On November 6, 1982, Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love”, a song featured in my recent “Techno-Pop” playlist, achieved the longest unbroken run on the UK charts with 43 weeks in the top 100.  On this day in 1990, Madonna released “Justify My Love,” the first VHS video single in the US, some 4 years after Queen had released the first video single in the UK with “Who Wants To Live Forever.”  Her song, co-written by Lenny Kravitz, became her ninth No.1 single on the Billboard Hot 100.  And on this day in 1993, Meat Loaf had the No. 1 US single with “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That),” a song that appeared in my last blog and “Piano Man” playlist for top piano oriented rock songs.  You likely notice what these songs have in common, the theme of today’s word-oriented playlists, they each contain the word “Love” in their title.

I had sworn to myself never to take on the challenge of creating a playlist with the word “love,” anticipating it being too large an undertaking, suspecting and confirming once working on it that it is perhaps one of the most common title words in rock and pop music.  When the playlist neared 350 songs and a day’s worth of music, I decided to split the lists in 2, making them a bit less unwieldy.  I created an “A” and “B” list – that said, the “B” list isn’t so shabby, still with some amazing “love” songs.  And for clarification, these are not “love songs”, meaning they are not all romance songs.  They are songs that contain “love” in the title, and thus songs like Van Halen’s “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” and J Geils’ “Love Stinks” are far from love songs.  For ease of finding your favorite “Love” song I did alphabetize them (yes, a little OCD) on each playlist (a feature only available if you have the pay version of Spotify).

So “What Is Love?” asks Howard Jones, “Love Is A Battlefield” belts Pat Benetar, “Love Is A Tangle” according to the Radiators, “Love Is Strange” croon Mickey & Sylvia, “Love Is A Many Splendored Thing” warble The Four Aces, “Love Is Stronger Than Pride” sings Sade, “Love Is” both “…Stronger Than Justice” and “…The Seventh Wave” according to Sting, “…The Drug” per Roxy Music, and to England Dan and John Ford Coley “Love Is The Answer.”

The “A” list, “Silly LOVE Songs” contains such classics as “All You Need Is Love” (The Beatles),  “Baby Love” (The Supremes), “Can’t Help Falling In Love” (I opted for Haley Reinhart over Elvis, I so LOVE her and her version):

Also “Endless Love,” “Jungle Love” (Steve Miller Band), “Love Her Madly” (The Doors), “Love Is Strange” (Mickey & Sylvia, made famous in “Dirty Dancing”):

And “Love Shack” (B-52’s), “Make You Feel My Love” (Bob Dylan), “Pride (In The Name Of Love)” (U2), and “Somebody To Love” (Queen and Jefferson Airplane).

Some songs posing questions: “Are You Ready For Love? (Elton John), “Do You Believe In Love?” (Huey Lewis), “Is That Love?” (Squeeze), “Is This Love?” (Whitesnake and Bob Marley), “What Is Love?” (Howard Jones),  “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” (Tina Turner), “Where Is The Love?” (Black Eyed Peas), “Who Do You Love” (George Thorogood), “Why Can’t This Be Love?” (Van Halen), “Will You Still Love Me?” (Chicago), and “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” (Carole King).

The “B” sides playlist, again quite spectacular in their own right, has such greats as “Bold As Love” (Jimi Hendrix), “Goodbye Love” (RENT Cast, all my Broadway Musical “Love” songs are on this playlist for continuity sake), “I’ll Never Love Again” (Lady Gaga), “Love And Marriage” (Frank Sinatra), “Love In The First Degree” (Alabama), “Runaway Love” (En Vogue), “So This Is Love?” (Van Halen), “The Book Of Love” (The Monotones), “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding” (Elvis Costello), and “You Love The Thunder” (Jackson Browne).


Plural “Loves” songs are also included at the end of both lists, including song greats “Everybody Loves Somebody” (Dean Martin), “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” (Whitney Houston), “She Loves You” (The Beatles), and “When A Man Loves A Woman” (Percy Sledge).

You may notice there are no “Loved” (as in “Could You Be Loved” and “She Will Be Loved”), “Lover” (as in “My Kinda Lover” and “Dream Lover”), or “Loving” (as in “Bad Case Of Loving You” and “Baby I Need Your Loving”) songs.  They each have their own playlists to be explored and released in a future blog – something to look forward to!

Some artists appear drawn to Love, or at least writing songs with love in their titles.  The top “Love” artists are Elton John, the king of “Love” songs, appearing 15 times on the list, with the Amy Grant coming in second with 11, though tied with Paul McCartney if including his work with The Beatles (9) and Wings (2), with John Lennon and George Harrison right on their heels with 10 appearances on the lists when considering their Beatles (9) and solo songs (1).  Honorable mention goes to Eric Clapton, at 7, and Elvis Pressley and Celine Dion each making the list 6 times.

So “Are You Ready For LOVE?”  If so, check out this video – such an amazing glimpse of the 70’s!

And then give these playlists a listen – you won’t be disappointed!

You can directly access all of my playlists on Spotify, as well as follow me on Facebook (see “Follow Us” links)

I hope that this music and my blog truly serve as a “revival: a new presentation of something old,” a springboard to return to the music of your youth, or perhaps to find artists you want to discover anew.  Rediscover the passion of music in your life.

Live in the moment

Enjoy the moment

Love the moment

Listen to the MUSIC!