Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)

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"Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)"
File:Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use).jpg
Single by Sub Sub featuring Melanie Williams
from the album Full Fathom Five
Released29 March 1993 (1993-03-29)[1]
GenreDance[2]
Length
  • 5:17 (original mix)
  • 2:47 (radio edit)
LabelRob's Records
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Sub Sub
Sub Sub singles chronology
"Coast EP"
(1992) 		"Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)"
(1993) 		"Respect"
(1994)
Music video
"Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)" on YouTube

"Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)" is a song by British dance act Sub Sub, released on 29 March 1993 as the second single from their debut album, Full Fathom Five (1994). It features Temper Temper's Melanie Williams on vocals. In the accompanying music video, Jimi Goodwin plays bass, Jez Williams plays keyboards and percussion, and Andy Williams plays keytar. The song was the act's biggest single, reaching number three on the UK Singles Chart, number one on the UK Dance Singles Chart and becoming one of many dance singles in 1993 to cross over into mainstream popularity in the UK.[3] After struggling to repeat the success of the single, and after a fire destroyed the band's Ancoats studio in 1996, the group eventually reformed with a radically different sound as Doves in 1998.[3]

Background and release

Twin brothers Andy and Jez used to go to a fair when they were kids. One day Andy won a record there. They brought it home and played it, but didn't like it. The record was put away. In 1991, after Sub Sub had a hit with "Space Face" they wanted to make a follow-up to it. They spent time searching for the right sample they could use in the new song. Then Jez put the forgotten record from the fair on. It was "Good Morning Starshine" by Revelation. Jimi learned to play the bassline on a Roland Juno-106 keyboard, and the whole track came together quickly.

"I made a pact years ago that I would never complain about the song – however many times I had to sing it – or get upset about people not knowing other things that I've done, because it was such a privilege to be a part of."

—Melanie Williams talking about the song.[4]

There is also another well-known sample on there, but it has never been officially known what it is, only that it is a sound, rather than a song.[4] The band had only done instrumental and wanted to find someone to sing lyrics to their melody. Jimi's best friend, Joe Roberts, was dating singer Melanie Williams from the soul band Temper Temper at that time. They contacted her and she thought it was perfect. Williams also wrote the third verse for the song. The track was then recorded at Revolution Studios in Manchester. Sub Sub's manager Dave Rofe, Rob's Records' Pete Robinson and North South's promoter Karen Hampton were targeting BBC Radio 1 and taste-making DJ Pete Tong to give the song a listen. He got right behind it and it spread like wildfire through Radio 1.[5] The band and Williams also performed the song on the British music chart television programme Top of the Pops after they was the highest new entry at number ten on the UK Singles Chart. The single sold in 700,000 copies and peaked at number three in April 1993.

Critical reception

Tom Ewing of Freaky Trigger described "Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)" as "excellent" and "tune-heavy, hands-high dance-pop".[6] Katrine Ring from Gaffa said that "it is almost like hearing Deelite. Grooovey!"[7] Music writer James Masterton commented in his weekly UK chart commentary, "A hit almost before it had ever started, this track popular not only in the clubs but also extremely radio friendly. A timely piece of production as well with the Philly-sounding strings and wah-wah guitar making the track sound as if it is straight out of the 1970s. Disco returns with a 90s flavour I suppose and Top 3 is almost guaranteed."[8] Australian music channel Max included it in their list of 1000 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2012.[9] A reviewer from The Mix viewed it as "great".[10] Music & Media wrote that "the arrangements are smoothly funky and combined with a voice that soothes like honey and rings like a bell, you can feel that real party enthusiasm which is so reminiscent of late '70s disco."[11] They also described the song as "70s disco in a trendy club style".[12] Andy Beevers from Music Week stated that it "is something of a revelation – a fresh, funky and very different disco-influenced track with excellent catchy vocals. It has been generating a huge buzz in the clubs and should be a big hit."[13] James Hamilton from the magazine's RM Dance Update described it as a "smash-bound jaunty leaper like Deee-Lite combining Eric Burdon & War's "Spill The Wine" with Marvin Gaye's "Got To Give It Up"".[14]

Chart performance

"Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)" proved to be quite successful on the charts across several continents. It made it to the top five in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number three in its third week at the UK Singles Chart, on 18 April 1993.[15] The single spent six weeks inside the UK top 10. On the UK Dance Singles Chart, it was even more successful, reaching the number one position. It was a top-20 hit in Ireland and the Netherlands, as well as on the Eurochart Hot 100, where it hit number 11 in May 1993. "Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)" was also a hit in Belgium, where it went to number 47. Outside Europe, it charted in Australia and Israel, peaking at number 11 and 23. The single earned a silver record in the UK, after 200,000 units were sold there.

Track listings

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for "Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[24] Gold 35,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[26] Silver 200,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Usage in media

The song was featured in the 1997 American film Romy and Michele's High School Reunion but was not featured on the soundtrack album.

References

  1. ^ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 27 March 1993. p. 27. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Doves to perform one-off gig at Perry Park after a nine-year hiatus". Whatsonlive.co.uk.
  3. ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (17 April 2002). "Where did it all go right?". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
  4. ^ a b Welch, Andy (18 June 2019). "How we made Sub Sub's Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  5. ^ "No Substitute For Know-How" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 20. 15 May 1993. p. 14. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  6. ^ Ewing, Tom (21 September 2011). "D:REAM – "Things Can Only Get Better"". Freaky Trigger. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  7. ^ Ring, Katrine (1 September 1993). "Groove". Gaffa (in Danish). p. 12. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  8. ^ Masterton, James (4 April 1993). "Week Ending April 10th 1993". Chart Watch UK. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  9. ^ "TOP 1000 GREATEST SONGS OF ALL TIME – 2012". Max. 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  10. ^ "Monitor Mix — This Month's Mixes That Matter". The Mix. September 1994. p. 85. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  11. ^ "No Substitute For Know-How" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 20. 15 May 1993. p. 14. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  12. ^ "New Releases: Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. 24 September 1994. p. 14. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  13. ^ Beevers, Andy (27 March 1993). "Market Preview: Dance" (PDF). Music Week. p. 30. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  14. ^ Hamilton, James (3 April 1993). "Djdirectory" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 2. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  15. ^ a b "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  16. ^ "Sub Sub feat. Melanie Williams – Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  17. ^ "Sub Sub feat. Melanie Williams – Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  18. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 18. 1 May 1993. p. 23. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  19. ^ "European Dance Radio" (PDF). Music & Media. 26 June 1993. p. 24. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  20. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  21. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 38, 1993" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  22. ^ "Sub Sub feat. Melanie Williams – Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  23. ^ "Top 60 Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 10 April 1993. p. 22. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  24. ^ a b Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 270.
  25. ^ "Top 100 Singles 1993". Music Week. 15 January 1994. p. 24.
  26. ^ "British single certifications – Sub Sub – Ain't No Love". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 27 June 2020.

External links

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