"Love Machine" is a song recorded by British

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

Girls Aloud Girls Aloud are a British-Irish pop music, pop girl group that was created through the ITV (TV network), ITV talent show ''Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The line up consisted of members Cheryl (singer), Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, N ...

from their second studio album, ''

What Will the Neighbours Say? ''What Will the Neighbours Say?'' is the second studio album by English- Irish all-female pop group Girls Aloud. It was released in the United Kingdom on 29 November 2004 by Polydor Records. Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania were e ...

'' (2004). It was released by

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

on 13 September 2004, as the second single from the album. The song was written by

Miranda Cooper Miranda Cooper (born 1975) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and television presenter. Miranda Cooper has worked in the music industry since 1996 when she gained her first recording contract. She worked as a professiona ...

Brian Higgins Brian Michael Higgins (born October 6, 1959) is an American former politician who was the U.S. representative for , from 2005 until 2024. The district, numbered as the 27th district from 2005 to 2013 and as the 26th from 2013 to 2024, included ...

, Tim Powell, Nick Coler, Lisa Cowling, Myra Boyle, and Shawn Lee. The instrumentation was inspired by

the Smiths The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...

, and created by Powell and Coler. "Love Machine" is an uptempo

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

song with elements of 1980s

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

. The single was received favourably by contemporary

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

, who deemed it a joyful track that was different from the single releases by other artists at the time. According to research carried out for

Nokia Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...

in 2006, "Love Machine" is the second "most exhilarating" song ever. "Love Machine" debuted and peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, continuing the band's string of hits by becoming their sixth consecutive single to chart within the top three. The song also peaked inside the top ten in Europe and Ireland. The accompanying music video was directed by Stuart Gosling, and portrays the five members in a nightclub/restaurant scene dancing and sipping champagne whilst singing their song. Girls Aloud performed "Love Machine" on all of their tours and on several live appearances, including at Disney Channel Kids Awards, TMF Awards 2005, and at ''

The Girls Aloud Party ''The Girls Aloud Party'' was a one-off Christmas variety show starring British girl group Girls Aloud, produced for ITV. The show was aired on 13 December 2008, in between ''The X Factor'' series finale and its results show. All five members to ...

'' TV special in 2008.

Background and release

Following a brief hiatus,

enlisted

and

Xenomania Xenomania is an English songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent. Formed by Higgins with his Creative Director Miranda Cooper and Business Director Sarah Stennett of First Access Entertainment, Xenomania has w ...

to produce Girls Aloud's second album in its entirety, following the success of their debut album ''Sound of the Underground''. Higgins explained that Polydor were not going to continue with the group's contract unless he produced songs for the album. He continued, saying that his initial reaction was that he thought he would only be required to produce a couple of songs, however Polydor insisted that he produce the album in its entirety and that they thought only he understood what they wanted. The album was recorded from April to September 2004, although its

lead single A lead single (or first 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. A similar term, "debut ...

The Show Show or The Show may refer to: Competition, event, or artistic production * Agricultural show, associated with agriculture and animal husbandry * Animal show, a judged event in the hobby of animal fancy ** Cat show ** Dog show ** Horse show ** S ...

" was released in June 2004. Bandmate

Nicola Roberts Nicola Maria Roberts (born 5 October 1985) is an English singer and songwriter. In 2002, Roberts was selected as a member of Girls Aloud, a Pop music, pop girl group created through ITV (TV network), ITV's reality competition show ''Popstars: Th ...

said that "Love Machine" was recorded in 18 parts over three days. Roberts also revealed that the band initially was in disagreement with Polydor regarding its release as a single, with

Sarah Harding Sarah Harding (born Sarah Nicole Hardman; 17 November 1981 – 5 September 2021) was an English singer, model and actress. Her professional career began in 2002 when she successfully auditioned for the ITV (TV channel), ITV reality series ''Po ...

adding that all the girls wanted to release "Deadlines & Diets" instead.

Kimberley Walsh Kimberley Jane Scott ( Walsh; born 20 November 1981) is an English singer, dancer, television presenter and actress. She rose to fame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the reality series ''Popstars: The Rivals'' on ITV (TV network), ITV. Th ...

and

Nadine Coyle Nadine Elizabeth Louise Coyle (born 15 June 1985) is an Irish singer. In 2002, she was selected as a member of Girls Aloud, a Pop music, pop girl group created through ITV (TV network), ITV's reality competition show ''Popstars: The Rivals''. T ...

in particular voiced their disapproval of the single release, Coyle stating it would be "career suicide" and that she thought the group would be known as laughing stocks if the song came out. However, despite an "embarrassing" meeting between the label and the girls, "Love Machine" was picked as the second single from ''

'', being released on 13 September 2004. "The pressure to come up with singles was, as always, immense. But ..we were able to have a lot of fun working on ideas that were maybe a little too odd to be on the radio," Higgins said. It was released on three different CD single formats, as well as an additional 7" picture disc, making it Girls Aloud's first single available on vinyl. The first disc included a

Flip & Fill Flip & Fill are an English electronic dance music duo, based in Manchester, England, consisting of the producers/remixers, DJs Graham Turner and Mark Hall. They are signed to the Filtrate record label. Career Having released tracks since 20 ...

remix of "The Show". For the sleeve of the second CD, Artwork design group Form invented five fake magazines, one for each member, and used "Love Machine" lyrics as the headlines. The disc included an exclusive previously unreleased b-side entitled "Androgynous Girls", which had been initially considered to be released as the

of the album. The Gravitas Disco Mix of "Love Machine" was also included. The maxi-CD also included a task-based game, created by design agency Holler. The 7" picture disc included the radio edit and Tony Lamezma Remix of "Love Machine".

Cheryl Cole Cheryl Ann Tweedy (born 30 June 1983) is an English singer and television personality. She rose to fame as a member of Girls Aloud, a Pop music, pop girl group created through ITV (TV network), ITV's reality competition show ''Popstars: The R ...

later stated that despite her initially hating the song, that the success of the single taught the group that they were not always right regarding single decisions and that they needed to listen to their label from time to time.

Composition

"Love Machine" was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Nick Coler, Lisa Cowling, Myra Boyle, Shawn Lee. They came up with some of the song's lyrics by singing "nonsense lyrics" over a backing track, which eventually evolved into real songwords. The instrumentation track was inspired by

, and created by Powell and Coler. It is written in

G Major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...

with a

time signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...

common time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

and a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 121

beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

. The vocal range from the band members spans from F₃ to B₄. An early demo of "Love Machine" was included on the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

'' Popjustice: 100% Solid Pop Music'', and later on an official Girls Aloud singles boxset; this version was sung by Cole,

and

only, and featured radically different lyrics from the released version, even excluding the phrase "Love Machine". One of the song's lyrics, "What will the neighbours say / This time?" inspired the album's title, and it is a reference to Girls Aloud's debut single, where Cole sings, "Neighbour's banging on the bathroom wall / He's saying 'Crank the bass, I gotta get some more'".

MusicOMH ''MusicOMH'' (stylized as ''musicOMH'') is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History ''MusicOMH'' was founded an ...

contributor John Murphy noted the track uses "a guitar line that sounds like it's been nicked from an old rockabilly tune", and compared its composition to other "'80s synth pop songs."

Critical reception

The track received generally favourable reviews from

. Alexis Petridis of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' considered "The Show" and "Love Machine" as the "perfect examples of Xenomania's uniquely rousing approach to pop," adding that the latter "sounds, incredibly, like the Smiths' Rusholme Ruffians colliding head-on with that band's musical nemesis, chirpy 1980s synth-pop." A reviewer for

Virgin Media Virgin Media Limited is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 ...

stated the song's "bouncy drums, perky guitars and ditsy lyrics will probably cause a seizure," and commented further, saying that "it sounds so unlike anything else in the charts right now...proving once again that they're still one of the most exciting bands in pop right now." The song was a Track Pick from the

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

review of ''What Will the Neighbours Say?'' by Sharon Mawer, while Robert Copsey of

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...

stated that, despite having many previous releases, it wasn't until "Love Machine", "a swinging, big band track with ludicrous lyrics – that they were thrust into the wider public consciousness." A

BBC Music BBC Music is the arm of the BBC responsible for the music played across its services. The current director of music is Lorna Clarke. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio operational division; however, its remit also includes music used i ...

critic, however, called it "upbeat but not particularly tuneful". According to research carried out for

in 2006, "Love Machine" is the second "most exhilarating" song ever, after "

Song 2 "Song 2" is a song by English rock band Blur. It is the second song on their eponymous fifth studio album. Released physically on 7 April 1997, "Song 2" peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, number four on the Australian ARIA Singles ...

" by Blur. ''Billboard'' named the song #65 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.

Commercial performance

On the week ending 2 October 2004, "Love Machine" debuted at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, being held of the top spot by " Call on Me" by

Eric Prydz Eric Sheridan Prydz (, ; born 19 July 1976), also known by his many aliases including Pryda () and Cirez D (), is a Swedish DJ and record producer. He rose to prominence with his 2004 hit single " Call on Me", and saw continued chart success wi ...

. It stayed at the same position the following week, before falling to number 8. The song also reached number six on the UK Downloads Chart, and eventually became the band's 7th best-selling single in the UK. "Love Machine" also debuted and peaked at number 8 on the

European Hot 100 Singles The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

, staying on the top ten for two weeks. In Ireland, the song debuted at number nine on 16 September 2004, and remained at the same position for three weeks, becoming Girls Aloud's first single to fail to enter the top five. It spent one last week in the top ten at number ten. "Love Machine" also entered the Dutch chart

Single Top 100 The Dutch Single Top 100 or Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales, legal downloads and since July 2013 streaming and composed by Dutch Charts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Du ...

on 14 May 2005 at number 52, before falling of the chart after 4 weeks.

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Love Machine" was directed by Stuart Gosling for Image Dynamic Pictures, and filmed at the

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

restaurant on London's

Brewer Street Brewer Street is a street in the Soho area of central London, running for about 350 metres west to east from Glasshouse Street to Wardour Street. The street was developed in the late 17th century by the landowner Sir William Pulteney. It f ...

. Gosling shot the project on

35mm film 35 mm may refer to: Film * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film 35 mm film is a film gauge used in filmmaking, and the film standard. In motion pictures that record on ...

to give it the desired sleek, stylised, polished and glossy look. Girls Aloud members stopped in at ''Camden Post'' to view the footage and were impressed with the final results. The video depicts a nightclub/restaurant scene with the five women dancing and sipping champagne at the location whilst singing their pop number. A caption at the start of the video identifies the location as "The Eskimo Club", which explains the otherwise meaningless song lyrics "Let's go eskimo".

Live performances

"Love Machine" was promoted through several live performances, including at the Disney Channel Kids Awards on 16 September 2004, and at the

Smash Hits Poll Winners Party The ''Smash Hits'' Poll Winners Party was a British awards ceremony which ran from 1979 to 1987 as the ''Smash Hits'' Readers' Poll, then on television from 1988 to 2005. Each award winner was voted by readers of ''Smash Hits'' magazine. It ende ...

in 2004. They also performed it at the Carling Academy London on 10 February 2005, and at the TMF Awards 2005 in Belgium. The same year, Girls Aloud went on their debut tour, the What Will the Neighbours Say...? Tour, where they performed "Love Machine" in schoolgirl uniforms. For 2006's Chemistry Tour, there was an interlude where the group danced to "

1 Thing "1 Thing" is a song by American singer Amerie from her second studio album, ''Touch'' (2005). Written by Amerie and Rich Harrison and produced by the latter, the song is influenced by go-go rhythms and prominently samples the Meters' 1970 funk ...

" by

Amerie Amerie Mi Marie Rogers Nicholson (born January 12, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and writer. She has released four studio albums to date: '' All I Have'' (2002), ''Touch'' (2005), '' Because I Love It'' (2007), '' In Love & W ...

. There was a similar interlude during 2007's The Greatest Hits Tour, where a

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

breakdown was included. Also in 2007, the song was performed at the

T4 on the Beach T4 on the Beach was an annual British one-day music event which was held on the beach at Weston-super-Mare and televised on Channel 4. The event began in 2003 as Pop Beach in Great Yarmouth, changing to the current title and venue in 2005. The ...

special. "Love Machine" was performed on 2008's

Tangled Up Tour The Tangled Up Tour was the fourth concert tour by English-Irish girl group Girls Aloud. It supported their fourth studio album '' Tangled Up''. Tour dates were announced in November 2007. Girls Aloud performed twenty-four shows at arenas acros ...

, where the band members wore

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

inspired costumes. Later that year, the band performed it at ''

'' TV special held by

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...

, and at the

V Festival V Festival, often referred to as V Fest or simply V, was an annual music festival held in the United Kingdom during the third weekend in August. The event was held at two parks simultaneously which shared the same bill; artists performed at one ...

. For 2009's

Out of Control Tour The Out of Control Tour was the fifth concert tour by British-Irish girl group Girls Aloud. It supported their fifth studio album ''Out of Control (Girls Aloud album), Out of Control''. Initially, just ten dates in bigger arenas were announced ...

, the song was given a brassier,

retro Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from the past, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. It has been argued that there is a nostalgia cycle in popular culture. Definition The term ...

arrangement and included a dance break. On 14 December 2012, the band appeared on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

Live Lounge The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cott ...

, performing the song to promote their greatest hits album ''

Ten Ten, TEN or 10 may refer to: * 10, an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11 * one of the years 10 BC, AD 10, 1910, 2010, 2110 * October, the tenth month of the year Places * Mount Ten, in Vietnam * Tongren Fenghuang Airport (IATA c ...

'', and also at ''

The Graham Norton Show ''The Graham Norton Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by Graham Norton. It was initially broadcast on BBC Two, from 22 February 2007, before moving to BBC One in October 2009. It currently airs on Friday evenings, with Norton ...

'' the same day. To further promote the greatest hits, "Love Machine" was also included on a promotional megamix. In 2013, the song was performed during the Ten: The Hits Tour. English

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. They comprise lead singer Alex Turner, drummer Matt Helders, guitarist Jamie Cook and bassist Nick O'Malley. The co-founder and original bassist Andy Nicholson ...

covered the song on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Love Machine". * CD single – Part 1 # "Love Machine" – 3:25 # "

" (Flip & Fill Remix) – 5:35 * CD single – Part 2 # "Love Machine" – 3:25 # "Love Machine" (Gravitas Disco Mix) – 7:30 # "Androgynous Girls" (Cooper, Higgins, Powell, Coler, Cowling, Lee) – 4:39 # "Love Machine" (video) – 3:39 # "Love Machine" (karaoke video) – 3:39 # "Love Machine" (game) – 3:39 * 7" Vinyl # "Love Machine" – 3:25 # "Love Machine" (Tony Lamezma Mix) – 6:15 * ''The Singles Boxset'' # "Love Machine" – 3:25 # "The Show" (Flip & Fill Remix) – 5:35 # "Love Machine" (Gravitas Disco Mix) – 7:30 # "Androgynous Girls" – 4:39 # "Love Machine" (Tony Lamezma Mix) – 6:15 # "Love Machine" (video) – 3:39 # "Love Machine" (karaoke video) – 3:39 # "Love Machine" (game) – 3:39 * ''Digital EP'' # "Love Machine" – 3:26 # "Love Machine" (Gravitas "Disco" Mix) – 7:28 # "Androgynous Girls" – 4:48 # "Love Machine" (Tony Lamezma's Full Length Club Mix) – 6:19

Personnel

– co-lead vocals *

Cheryl Tweedy Cheryl Ann Tweedy (born 30 June 1983) is an English singer and television personality. She rose to fame as a member of Girls Aloud, a pop girl group created through ITV's reality competition show '' Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. Named the ...

– co-lead vocals *

– co-lead vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Love Machine (Girls Aloud Song) 2004 songs 2004 singles Girls Aloud songs Song recordings produced by Xenomania Songs written by Brian Higgins (producer) Songs written by Miranda Cooper Songs written by Tim Powell (producer) Songs written by Nick Coler Polydor Records singles Songs written by Lisa Cowling Songs written by Shawn Lee (musician) Music videos directed by Stuart Gosling British pop rock songs