Friday, June 3, 2011

Genius of Love

"Genius of Love" is a 1981 song by Tom Tom Club from their eponymous debut album, Tom Tom Club.
"Genius of Love" was Tom Tom Club's second single. Although the album had not been released in North America, over a hundred thousand copies of the single sold as imports from Island Records's UK, at which point Sire Records made a deal to release the single and the album in North America in late 1981.
"Genius of Love" was a huge hit (peaking at #31 on the US Billboard Hot 100) in the clubs and on the R&B and dance charts worldwide, soon earning the Tom Tom Club LP a Gold Sales Award in 1982. Despite its relatively low chart position in the United Kingdom, where it only reached #65, the song received a great deal of airplay on UK radio (although the radio version was heavily edited due to the song's length, and also in part due to its references to the recreational drug, cocaine) and the full-length version became a club favorite in Britain, helped by the popularity of the accompanying video.

The song is one of the most sampled rhythm tracks of the 1980s, particularly within the rap/R&B/hip-hop genre, with dozens of unsolicited remixes and versions.

The B-side of the "Genius of Love (Long Version)" 12" vinyl has a lesser-known underground hit called "Yella." On some pressings, the song is sometimes credited to Mr. Yellow and, on others, it is credited to Yella. It is assumed that this is really the Tom Tom Club using a pseudonym.

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