"I Found Heaven" is a song by English

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...

from their debut studio album, '' Take That & Party''. It was released as the album's fifth single on 3 August 1992.

Background

Written and produced by American singer

Billy Griffin William L. Griffin (born August 15, 1950) is an American singer and songwriter. He replaced Smokey Robinson as the lead singer of the Miracles in 1972. Biography Griffin was born and raised in West Baltimore, Maryland. He attended Garrison Juni ...

and English producer

Ian Levine Ian Geoffrey Levine (born 22 June 1953) is a British songwriter, producer, DJ, and prominent Doctor Who fan. A populariser of Northern soul music in the UK, and a developer of the style of hi-NRG, he has co-written and co-produced records with sa ...

, it was released on 3 August 1992 as the fifth single from the band's debut album, '' Take That & Party'' (1992). It became the group's second top-20 single, charting at number fifteen on the UK Singles Chart."UK Top 40 Hit Database"
everyHit.co.uk. Retrieved 18 November 2007 "I Found Heaven" is the first song by Take That to feature both

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, having writ ...

and

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

on lead vocals, and also the only non-cover written by someone else than the band. In Gary Barlow's autobiography ''My Take'', he states that the band hates the song: "The song Ian made us sing was truly fucking awful. I still hate it to this day. In fact, we all hate it and absolutely refuse to perform it on stage. It is, by a huge margin, the worst song of Take That's and my career. At the time I said nothing because I felt I didn't have a leg to stand on." Although often considered Robbie Williams' debut song on lead vocals, certain sections of the track were supplemented with vocals by Billy Griffin due to Williams' inability to reach the high notes. Williams reportedly walked out of the session after an argument with Ian Levine regarding the matter. Also Ian Levine claimed that Jason Orange did not sing on the song because he felt that Orange did not have the needed vocal abilities at the time. During the recording of this song, the group experienced a falling-out with Levine, and requested that they not record or write with him in the future. The single's B-side, "I'm Out," was written about this situation.

Critical reception

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' commented, "These newcomers in the rich British tradition of teeny hoppers—from the

Bay City Rollers The Bay City Rollers are a Scottish pop rock band known for their worldwide teen idol popularity, as a band in the 1970s. One of many 70s acts heralded as the "biggest group since the Beatles", they were called the "tartan teen sensations fro ...

Wham! Wham! were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981 consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to ...

and Bros—try the now popular close harmony pop style. Judging by their current hit status, it is already widely recognized in the UK."

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the single was filmed on Sandown Beach on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

, and the yellow car featured is owned by a local resident, and is fairly well known amongst the islanders. The band perform the song on the beach whilst clips of the band relaxing on the beach are intercut with the video. In Gary Barlow's autobiography: 'My Take', he expressed that the band were disappointed with the location on which the video was filmed. They apparently hoped for the video to be shot in an exotic continent.

Track listings

Personnel

– co-lead vocals, backing vocals *

Howard Donald Howard Paul Donald (born 28 April 1968) is an English singer, songwriter, drummer, pianist, dancer, DJ and record producer. He is a member of the pop group Take That. He was also judge on the German reality talent show ''Got to Dance'' from 20 ...

– backing vocals *

Mark Owen Mark Owen (born 27 January 1972) is an English singer and songwriter best known for being a member of pop group and band Take That; as of 2024, the group have sold 14.4 million albums and 14 million singles in the UK. In Owen's solo career, he h ...

– backing vocals *

– additional co-lead vocals, backing vocals

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control Take That songs 1992 singles 1992 songs Bertelsmann Music Group singles Music videos shot in the United Kingdom RCA Records singles Song recordings produced by Ian Levine Songs written by Billy Griffin Songs written by Ian Levine