It Must Have Been Love
Encyclopedia
"It Must Have Been Love" is a power ballad written by Per Gessle
Per Gessle
Per Håkan Gessle is a Swedish pop singer-songwriter, guitarist, and harmonicist. He is the lead singer of the Swedish pop group Gyllene Tider and formed Roxette with Marie Fredriksson...

 and performed by the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 pop duo Roxette
Roxette
Roxette are a Swedish pop music duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle . Formed in 1986, the duo became an international act from the late 1980s, when they released their breakthrough album Look Sharp!...

. The ballad became the duo's 3rd #1 hit in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, and is one of their best-selling releases, leading the single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 to be certified gold in a number of countries.

The song, included on the soundtrack to the hugely popular film Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman is a 1990 romantic comedy film set in Los Angeles, California. Written by J.F. Lawton and directed by Garry Marshall, this motion picture features Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and also Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, and Jason Alexander in supporting roles. Roberts played the only...

, rivals "The Look
The Look
"The Look", written by Per Gessle and performed by Roxette, was released as a single in early 1989 from the album Look Sharp!. The song became Roxette's international "breakthrough" song, finally exposing the duo to music consumers outside of the duo's native Sweden and Europe after more than one...

," "Joyride
Joyride (Roxette song)
"Joyride", written by Per Gessle, was the first single released from Swedish pop duo Roxette's 1991 album Joyride, the follow-up to the group's highly successful Look Sharp!. The single topped the charts across Europe, and in Australia, Canada and the United States, where it spent one week at...

," and "Listen to Your Heart" as the song most closely associated with them. In 2005, Per Gessle received an award from BMI
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...

 after the song's four millionth radio play.

"It Must Have Been Love (Christmas For The Broken Hearted)" (1987)

"It Must Have Been Love (Christmas For The Broken Hearted)", the song's original title, was first released in 1987 after EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

 Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 asked Roxette to come up with an intelligent Christmas-single. It went on to become a Top 10 hit in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 but EMI Germany decided not to the release the track.

This version of the song was not part of any Roxette album until the 1997 re-release of Pearls of Passion
Pearls of Passion
-Singles:*"Neverending Love":*#"Neverending love"*#"Neverending Love" *"Goodbye To You":*#"Goodbye To You"*#"So Far Away"*"Soul Deep":*#"Soul Deep" *#"Pearls Of Passion"*"I Call Your Name":*#"I Call Your Name"...

, where it was included as a bonus track. The B-side to "Christmas For The Broken Hearted", "Turn to Me", also featured as a bonus track.

Track listing

Side A: "It Must Have Been Love (Christmas For The Broken Hearted)"

Side B: "Turn to Me"

Pretty Woman movie soundtrack (1990)

During the run of chart-topping singles from Look Sharp!
Look Sharp! (Roxette album)
Singles*"Chances"*"The Look"*"Dressed for Success"*"Listen to Your Heart"*"Dangerous"-Charts:-Credits:*Vocals — Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson*Drums — Pelle Alsing*Programming and bass — Anders Herrlin...

 Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures is an American film production label and is one of several film labels of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. Established in 1984, its releases typically feature more mature themes and darker tones than those that are released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner.Touchstone...

 approached Roxette's record label, EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

, and the group about contributing a song to the soundtrack of the upcoming romantic comedy release Pretty Woman, starring Richard Gere
Richard Gere
Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...

 and Oscar nominee Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts
Julia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...

. Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman is a 1990 romantic comedy film set in Los Angeles, California. Written by J.F. Lawton and directed by Garry Marshall, this motion picture features Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and also Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, and Jason Alexander in supporting roles. Roberts played the only...

 was released in March 1990 and went on to make more than $460 million worldwide.

Gessle has claimed that "It Must Have Been Love", by then a two-year-old recording, was chosen because Roxette did not have time to compose and record a new song while touring Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. Gessle and producer Clarence Öfwerman
Clarence Öfwerman
Clarence Öfwerman, born 22 November 1957, is best known as the longtime producer of Roxette, having been with the band from their debut album Pearls of Passion in 1986 through to 2011's Charm School, Roxette's latest studio album. He is the big brother of Roxette percussionist, keyboardist and...

 took the original 1987 recording, had Marie Fredriksson
Marie Fredriksson
is a Swedish pop singer-songwriter and pianist, best known for forming one half of the pop duo Roxette, which she created together with Per Gessle in 1986...

 replace a single Christmas-referenced line in the song and added some instrumentation and background vocal overlays to enhance the sound. Gessle claimed the soundtrack producers initially turned down "It Must Have Been Love" but changed their minds after re-editing the film.

Although "It Must Have Been Love" was part of the Pretty Woman soundtrack, the song wasn't part of a Roxette album until Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus!
Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus!
-Singles:*"You Don't Understand Me":*#"You Don't Understand Me"*#"Crazy About You"*#"Harleys And Indians "*The Look '95" :*#"The Look" *#"The Look"...

, their 1995 greatest hits release. The album wasn't released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 until September 26, 2000
2000 in music
See also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January – Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List....

, with a different track listing.

Chart success

Though the lyrics refer to a lonely winter's day after the break-up of a relationship, "It Must Have Been Love" became an international hit in the summer of 1990. It was not the first single released from the Pretty Woman soundtrack but "It Must Have Been Love" became the most successful, spending its first of two weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 in June and onto sales of 500,000 copies in the U.S. Billboard magazine listed "It Must Have Been Love" as the #2 Hot 100 single of the year behind Wilson Phillips
Wilson Phillips
-Studio albums:-Compilation albums:-Singles:-Other charted songs:-Awards and nominations:...

' "Hold On".
The single was released in the UK in June 1990 and peaked at #3, Roxette's best showing there, and stayed in the UK Singles Chart for 14 weeks. The song was re-released in September 1993 and peaked at #10. It was due to the success of this song that "Listen to Your Heart" and "Dressed for Success
Dressed for Success
"Dressed for Success" was released on 28 June 1988 and is the second single from the Swedish pop duo Roxette's 1988 album Look Sharp!. Originally, "Dressed for Success" was their first Swedish single to promote Look Sharp! album in 1988.-Production:...

" were re-issued in the UK later that year. It later became Roxette's second of three #1 singles in Australia, spending two weeks at the top spot in July 1990, while it also peaked at #1 in Norway, for 12 weeks, and in Switzerland. It also reached the Top 5 in Sweden, Austria and Germany, where the single spent 9 months in the Top 75, while it reached the Top 20 in Italy.

In the CD liner notes for Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus!, Fredriksson remarked, "Our third #1 in the U.S. ...not bad for a song that was lying around, gathering dust." The soundtrack went on to be certified three times platinum by the RIAA
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...

, with total Worldwide sales of nine million. While the song went on to receive gold certification in the Austria, Germany, United States, Sweden and New Zealand.

Music video

The video was shot in a warehouse, with Fredriksson singing and Gessle playing the guitar between various prop changes. It included scenes from the Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman is a 1990 romantic comedy film set in Los Angeles, California. Written by J.F. Lawton and directed by Garry Marshall, this motion picture features Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and also Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, and Jason Alexander in supporting roles. Roberts played the only...

 movie (Marie Fredriksson wearing a white dress in this movie version). There is also an alternate version of the video without the movie scenes, available solely on the VHS The Videos
The Videos (Roxette video)
The Videos is a video collection by the Swedish pop duo Roxette, released on VHS and Laserdisc on November 16, 1991. It features music videos for the hit singles from the albums Look Sharp! and Joyride, as well as "It Must Have Been Love" from the Pretty Woman soundtrack and the documentary The...

. According to Fredriksson, shooting the video was a surreal experience.

... the video was a weird experience. The director wanted all movements in slow motion so I had to lip sync the vocals in double speed. My first lesson in how to sing an emotional ballad Mickey Mouse style. A strange way to make a living.

-Marie Fredriksson

Marie Fredriksson
is a Swedish pop singer-songwriter and pianist, best known for forming one half of the pop duo Roxette, which she created together with Per Gessle in 1986...



Charts

Chart (1990) Peak
Position
Swedish Single Charts
Sverigetopplistan
Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association ....

4
UK Top 75 3
US Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

1
US Hot AC
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...

2
German Single Charts
Media Control Charts
The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...

4
Australian Single Charts
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

1
Austrian Top 40
Ö3 Austria Top 40
Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann...

3
Swiss Single Charts
Swiss Music Charts
The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...

1
Norwegian Singles Charts
VG-lista
VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by...

1
Irish Singles Chart
Irish Singles Chart
The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...

4
Chart (1993) Peak
Position
UK Top 75 10

End of year chart (1990) Position
Australia ARIA
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

4
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 2


Alternative versions and 1993 re-release

A revised version of the song was recorded in a Los Angeles studio during Roxette's 1991 worldwide tour in support of the album Joyride. This slower country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

-esque version, featuring a steel guitar solo in place of the original's piano, was included in the 1992 album release from that tour, Tourism: Songs from Studios, Stages, Hotelrooms & Other Strange Places
Tourism (album)
- Singles :*"How Do You Do!"*#"How Do You Do!"*#"Fading Like a Flower " *#"Knockin' on Every Door" *#"How Do You Do!" *"Queen of Rain"*#"Queen of Rain"*#"It Must Have Been Love"...

.

A re-issue of the 1990 version of the song entered the UK Top 10 in September 1993 after Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman is a 1990 romantic comedy film set in Los Angeles, California. Written by J.F. Lawton and directed by Garry Marshall, this motion picture features Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and also Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, and Jason Alexander in supporting roles. Roberts played the only...

 was first shown on UK terrestrial TV.

On the 1996 album Baladas En Español
Baladas En Español
Baladas en español is a Spanish language album by Roxette, released on December 2, 1996."Un día sin ti" and "No sé si es amor" were released as singles, though almost every song was frequently played on Latin American and Spanish radio. The album was certified 2xPlatinum in Spain, platinum in...

, Roxette recorded new Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

 vocals and remixed the backing track; the result "No sé si es amor" ("I don't know if it's love"), reached #6 in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

.

När kärleken föds

In 2006, the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 pop singer Shirley Clamp
Shirley Clamp
Shirley Natasja Clamp, is a Swedish pop singer. Because her mother is Swedish and her father is British, Shirley has dual nationality...

 recorded a Swedish language cover version of "It Must Have Been Love" called "När kärleken föds" ("When Love is Born") that was released as a single in April of that year and peaked at #6 at the Swedish singles chart. On 11 June 2006, "När kärleken föds" entered eighth place on Svensktoppen
Svensktoppen
Svensktoppen is a record chart at Sveriges Radio. Until January 2003, the songs had to be in the Swedish language. Svensktoppen has aired since 1962, except for the years 1982-1985. Svensktoppen airs once a week...

. "När kärleken föds" had no words related to Christmas or other seasons or holidays.

Other cover versions

  • The Chipettes
    The Chipettes
    The Chipettes are a fictional group of anthropomorphic chipmunk singers first appearing on the cartoon series Alvin and the Chipmunks in 1983. In this and related materials, the Chipettes served as female featured characters in their own right, starring in numerous episodes...

     covered the song for the 1991 album The Chipmunks Rock the House
    The Chipmunks Rock the House
    The Chipmunks Rock the House is a music album by Alvin and the Chipmunks, released in 1991 by Quality Special Products.- Side one :# "Cradle of Love" # "Freedom! '90" # "Roam" ...

    .
  • Mexican
    Mexican people
    Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....

     singer Rocio Banquells recorded her own acoustic version for her 1991 album Escucha el infinito.
  • Shirley Bassey
    Shirley Bassey
    Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...

     covered this song on her 1995 album Sings the Movies
    Sings the Movies
    Sings the Movies is a studio album from Shirley Bassey released in 1995.In 1995 Shirley Bassey signed a deal with the PolyGram TV label, she recorded and released two albums with the label. The first was a themed album of movie songs...

    .
  • Punk rock
    Punk rock
    Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

     band Polly Esther included a cover of the song on their 2002 album Standstill.
  • A cover of the song by British eurotrance group Friday Night Posse (a.k.a. Dancing DJs) featuring Soraya was released in 2004.
  • Greek indie act My Wet Calvin included a cover version of the song as a hidden track on their promo single "My Greatest Hits", January 2005.
  • A Hi-NRG
    Hi-NRG
    Hi-NRG describes a form of high-tempo disco music as well as a genre of electronic dance music originating in the United States during the late 1970s...

     cover by Digital Bitch featuring Sandra O was released in 2005 and included on the compilation Remixland X-Mas 2005.
  • British
    United Kingdom
    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

     pop duo Journey South
    Journey South
    Journey South are an English singing duo, consisting of brothers Andy and Carl Pemberton. They are originally from Middlesbrough, Teesside, and performed in pubs and clubs throughout the United Kingdom for over eight years, prior to achieving third place on the second UK series of television talent...

     made an acoustic version of "It Must Have Been Love" on their self-titled 2006 album.
  • The song was covered in Spanish by Australian band Aleks and The Ramps on their album Pisces Vs Aquarius.
  • German
    Germans
    The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

     indie singer Get Well Soon
    Get well soon
    Get well soon may refer to:* Get Well Soon , British sitcom* Get Well Soon , German band...

     covered this song in 2008.
  • Norwegian singer-songwriter Maria Mena
    Maria Mena
    Maria Viktoria Mena is a Norwegian pop artist.- Biography :Maria Mena was born into an artistic family, her mother, a playwright and her father, a drummer. Both Maria and her brother, Tony, are named after characters from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story...

     covered this song in 2008 and was released as a Bonus Track via iTunes
    ITunes
    iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

     UK for her fourth studio album Cause and Effect
    Cause and Effect (Maria Mena album)
    Cause and Effect is the fifth album by the Norwegian singer-songwriter Maria Mena. "Belly Up" was the first single of the album, but only released in her home country. "All This Time" was the 2nd single in Norway and the first single released in the rest of Europe...

    .

Live cover performances

  • Danish singer Sanne Salomonsen
    Sanne Salomonsen
    Sanne Salomonsen is a notable Danish singer. She has been performing since 1975, and various songs by her band Sneakers were on the charts continuously from 1979 to 1985...

     has performed the song in various live performances over the years.
  • Bad Lashes (X Factor
    The X Factor (UK)
    The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...

    UK 2008 finalist) covered the song in the first live show.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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