“Your Love” is a song by the English rock band the Outfield, taken from their debut album Play Deep (1985), and written by guitarist John Spinks. “Your Love” is an uptempo new wave, power pop and pop rock song sung by lead vocalist Tony Lewis.
In the United States, the song reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on the Mainstream Rock chart in 1986.
Spinks was living in east London and invited the vocalist of the band, Tony Lewis, to his flat for a writing session. The two developed “Your Love” on the porch of the flat. Lewis sat on an amplifier and Spinks began writing the opening lyrics. According to Lewis, the song took only twenty minutes to write. The song’s lyrics have no basis in reality: “Josie” was not a real person, and the song is an entirely invented story. The initial demo was softer in tone, and producer William Wittman encouraged the band to take a more hard rock approach to its sound. To this end, the group were inspired by the Who, and Lewis’s vocal arrangement was heavily inspired by the Police vocalist Sting.
The lyrics are vague, but imply that the narrator is interested in an older girl that he is not in a relationship with. The narrator asks her to let him “use her love”; i.e. have a one night stand with him, while his current girlfriend, Josie, is on vacation. In the end, she declines because she wants him to be faithful to Josie.
The music video has an extended intro and was directed by Jon Jopson. The concept for the clip has the band filming a music video for the song, and prominently features a painting motif (similar to the cover of the album from which the song was taken). They perform in front of a backdrop of the Play Deep album cover, which is also being finger-painted offstage by an artist, played by actress JoAnn Willette. Her character and lead vocalist Tony Lewis appear flirtatious throughout the video. It was shot in Astoria, New York on a soundstage over one day. At the end of the video, Willette can be seen exiting the studio at dawn, the time the production wrapped. The band appears mainly as playing the song, highlighting their unity as a performing band: “We didn’t want a situation where they had to be actors or something that wasn’t what they are,” said the band’s manager, Kip Krones, at the time.
The video peaked at number two on MTV’s Top 20 Countdown in 1986.
- Tony Lewis – bass guitar, lead vocals
- John Spinks – electric guitar, backing vocals
- Alan Jackman – drums, percussion
“Your Love” became a major hit in the US. It was first released as the 2nd single from Play Deep in November 1985. It then peaked at #7 on the Top Rock Tracks chart in March. The song entered the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986.
