Thirty-eight years ago this week, on the Billboard Hot 100 dated October 22, 1988, the No. 1 song in America was a gentle love song that was already more than twenty years old. Phil Collins had slowed it down, wrapped it in keyboards and strings, and sung it for a movie in which he played a real-life train robber. The song was “A Groovy Kind of Love,” and it became his only single to top the charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
In this On This Day feature, we look back at a song written in 20 minutes from a classical melody, the 1960s beat group that made it a hit first, and how a demo Collins recorded as a guide ended up in the film Buster. The official video is waiting for you at the end of the article.
▶️ Want to hear that soft, slow version first? Scroll down. The official “A Groovy Kind of Love” video is at the end of the article.
A Song Written in 20 Minutes
“A Groovy Kind of Love” was written by Toni Wine and Carole Bayer Sager in New York City. They worked at Bayer Sager’s home, a few blocks from the Brill Building and 1650 Broadway, the famous buildings full of music publishers and songwriters. Wine wrote the music and Bayer Sager wrote the lyrics.
Both women wanted to use the new slang word “groovy” because it sounded fresh and “happening.” Wine later remembered that they wrote the whole song in 20 minutes. “It just flew out of our mouths,” she said.
A Melody From 1797
There is a surprise inside the tune. The melody comes from the rondo of Muzio Clementi’s Sonatina, Opus 36, No. 5, a piano piece published in 1797. Wine and Bayer Sager mainly wrote the lyrics and only slightly changed Clementi’s music.
Bayer Sager first offered the song to pop star Lesley Gore in early 1965. Gore’s producer, Shelby Singleton, turned it down because he thought the word “groovy” was too slangy. The very first recording was by the American duo Diane & Annita, released on a French EP in 1965.
The Mindbenders Make It a Hit
The song found its first big success with the Mindbenders, the English group that had already topped the Hot 100 with “The Game of Love” alongside Wayne Fontana. When Fontana left for a solo career in 1965, guitarist Eric Stewart, later of 10cc, became the lead singer. “A Groovy Kind of Love” was their first single without Fontana, released in the UK on December 10, 1965.
It was an upbeat, guitar-based pop song, and it went to No. 2 in Britain, kept from the top by Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’.” In America it also reached No. 2 in May 1966 and stayed there for two weeks behind Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman.” The record is also credited with bringing the word “groovy” into everyday 1960s language.
If the band’s name sounds familiar, you may remember them from our story about Lulu’s “To Sir With Love”, where the Mindbenders backed Lulu and appeared in the film.
Phil Collins Goes to the Movies
By 1988 Phil Collins was one of the biggest stars in music. Born in West London on January 30, 1951, he had been a child actor, playing the Artful Dodger in the West End musical Oliver!, before joining Genesis as their drummer in 1970. His solo career began with Face Value in 1981, and “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” became his first solo No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 1984.
After touring with Genesis in 1987, Collins felt his music had been heard too much and took a year off from writing and recording. Instead, he took his first acting role since the late 1960s. In Buster, he played Buster Edwards, one of the men behind the Great Train Robbery of 1963, with Julie Walters as his wife, June.
The Demo That Made the Film
Collins had once suggested “A Groovy Kind of Love” to his collaborator Stephen Bishop, with Collins producing. While making Buster, he suggested it as a love theme for Buster and June. He recorded a demo only as a guide for the producers, and later found out that his demo had actually been used in the film.
At first Collins was not sure he wanted to be on the soundtrack of his own film, but he agreed because the song worked so well in the scene. He then recorded a full version, co-produced with Anne Dudley, who also conducted the orchestra. Unlike the Mindbenders’ bright, guitar-driven record, his version is a slow ballad built on keyboards and strings, with Collins on vocals, keyboards and drums.
Two Weeks at No. 1
The single reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 dated October 22, 1988, replacing UB40’s “Red Red Wine.” It stayed on top for two weeks and was then replaced by “Kokomo” by the Beach Boys, the same band behind the 1966 classic “Good Vibrations”.
It also went to No. 1 in the United Kingdom, making it Collins’ only single to top the charts in both countries, and his last UK No. 1. It reached No. 1 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart, too, and spent 25 weeks on the Hot 100, the longest run of any Collins single. In 1989 it earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male.
It was a fine way to close a decade in which Collins seemed to be everywhere. Between 1982 and 1990 he scored seven U.S. and three UK No. 1 singles as a solo artist, in the same MTV years that gave us a-ha’s “Take On Me”.
Buster and Two Hearts
Buster itself caused controversy, as critics said it made a hero out of a criminal. On Collins’ advice, Prince Charles and Princess Diana cancelled their plans to attend the premiere on September 15, 1988. Still, Roger Ebert wrote that Collins played the role “with surprising effectiveness,” and the real Buster Edwards even made a small cameo in the film. The soundtrack gave Collins a second U.S. No. 1, “Two Hearts,” co-written with Lamont Dozier, which won a Golden Globe for Best Original Song and was nominated for an Oscar.
Listening Tips
- Compare the two hits. Play the Mindbenders’ 1966 single and then Collins’ 1988 ballad. It is the same song with a completely different mood.
- Find the classical original. Look up the rondo from Clementi’s Sonatina, Op. 36, No. 5, and listen for the familiar melody.
- Hear it live. A live performance appears on Collins’ album Serious Hits… Live!
- Play the whole soundtrack. Buster: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack also includes “Two Hearts.”
- Explore the decade. Browse more 80s Hits and Pop stories.
“A Groovy Kind of Love” Quick Facts
| Written by | Toni Wine and Carole Bayer Sager, based on a melody by Muzio Clementi |
| First recording | Diane & Annita (1965) |
| First hit version | The Mindbenders, No. 2 in the U.S. and UK (1966) |
| Phil Collins version | Recorded for the film Buster (1988), co-produced with Anne Dudley |
| Hot 100 No. 1 | Charts dated October 22 and 29, 1988 (two weeks) |
| Before and after | Followed “Red Red Wine” by UB40; replaced by “Kokomo” by the Beach Boys |
| Weeks on the Hot 100 | 25, the most of any Phil Collins single |
| UK peak | No. 1 |
| Grammy nomination | Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male (1989) |
Sources
- “A Groovy Kind of Love” on Wikipedia (with its cited sources, including Billboard)
- Phil Collins on Wikipedia
- Buster (1988 film) on Wikipedia
- List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1988 on Wikipedia
- Billboard Hot 100, October 22, 1988
- Official Phil Collins website
Photo Credits
- Featured image: Phil Collins in Belgium, 2007 by Dicknroll, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Featured image: Phil Collins with Genesis in Strasbourg, October 1981 by Philippe Roos, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Featured image: Phil Collins and Chester Thompson in Strasbourg, 1981 by Philippe Roos, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Featured image: Phil Collins at the Royal Albert Hall, June 7, 2017 by Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- In-article image: Julie Walters, 2014 by Christopher William Adach, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- In-article image: Carole Bayer Sager, 2013 by Angela George, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
