"Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)"
UK and Australian artwork
Single by Sub Sub featuring Melanie Williams
from the album Full Fathom Five
Released29 March 1993 (1993-03-29)[1]
Genre
Length
  • 5:17 (original mix)
  • 2:47 (radio edit)
LabelRob's
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Sub Sub
Sub Sub singles chronology
"Coast EP"
(1992)		 "Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)"
(1993)		 "Respect"
(1994)
Alternative cover
European artwork
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 music act Sub Sub, released on 29 March 1993 by Rob's Records as the second single from their debut album, Full Fathom Five (1994). It features Temper Temper's Melanie Williams on vocals. The song was the act's biggest single, reaching number three on the UK Singles Chart and number one on the UK Dance Singles Chart; it became one of many dance singles in 1993 to cross over into mainstream popularity in the UK.[4] In the accompanying music video, Jimi Goodwin plays bass, Jez Williams plays keyboards and percussion, and Andy Williams plays keytar. 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.[4]

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.[5]

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.[5] 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.[6] The band and Williams also performed the song on the British music chart television programme Top of the Pops after they were 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 complimented the song as "excellent" and "tune-heavy, hands-high dance-pop".[7] Katrine Ring from Gaffa felt that "it is almost like hearing Deee-Lite. Grooovey!"[8] In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton said, "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."[9] Chris Roberts from Melody Maker wrote, "Slim volume of metropolitan soul, slick as a Ming vase, graced by the Gold Blends ads-scripted-by-Mishima voice of Melanie Williams, previously with the criminally underrated Temper Temper. Trembles becomingly in the slipstream of Candi Staton and the Source's "You Got the Love"."[10] A reviewer from The Mix viewed it as "great".[11] Pan-European magazine Music & Media commented, "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."[12] They also described it as "70s disco in a trendy club style".[3]

Andy Beevers from Music Week said the song "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] Ian McCann from NME wrote, "So: this is nicked from an old Evelyn 'Champagne' King record, it is disco, right down to the fast string breaks separating one section from the other, but my, is this a spendid item? Well, yes it is. Funky, irresistibly dancesational, terrific vocal [...], with a suitably empty lyric, and the Hey, what's happenin' bits just make it all the more marvellous. Top disco stretch satin boob tube of the week, and no mistake."[14] Another editor, Mandi James, felt that the track "grinds to a P-Funk hustle, replete with creamy guitars and hot, hot vocal courtesy of Temper Temper's Melanie Williams."[15] James Hamilton from the 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'".[16]

Chart performance

"Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)" reached top five in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number three during its third week on the UK Singles Chart, on 18 April 1993.[17] 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 peaked at number 11 in May 1993. "Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)" was also a hit in Belgium, where it reached number 47. Outside Europe, it charted in Australia, peaking at number 11. The single earned a silver record in the UK, after 200,000 units were shipped there.

Impact and legacy

The Face ranked "Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)" number eight in their list of "Singles of the Year". NME ranked it number 23, while Select ranked it number 25 in their "Singles of the Year" lists. Robert Dimery featured it in his 2015 book, 1,001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die, and 10,001 You Must Download. Australian music TV channel Max included "Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)" in their list of "1000 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2012.[18]

Track listings

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for "Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)"
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[38] Gold 35,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[41] Silver 200,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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. 1 2 "New Releases: Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. 24 September 1994. p. 14. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  4. 1 2 Petridis, Alexis (17 April 2002). "Where did it all go right?". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
  5. 1 2 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.
  6. ↑ "No Substitute For Know-How" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 20. 15 May 1993. p. 14. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  7. ↑ Ewing, Tom (21 September 2011). "D:ream – "Things Can Only Get Better"". Freaky Trigger. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  8. ↑ Ring, Katrine (1 September 1993). "Groove". Gaffa (in Danish). p. 12. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  9. ↑ Masterton, James (4 April 1993). "Week Ending April 10th 1993". Chart Watch UK. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  10. ↑ Roberts, Chris (10 April 1993). "Singles". Melody Maker. p. 28. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  11. ↑ "Monitor Mix — This Month's Mixes That Matter". The Mix. September 1994. p. 85. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  12. ↑ "No Substitute For Know-How" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 20. 15 May 1993. p. 14. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  13. ↑ Beevers, Andy (27 March 1993). "Market Preview: Dance" (PDF). Music Week. p. 30. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  14. ↑ McCann, Ian (20 March 1993). "Singles". NME. p. 19. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  15. ↑ James, Mandi (20 March 1993). "Nautilus By Nature". NME. p. 23. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  16. ↑ Hamilton, James (3 April 1993). "Djdirectory" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 2. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  17. 1 2 "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  18. ↑ "Top 1000 Greatest Songs Of All Time – 2012". Max. 2012. Archived from the original on 25 April 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  19. ↑ Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use) (UK CD single liner notes). Sub Sub. Rob's Records. 1993. CDROB9.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. ↑ Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use) (Australian CD single liner notes). Sub Sub. Rob's Records, Liberation Records. 1993. D11498.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  21. ↑ Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use) (Australian cassette single sleeve). Sub Sub. Rob's Records, Liberation Records. 1993. C 11498.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  22. ↑ Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use) (UK 7-inch single sleeve). Sub Sub. Rob's Records. 1993. 7ROB9.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  23. ↑ Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use) (UK cassette single sleeve). Sub Sub. Rob's Records. 1993. C ROB9.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  24. ↑ Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use) (UK 12-inch single sleeve). Sub Sub. Rob's Records. 1993. 12ROB9.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  25. ↑ Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use) (UK 12-inch remix single sleeve). Sub Sub. Rob's Records. 1993. 12 ROB 9R.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  26. ↑ Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use) (French CD single liner notes). Sub Sub. Dance Pool. 1993. DAN 659540 1.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  27. ↑ Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use) (Australian remix CD single liner notes). Sub Sub. Rob's Records, Liberation Records. 1993. D11577.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  28. ↑ Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use) (Australian remix cassette single sleeve). Sub Sub. Rob's Records, Liberation Records. 1993. C11577.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  29. ↑ "Sub Sub feat. Melanie Williams – Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  30. ↑ "Sub Sub feat. Melanie Williams – Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  31. ↑ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 18. 1 May 1993. p. 23. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  32. ↑ "European Dance Radio" (PDF). Music & Media. 26 June 1993. p. 24. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  33. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  34. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 38, 1993" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  35. ↑ "Sub Sub feat. Melanie Williams – Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  36. ↑ "Top 60 Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 10 April 1993. p. 22. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  37. ↑ "RM Club Chart Number Ones Of 93" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental insert). 25 December 1993. p. 3. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  38. 1 2 Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 270.
  39. ↑ "Top 100 Singles 1993". Music Week. 15 January 1994. p. 24.
  40. ↑ "The RM Club Chart 93" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental insert). 25 December 1993. p. 4. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  41. ↑ "British single certifications – Sub Sub – Ain't No Love". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
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