The Outfield were an English pop rock band from the East End of London, formed in 1984. The band achieved success in the mid-1980s and are best remembered for their hit single "Your Love".
The band's lineup consisted of guitarist John Spinks, vocalist and bassist Tony Lewis, and drummer Alan Jackman.
members: John Spinks, Tony Lewis, Alan Jackman, Simon Dawson
formed in: Manchester
labels: Columbia Records
genres: new wave, pop rock, power pop
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Bassist/singer Tony Lewis, guitarist/keyboardist and songwriter John Spinks and drummer Alan Jackman played together in the late 1970s in a power pop band called Sirius B. After rehearsing for about six months and playing several gigs, their style did not match the punk rock which was surging in popularity in England and they broke up. Several years afterward, the three gathered together in London's East End under the name the Baseball Boys. They performed in and around England until a demo of theirs had them signed to Columbia/CBS Records in 1984.
The Outfield were considered a pop rock, power pop, or a new wave group. Annelise Wamsley of the Tampa Bay Times said of the band's style in 1987, "the Outfield specializes in what you could call an early '80s American Sound. It's music by recipe: You take hyper-macho hard rock and tone it down so it will appeal to the over-17 set. You need a simple hook that can be repeated a dozen or so times, lots of electric guitar solos, a standard rock beat and basic lyrics." Indeed, the Outfield were so American-sounding (even taking their name from America's national pastime), they were much more popular in the U.S. than they were in their homeland. None of their albums made the UK charts, and only three of their singles could scratch their way...
"Your Love" is a song by the English rock band The Outfield, taken from their 1985 debut album Play Deep, released in early 1986 and written by guitarist John Spinks. In the United States, the song reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and number seven on the Album Rock Tracks chart in 1986.
The song was written by Outfield guitarist John Spinks. 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. Afterwards, the band began recording demos for their debut album Play Deep with producer William Wittman, who had also worked with Cyndi Lauper and the Fixx. The initial demo was softer in tone, and Wittman encouraged the band to take a more hard rock approach to...
"Your Love" is an uptempo new wave, power pop and pop rock song sung by lead vocalist Tony Lewis. The lyrics are vague, but imply that the narrator is interested in a girl that he is not in a relationship with, who may be older or younger depending upon how those lyrics are interpreted. 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.
Rolling Stone contributor Jimmy Guterman wrote that the track "seems to advocate philandering". While Dennis Hunt from the Los Angeles Times criticized the whole of Play Deep as "thoroughly derivative music", he praised the song's "lovely melodic line that's engagingly performed by vocalist Tony Lewis, who has obviously been listening to Journey's Steve Perry".
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. Willette was interviewed about her role on the blog Noblemania in 2013, and gave details about the shoot; it was shot in Astoria, New York on a soundstage at 31-89 Crescent Ave. over one day. At the end of the video, Willette can be seen exiting the...