#6. Haddaway - What Is Love - 8.989
After 5: #2
After 10: #1
After 15: #1
After 20: #2
After 25: #3
After 30: #2
Final: #6
Highest: 11 x 2 (@Hudweiser, @P Grandson) 10 x 18 (
@iheartpoptarts,
@DJHazey,
@WowWowWowWow,
@berserkboi,
@roborovsky,
@CasuallyCrazed,
@Ana Raquel,
@sfmartin,
@31entrance,
@Eric,
@LPMA,
@Sprockrooster,
@ohnoitisnathan,
@phily693,
@Remorque,
@Conan,
@Cutlery,
@ThisIsRogue)
Lowest: 1.1 x 1 (
@Untouchable Ace), 5.5 x 1 (
@Seventeen Days), 7 x 2 (
@idratherjack,
@Aester)
Album: The Album (1993)
Best Charts: #2 (UK), #11 (US), #12 (Australia), #1 (Austria), #1 (Belgium), #17 (Canada), #1 (Denmark), #1 (Finland), #1 (France), #2 (Germany), #3 (Iceland) #1 (Ireland), #1 (Italy), #1 (Netherlands), #1 (Norway), #1 (Portugal), #1 (Spain), #2 (Sweden), #1 (Switzerland), #1 (Zimbabwe)
Producers: Dee Dee Halligan and Junior Torello (The Weather Girls, Soultans)
@DJHazey's given you the history of Haddaway already, so let's get right to the million dollar question—what
is love, anyway?
Well, says Haddaway, we all need to come up with our own definitions. "It's unique and individual. For me, it has to do with trust, honesty, and dedication."
And there we have it.
In addition to being a huge Eurodance smash in its own right, 'What Is Love' took on a second life after it pretty much made the 90s clubbing saga
A Night at the Roxbury.
This might be one of the most Eurodance soundtracks ever, also featuring rate faves La Bouche, Snap!, and Amber, as well as N-Trance, No Mercy, Jocelyn Enriquez, and Ace of Base. Have fun, guys!
In fact, 'What Is Love' is on it not once but twice. Here's the other version for you to bop to:
Apparently Haddaway's later albums were more soulful and less dancey, and he's struggled to repeat the mainstream commercial success of his earlier stuff. Hmmmm, I wonder why.
He hit the 00s reality TV circuit without much luck. In 2004, he competed on the German show
Comeback – Die große Chance against Benjamin Boyce (from the very Eurodancey boyband Caught in the Act), C.C. Catch (on my PJOPS potentials list somewhere), Coolio (the kinda G the little homies wanna be like), Emilia (a big big girl in a big big world), Limahl (of the
NeverEnding Story song), some other only-in-Germany celebs, and a guy named Chris Norman (I have no idea, looks very Dad rock) who took the title.
He then tried the same thing a year later on the UK show
Hit Me Baby One More Time (do Max Martin and friends get paid for this?), where he lost in his heat to eventual winner Shakin' Stevens. People are bad at voting in these things.
Dr. Alban went full 90s nostalgia with him on 'I Love the 90s'—we won't post that again. But in a happy ending of sorts, Haddaway finally made his return with a minor US dance hit in 2012.
Good times.
What Is Right:
The 10s came easily...
@CasuallyCrazed (10) - Has to be one of the best crafted dance songs of all time. Vocal, melody, production — 10s 10s 10s across the board.
@Sprockrooster (10) - Well fuck. A solid 10 if there ever was one. Definitely a song I would be rooting hard for to win it, but in this rate not even a real 11-contender. That post-chorus is an absolute joyride.
But for others, an 11 was a possibility...
@Cutlery (10) - A stone cold CLASSIC and one of the candidates for my 11! It’s all about the mix of male and female vocals, and that fantastically catchy hook
@sfmartin (10) - Absolute classic, clearly in contention for my 11. All the parts are just excellent. The lyrics and melody are inspired and then the inspired "woah a woahs" and then the breakdown. A pioneering example of eurodance that should be right at the top of this rate.
Well, so much for that. But some of you got what you wished for...
@berserkboi (10) - HAS TO FINISH IN THE TOP 10!!!
I'll be posting these in a bit (video limit, life is hard)...
@rav4boy (8) - So much better when mixed with Madonna’s Living For Love.
@WowWowWowWow (10) - Obviously the Roxbury connection is hard to ignore. But if you're able to separate out the mental image of Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan when this song comes on, I've found more recently that it's actually a really good song, independent of any associations. Or maybe I just like the Kiesza version too much.
'What Is Love' doesn't get old...
@roborovsky (10) - An absolute monster of a song and it hasn’t aged.
@31entrance (10) - pretty sure I will never get tired of this, in many ways the ultimate eurodance song.
@One Stop Candy Shop (8) - Still massive after all these years.
Or maybe it does, but it didn't matter much...
@Empty Shoebox (9) - I may have heard this far too many times that It gets on my nerves and I won't give it a ten. or it could be that terrible advert from a Well Known German Car Manufacturer. Still, this song is brilliantly infectious.
The memories are, well, varied...
@Eric (10) - Transports me back to school discos in the early 1990s and a brilliant drunken singalong song!
@Ray (8) - I remembered this as not being very good. I was wrong.
And its legacy remains intact!
@phily693 (10) - Simply iconic!
@ohnoitisnathan (10) - A classic, though 'Rock My Heart' (not in this rate) was actually my fave of his.
@A$AP Robbie (9) - The definitive pop music question.
It is indeed.
What Is Wrong:
@Seventeen Days (5.5) - (Insert reference to Night at the Roxbury here) I do have a soft spot for this song, but I feel like people often overlook the fact that it’s just an average track. Call it nostalgia, I guess.
Baby, don't hurt me.
What Is Love:
@Hudweiser (11) - I'd say without hesitation that this was the best dance record of the 1990s. Everything works, from his perfect voice, the female ad-libs, the entire structure of the song. I NEVER miss dancing to this if it comes on.
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