|---|---|
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[4] | 26 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[5] | 28 |
| UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[6] | 65 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[7] | 31 |
| US Hot Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[8] | 1 |
| US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[8] | 2 |