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This article is about the Haddaway song. For other songs with the same title, see What Is Love (disambiguation).
"What Is Love"
Single by Haddaway
from the album Haddaway
B-side "Sing About Love"
Released May 8, 1993
Format CD single, CD maxi
Recorded 1992
Genre House, Eurodance
Length 4:29 (Album Version/7" Mix)
Label Coconut Records
Writer(s) D. Halligan / J. Torello
Producer D. Halligan / J. Torello
Haddaway singles chronology
"What Is Love"
(1993)		 "Life"
(1993)
Alternate covers
"What Is Love - Remix", French CD-Single
"What Is Love - Reloaded", CD-Maxi

"What Is Love" is a 1993 dance track by the singer Haddaway, popular with club DJs. Recorded in the early 1990s, it later experienced a revival as the song from the Saturday Night Live "Roxbury Guys" sketches, which were later made into the 1998 feature film A Night at the Roxbury.

The song peaked at #2 in the United Kingdom and Germany, but it reached #1 in thirteen other countries, all of them European or Asian. In the United States the song reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #12 in Australia. The song is currently the 62nd best-selling single of all time in Germany.[1]

Contents

Cover versions

  • In 2006, Finnish band Leningrad Cowboys recorded a hard rock cover of the song on their album, Zombies Paradise.
  • Spanish singer Jose Galisteo, a contestant in the fifth season of the Spanish reality television series Operación Triunfo, covered the song for his 2007 debut album Remember.
  • The song was given an industrial makeover by the band The MDP.
  • Finnish Dark Wave Rocker Kinetic Control put it on their debut album Lack Of Divine Inspiration.
  • Irish shoegaze band Razor Stilettos covered the song live at a gig supporting The Coronas.
  • The song was covered on Hermes House Band's Rhythm of the Nineties album in 2009.
  • John Bourke did a cover that was later remixed by The Toxic Avenger to give it an Electro/House sound.

Sampling

Haddaway's song was sampled by Atlanta crunk/hip-hop group Crime Mob on a song also called "What Is Love". The track was leaked to the Internet in late 2006, and due to leaking was left off their second album Hated On Mostly, released March 2007.

In 2010 the song was also sampled by Atlanta rapper Gorilla Zoe who uses to same instrumental, this version was also titled "What Is Love". This song appears on one of the rapper's various mixtapes and uses excessive Auto-Tune.

Parodies

  • The song has been covered by The Gossip, with lead singer Beth Ditto changing the lyrics to "When Is Lunch?, Baby I'm Hungry, I'm Hungry, For More".[2]

References or appearances in other media

Films and television

The song has appeared in:

Computer and video games

The song has appeared in:

Commercials and movie trailers

The song has been used in:

Other media

The song has been used:

  • as Jeff Duncan's theme song in WCW[citation needed].
  • in "Evolution of Dance", a clip from a video made by American motivational speaker Judson Laipply.
  • as the background music for the previous night's NBA highlights on NBC's NBA Showtime in the mid-to-late '90s. The music video featured clips from Metropolis. Since 1994, it has been played prior to the opening pitch of every Tulane Green Wave home baseball game.
  • as an internet meme via the internet community YTMND (You're The Man Now, Dog), often as a juxtaposition with an animated GIF of the Roxbury Guys.
  • as bumper music on The Mark Levin Show, syndicated in the United States
  • in a mash-up by DJ Otter II "What is Numa Numa" with the song Dragostea din tei
  • in a viral video depicting a Melbourne busker in a chicken suit playing the song theme[3]

Track listings

"What Is Love"
CD single / 7"
  1. "What Is Love" – 4:28
  2. "Sing About Love" – 3:12
CD maxi - France
  1. "What Is Love" (7" mix) – 4:29
  2. "What Is Love" (12" mix) – 6:40
  3. "What Is Love" (club mix) – 5:02
  4. "Sing About Love" – 4:36
"What Is Love - Remix"
CD single - France
  1. "What Is Love" (eat-this mix - radio edit) – 4:19
  2. "What Is Love" (refreshmento extro mix) – 3:52
CD maxi
  1. "What Is Love - Remix" (eat-this mix) – 6:54
  2. "What Is Love" (tour de trance-mix) – 6:00
  3. "What Is Love" (7" mix) – 4:27
"What Is Love - Reloaded"
CD maxi
  1. "What Is Love - Reloaded" (video mix) – 3:16
  2. "What Is Love - Reloaded" (reloaded mix) – 6:09
  3. "What Is Love - Reloaded" (what is club mix) – 6:39
  4. "What Is Love - Reloaded" (Jens O.'s hard remix) – 5:32
  5. "What Is Love - Reloaded" (radio edit) – 2:56
  6. "What Is Love - Reloaded" (lunaris remix) – 6:21

Charts and sales

Charts

Chart (1993) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart[4] 12
Austrian Singles Chart[5] 1
Belgian Singles Chart 1
Dutch Mega Top 100[6] 1
European Singles Chart 1
Finnish Singles Chart 1
French SNEP Singles Chart[7] 1
German Singles Chart[8] 2
Irish Singles Chart[9] 1
Italian Singles Chart 1
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart[10] 48
Norwegian Singles Chart[11] 1
Spanish Singles Chart 1
Swedish Singles Chart[12] 2
Swiss Top 100 Singles Chart[13] 1
UK Singles Chart[14] 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[15] 11
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream[15] 4
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40[15] 15
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales[15] 6
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[15] 9
Chart (1993)1 Peak
position
Swiss Singles Chart[16] 15
Chart (2003)2 Peak
position
Austrian Singles Chart[17] 49
Danish Singles Chart[18] 20
Dutch Mega Top 100[19] 100
German Singles Chart[8] 51
Swiss Singles Chart[20] 92

1 "What Is Love - Remixes"
2 "What Is Love - Reloaded"
End of year chart (1993) Position
Austrian Singles Chart[21] 3
Swiss Singles Chart[22] 2

Certifications

Country Certification Date Sales certified
Austria[23] Platinum October 19, 1993 30,000
Germany[24] Platinum 1993 300,000
Sweden[25] Gold July 19, 1993 10,000
UK[26] Gold July 1, 1993 400,000
U.S.[27] Gold November 9, 1993 500,000

Successions

Preceded by
"Informer" by Snow		 Norwegian VG-Lista number one single
22/1993 – 29/1993 (8 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Mr. Vain" by Culture Beat
Preceded by
"All That She Wants" by Ace of Base		 Austrian number one single
May 9, 1993 – July 4, 1993 (9 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Mr. Vain" by Culture Beat
Preceded by
"Mr. Blue" by René Klijn		 Dutch number one single
May 15, 1993 – June 19, 1993 (6 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"(I Can't Help) Falling in Love With You (UB40 song)" by UB40
Preceded by
"Tribal Dance" by 2 Unlimited		 Eurochart Hot 100 number-one single
June 12, 1993 – July 24, 1993 (6 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Can't Help Falling in Love With You" by UB40
Preceded by
"Informer" by Snow		 Swiss number-one single
June 13, 1993 – July 11, 1993 (5 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Mr. Vain" by Culture Beat
Preceded by
"No Limit" by 2 Unlimited		 French SNEP number-one single
July 17, 1993 – August 14, 1993 (5 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Darla dirladada" by GO Culture

References

  1. ^ Best-selling singles of all time in Germany Musicline.de (Retrieved May 17, 2009)
  2. ^ Simon Price (2 September 2007). "Interpol/The Gossip, Reading Festival". The Independant. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/interpolthe-gossip-reading-festival-463808.html. Retrieved 16 December 2009. 
  3. ^ "Man in a Chicken suit plays "What is Love" on Pianica". http://vimeo.com/8121722. 
  4. ^ ""What Is Love", Australian Singles Chart". Australian-charts. http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Haddaway&titel=What+Is+Love&cat=s. Retrieved 31 December 2009. 
  5. ^ ""What Is Love", Austrian Singles Chart" (in German). Austriancharts. http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Haddaway&titel=What+Is+Love&cat=s. Retrieved 31 December 2009. 
  6. ^ ""What Is Love", Dutch Mega Top 100" (in Dutch). Dutchcharts. http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Haddaway&titel=What+Is+Love&cat=s. Retrieved 31 December 2009. 
  7. ^ ""What Is Love", French Singles Chart" (in French). Lescharts. http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Haddaway&titel=What+Is+Love&cat=s. Retrieved 31 December 2009. 
  8. ^ a b "Haddaway singles, German Singles Chart" (in German). musicline. http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Haddaway/single. Retrieved 31 December 2009. 
  9. ^ "Irish Singles Chart, database". Irishcharts. http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement. Retrieved 31 December 2009. 
  10. ^ ""What Is Love", New Zealand Singles Chart". Charts.org.nz. http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Haddaway&titel=What+Is+Love&cat=s. Retrieved 31 December 2009. 
  11. ^ ""What Is Love", Norwegian Singles Chart" (in Norwegian). Norwegiancharts. http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Haddaway&titel=What+Is+Love&cat=s. Retrieved 31 December 2009. 
  12. ^ ""What Is Love", Swedish Singles Chart" (in Swedish). Swedishcharts. http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Haddaway&titel=What+Is+Love&cat=s. Retrieved 31 December 2009. 
  13. ^ ""What Is Love", Swiss Singles Chart" (in German). Hitparade. http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=Haddaway&titel=What+Is+Love&cat=s. Retrieved 31 December 2009. 
  14. ^ ""What Is Love", UK Singles Chart". Chartstats. http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=20884. Retrieved 31 December 2009. 
  15. ^ a b c d e "Haddaway singles, Billboard". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:anfoxqw5ldhe~T51. Retrieved 31 December 2009. 
  16. ^ ""What Is Love - Remix", Swiss Singles Chart" (in German). Hitparade. http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?key=2634&cat=s. Retrieved 31 December 2009. 
  17. ^ ""What Is Love - Reloaded", Austrian Singles Chart" (in German). Austriancharts. http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Haddaway&titel=What+Is+Love+-+Reloaded&cat=s. Retrieved 31 December 2009. 
  18. ^ ""What Is Love - Reloaded", Danish Singles Chart" (in Danish). Danishcharts. http://danishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Haddaway&titel=What+Is+Love+-+Reloaded&cat=s. Retrieved 31 December 2009. 
  19. ^ ""What Is Love - Reloaded", Dutch Mega Top 100" (in Dutch). Dutchcharts.nl. http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Haddaway&titel=What+Is+Love+-+Reloaded&cat=s. Retrieved 31 December 2009. 
  20. ^ ""What Is Love - Reloaded", Swiss Singles Chart" (in German). Hitparade. http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=Haddaway&titel=What+Is+Love+-+Reloaded&cat=s. Retrieved 31 December 2009. 
  21. ^ "1993 Austrian Singles Chart" (in German). Austriancharts. http://www.austriancharts.at/1993_single.asp. Retrieved 31 December 2009. 
  22. ^ "1993 Swiss Singles Chart" (in German). Hitparade. http://hitparade.ch/year.asp?key=1993. Retrieved 31 December 2009. 
  23. ^ "Austrian certifications, database" (in German). Ifpi. http://www.ifpi.at/?section=goldplatin. Retrieved 17 August 2008. 
  24. ^ "German certifications, database" (in German). Musikindustrie. http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank/?action=1&strSuche=What+Is+Love. Retrieved 17 August 2008. 
  25. ^ "Swedish certifications, 1987-1998" (in Swedish). Ifpi. http://www.ifpi.se/wp-content/uploads/guld-platina-1987-1998.pdf. Retrieved 11 September 2008. 
  26. ^ "UK certifications, database". Bpi.co.uk. http://www.bpi.co.uk/. Retrieved 17 August 2008. 
  27. ^ "U.S. certifications, database". Riaa. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH. Retrieved 17 August 2008. 

External links

Haddaway
Albums
Haddaway / The Album · The Drive  · Let's Do It Now · All The Best: His Greatest Hits · My Face · Love Makes · Best of Haddaway: What Is Love · Pop Splits
Singles
"What Is Love" · "Life" · "I Miss You" · "Rock My Heart" · "Fly Away" · "Catch a Fire" · "Lover Be Thy Name" · "What About Me" · "Who Do You Love" · "You're Taking My Heart" · "Deep" · "Love Makes" · "What Is Love Reloaded" · "Spaceman" · "Missionary Man" (feat. Della Miles) · "Follow Me" · "I Love the 90's" (feat. Dr Alban) · "What Is Love 2k9" (feat. Klaas)







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