In 1993, Wet Wet Wet turned “Love Is All Around” into one of the biggest U.K. hits of all time — even though the song was nearly 30 years old by the time they recorded it.
Screenwriter Richard Curtis was putting together Four Weddings and a Funeral and needed the perfect track to tie it all together.
He approached the band with three options. They could have gone with Gloria Gaynor‘s “I Will Survive” or Barry Manilow‘s “Can’t Smile Without You.” Instead, they picked a Troggs track from 1967.
Singer Marti Pellow said the choice was a no-brainer. They went with “Love Is All Around,” he explained, “because we knew we could make it our own.”
The song went on to spend 15 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart. It was played so heavily that radio stations eventually banned it, with listeners growing tired of hearing it everywhere they tuned into.
After that 15th week at the top, the band reportedly made the decision to pull the single from sale, which stopped them from equalling Bryan Adams‘ record of 16 consecutive weeks at number one.
Pellow later admitted they may have worn out their welcome that summer, but he had no regrets.
“We did everybody’s head in the summer of 1994. I still think it’s a brilliant record. Its strength is its sheer simplicity. Any band would give their eye teeth to have a hit record like that. I’m very proud of it.”
What some may not realize is that the song had already been recorded decades earlier, before Wet Wet Wet released their cover. The late Reg Presley wrote “Love Is All Around” in 1967, and his band The Troggs released it that November, where it reached number five in the U.K.
As for the inspiration behind the track, Presley was watching a TV performance by the Salvation Army band The Joy Strings, who were playing a song called “Love That’s All Around.” In just 10 minutes, he reportedly had the whole thing written.
He later recalled the moment in the July 2011 edition of Mojo magazine.
“I got back from America, I smelt the Sunday lunch cooking (inhales deeply), phaaaaw – after about 25 years on burgers – I kissed my wife, my little daughter, four years old. We went into the lounge and those Salvation Girls, The Joystrings, were on television, banging their tambourines and singing something, ‘Love, love,’ love.’ I went over to turn it off, knelt down and hearing that ‘Love, love’ I got a bass line, (sings) ‘doom, doomdoom, doomdoom, doomdoom, doom,’ and I got: ‘I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes. My wife, my kid… And so the feeling grows.'”
Leave a Reply