I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)



"I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)" was a popular single by Tina Charles, from her debut album, I Love to Love; the song was composed by Jack Robinson and James Bolden. The track was an international success both upon its original 1976 release and also when - remixed by The DMC (Disco Mix Club) - it was reissued ten years later (the DMC version features the instrumental "Sunburn" by the Biddu Orchestra as its B-side).

Background
Although Tina Charles was only twenty-two the year she recorded "I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)" she had already been recording for seven years, and had sung lead on the international hit "I'm on Fire" by 5000 Volts (1975) but her contribution was unacknowledged, with Luan Peters cited as vocalist in promotion for the group. It was through a mutual friend - singer Lee Vanderbilt - that Charles met record producer Biddu who encouraged her to record "I Love to Love..." utilizing Manchester musicians Richie Close (keyboard), Clive Allen (guitar), Des Browne (bass) and Tom Daley (percussion) to create a signature hit sound for Charles. Reaching #1 on the UK Singles Chart in March 1976 and topping the chart for three weeks, "I Love to Love..." was followed by seven more chart records for Charles; only her Top Ten entries "Dance Little Lady Dance" and "Doctor Love" reached the Top 20.

"I Love to Love..." afforded Charles an international hit, reaching #1 in Ireland, #2 in France, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Sweden while in Austria, Germany and Spain the single peaked at respectively #20, #6 and #3. The track was also a hit in Australia (#6) and New Zealand (#7). In Canada "I Love to Love..." won the Juno for bestselling international single for the year 1976 having sold over 200,000 copies in the province of Quebec: due to receiving virtually no radio airplay in the rest of Canada "I Love to Love" rose no higher than #17 on the national chart.

The track reached #2 on the U.S. Disco Singles Chart.

River, the British television series, used this song at the start of the first episode and at the end of the last episode.

Track listings

 * 7" single
 * 1) "I Love to Love" — 3:02
 * 2) "Disco Fever" — 4:12

Other versions
In 1976, at age 11, Icelandic artist Björk appeared on Icelandic radio singing "I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)" through the music school she attended, which led her to a record deal and the release of her debut album.

International renderings of "I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)" include:


 * "Jag gillar dans" (Swedish) by Siw Malmkvist/ Explosiw album (1976)
 * "Saisinpa Vain" (Finnish) by Vicky/ single release - parent album 1-2-3-4-Tulta! (1976)
 * "Mun beibi ei haluu" (Finnish) by CatCat/ CatCat album (1992)
 * "Mám Ráda Tvůj Smích" (Czech) by Jana Kratochvílová

Peak positions
1 Remix

Certifications
! scope="row"| France (SNEP)
 * Silver
 * 200,000

In Popular Culture

 * The song appeared prominently in the 2015 BBC One police drama, River.