"Let the Music (Lift You Up)" is a song by British

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

group Loveland featuring singer

Rachel McFarlane Rachel McFarlane is a British singer. She began singing at the age of twelve as a gospel singer. In 1992, her career began as a featured member of the dancehall/rave act The Family Foundation, which recorded the single "Express Yourself". Aft ...

, released in 1994 by labels 12INC, Eastern Bloc Records and KMS as their debut single. It was co-written by Hassan Watkins and Mike Banks, and is a cover of a song by American singer Darlene Lewis. Some of the single releases also featured both versions. The Loveland version was included on the group's only album, ''The Wonder of Love'' (1995), and peaked at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart. It also reached number-one on both the ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' Dance Singles chart and the UK Club Chart, and won the Best Dance Record of the Year award at the

Silver Clef Award The O2 Silver Clef Awards is an annual UK music awards lunch which has been running since 1976. History The Silver Clef fundraising committee was founded in 1976 by musicians and managers from across the British music industry, who wanted to hono ...

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

from ''

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'' magazine wrote, "Virtually flawless

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

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number is poised to glide from atop U.K. dance charts onto stateside dancefloors within seconds. Track pumps a heavy beat, which is tied in flowing ribbons of strings and horns.

provides a bright flash of diva belting, proving her moxie by holding her own against a busy, effect-filled arrangement.

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radio tastemakers are advised to open their minds and ears." Andy Beevers from ''

'' gave it a top score of five out of five and named it Single of the Week in the category of Dance, and a "huge house track from

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

". He added, "The Full On Vocal Mix, with its pounding pianos and hackneyed lyrics, is undeniably old-fashioned and is about as cheesy as a lorryload of

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. But it comes with a guarantee to create absolute mayhem on all but the most elite of dancefloors."

James Hamilton James Hamilton may refer to: Dukes *James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton (1606–1649), heir to the throne of Scotland *James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton (1658–1712), Scottish nobleman *James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton (1703–1743), Sco ...

from the ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

'' Dance Update felt the Loveland cover version of the Darlene Lewis song is "much more exciting". Mark Sutherland from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' gave it two out of five, viewing it as "a routine rave-up stomper by some blokes you've never heard of that will nonetheless "storm" the charts." Another ''Smash Hits'' editor, Emma Cochrane, felt it "was pretty good".

Track listing

* 12", Europe (1994) #"Let the Music (Lift You Up)" (Full On Vocal Radio Edit) #"Let the Music (Lift You Up)" (Full On Vocal Extended Mix) #"Let the Music (Lift You Up)" (Bottom Dollar Big Room Dub) #"Loveland's Theme" * CD single, France (1994) #"Let the Music (Lift You Up)" (Full On Vocal Radio Edit) – 3:29 #"Let the Music (Lift You Up)" (Big Room Dub) – 5:40 * CD maxi, US (1994) #"Let the Music (Lift You Up)" (Full On Vocal Mix) – 6:14 #"Let the Music (Lift You Up)" (Bottom Dollar Remix) – 5:34 #"Let the Music (Lift You Up)" (Publicly Executed Dub) – 6:32 #"Let the Music (Lift You Up)" (Big Room Dub) – 5:40 #"Loveland's Theme" – 4:13

Charts

Weekly charts

Darlene Lewis version Loveland version

Year-end charts

Loveland version

References

{{div col end 1994 debut singles 1994 songs British dance songs Eurodance songs Garage house songs House music songs Music Week number-one dance singles Songs about dancing