Genius Of Love

"Genius of Love" is a 1981 song by Tom Tom Club from their eponymous debut album, Tom Tom Club. Song "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 making the top 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (Peaking at #31), in the clubs and on the R&B and dance charts, soon earning the Tom Tom Club LP a Gold Sales Award in 1982. Despite its relatively low chart position in the United Kingdom, the song received a great deal of airplay on UK radio and became a club favorite in Britain, helped by the popularity of the accompanying video. A song based on the keyboards-and-bass rhythm in "Genius of Love" was used in a long-running TV advertising campaign in the UK by the Bird's desserts company in the second half of the 1980s, the commercials featuring a spin on the psychedelic animation of the Tom Tom Club video using rudimentary CGI. In 2002 it was also used in a popular TV commercial for Kia cars. The song's narrator implies that her boyfriend is a "maven of funk mutation" and compares him to James Brown, Bob Marley, Smokey Robinson, Hamilton Bohannon, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Sly and Robbie, and Kurtis Blow. Tom Tom Club appeared in the 1984 Talking Heads concert movie Stop Making Sense performing "Genius of Love," although this incarnation of the group did not include Tina Weymouth's sisters Laura and Lani. Director Jonathan Demme added "Genius of Love" to the concert primarily so that David Byrne could exit the stage and change into his oversized suit, and he assured Weymouth that the performance would not be included on the final cut of the film. When Weymouth saw an early screening of the film she was thus surprised and irritated to see "Genius of Love," but Demme refused to change anything before the official release. “Genius of Love” is Tom Tom Club’s hit song from their 1981 album of the same name and it one of the most sampled tracks of the 1980s, having been sampled by the likes of Mariah Carey and Latto.

Genius Of Love Lyrics Tom Tom Club From The Album Tom Tom Club (1981) What you gonna do when you get out of jail? I'm gonna have some fun What do you consider fun? Fun, natural fun I'm in Heaven With my boyfriend, my laughing boyfriend There's no beginning and there is no end Time isn't present in that dimension You'll take my arm When we're walkin', rolling and rocking It is one time I'm glad I'm not a man Feels like I'm dreaming, but I'm not sleeping I'm in Heaven With the maven of funk mutation Clinton's musicians such as Bootsy Collins Raise expectations to a new intention No one can sing Quite like Smokey, Smokey Robinson Wailin' and skankin' to Bob Marley Reggae's expanding with Sly and Robbie Oops! Your mama said uh Oops! Your mama said uh Oops! Your mama said uh Oops! Your mama All the weekend Boyfriend was missing I surely miss him The way he'd hold me in his warm arms We went insane when we took cocaine Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon Stepping in a rhythm to a Kurtis Blow Who needs to think when your feet just go With a hippie-the-hip and a hippie-the-hop Who needs to think when your feet just go "Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon" Who needs to think when your feet just go "Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon" James Brown, James Brown James Brown, James Brown If you see him Please remind him, unhappy boyfriend Well he's the genius of love He's got a greater depth of feeling Well he's the genius of love He's so deep Produced By Steven Stanley, Chris Frantz & Tina Weymouth Written By Steven Stanley, Adrian Belew, Chris Frantz & Tina Weymouth Percussionist Uziah “Sticky” Thompson Synthesizers Tyrone Downie Guitar Adrian Belew Drum Machine Chris Frantz Bass By Kendall Stubbs & Tina Weymouth Female Vocals Laura Weymouth, Tina Weymouth & Lani Weymouth Spoken Word Voice Lani Weymouth Release Date September 6, 1981