"Love That Girl" is a song by American recording artist

Raphael Saadiq Raphael Saadiq (; born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to fame as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! In addition to his solo and group ...

, released as a single on August 5, 2008, by Columbia Records. It was the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

for Saadiq's 2008 album '' The Way I See It''. The song was written by Saadiq and co-producer Bobby Ozuna. "Love That Girl" is a Motown-inspired

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

song with sweet-natured, innocent lyrics about affection. The single peaked at number 45 on the '' Billboard''

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

. It was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.

Music and lyrics

"Love That Girl" is a Motown-inspired

song with repetitive bass lines,

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-like claps, and

call and response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...

choruses. It also features Motown-styled instruments by

Jack Ashford Jack Ashford (born May 18, 1934), known to his friends as Jashford, is an American musician widely known as the percussionist for Motown Records' in-house Funk Brothers band during the 1960s and early 1970s. Ashford is most famous for playing th ...

, including tambourine, vibraphone, bells, and shakers. Gail Mitchell of '' Billboard'' characterizes it as "a swing tune that calls to mind the Temptations' signature brand of suave grooves". Andy Gill of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' writes that the song has "the poise of the

David Ruffin David Eli Ruffin (born Davis Eli Ruffin;Ribowsky, p. 88 January 18, 1941 – June 1, 1991) was an American soul singer and musician most famous for his work as one of the lead singers of the Temptations (1964–68) during the group's "Clas ...

-era Temptations." The song's lyrics are sweet, innocent, and expressing affection for a love interest. They also feature rhyme schemes similar to those of classic soul songs and restrained falsetto vocals by Saadiq.

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...

's Mark Edward Nero finds its subject matter reminiscent of

Mary Wells Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s. Along with The Supremes, The Miracles, The Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and the F ...

' 1964 song "

My Guy "My Guy" is a 1964 hit single by Mary Wells for the Motown label. Written and produced by Smokey Robinson of The Miracles, the song is a woman's rejection of a sexual advance and affirmation of her fidelity to her boyfriend, who is her ideal and ...

Release and reception

"Love That Girl" was released as the

from ''The Way I See It''. It was released as a digital download on August 5, 2008, by Columbia Records. Its

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

was released on August 27, and featured Saadiq and his band in vintage attire, including matching suits and a flowing red dress worn by the backing vocalist. "Love That Girl" was later used as the theme song for the sitcom of the same name, on which Saadiq served as executive producer. "Love That Girl" charted for 20 weeks on the US '' Billboard''

, peaking at number 45 on November 15, 2008. It also charted for four weeks and peaked at number 15 in Belgium. The song was nominated for the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes for '' The Way I See It''. *

– bells, shaker, tambourine, vibraphone * Charles Brungardt – recording engineer * Tom Coyne – mastering * Bobby Ozuna – co-producer, composer *

– composer, instrumentalist, mixing, producer, recording engineer, vocals

Charts

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2008 singles Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Raphael Saadiq Songs written by Raphael Saadiq Raphael Saadiq songs Songs written by Robert Ozuna