"My Love Is for Real" is a song by American singer and songwriter

Paula Abdul Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreographe ...

with backing vocals from Israeli singer

Ofra Haza Ofra Haza (; 19 November 1957 – 23 February 2000) was an Israeli singer, songwriter, and actress, commonly known in the Western world as " the Madonna of the East", or "the Israeli Madonna". Her voice has been described as a "tender" mezzo-sop ...

. It was released on May 30, 1995 by

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

and Captive, as the first single from Abdul's third studio album, '' Head over Heels'' (1995). Intended as Abdul's comeback single, "My Love Is for Real" reached number one in Hungary, number seven in Australia and the top 20 in Canada and New Zealand, but it stalled outside the top 20 in the United States, peaking at number 28 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and failed to make a major impact in Europe. The song's music video was directed by

Michael Haussman Michael Haussman is an American director, writer, and artist, living in Rome, Italy. Career Michael Haussman's music videos have won several awards, including six MTV Video Music Awards and a Museum of Modern Art Award. Past films include ...

Composition

Written by Abdul and

Rhett Lawrence James Everett "Rhett" Lawrence is an American record producer and songwriter. He first became known for producing the 1990 single " Vision of Love" by Mariah Carey, which received a Grammy Award and peaked on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His prod ...

, the song fuses

trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

and traditional

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

instruments as well as

Middle Eastern music The various nations of the region include the Arabic-speaking countries of the Middle East, the Iranian traditions of Persia, the Jewish music of Israel and the diaspora, Kurdish music, Armenian music. Azeri Music, the varied traditions of Cyp ...

with backing vocals by Israeli singer

, producing a darker sound not present in Abdul's earlier hits and also containing elements of industrial music. The single's

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

is the mid-tempo song "Didn't I Say I Love You", written by Elliot Wolf and Stacey Piersa.

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 ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' viewed the song as "an overlooked pop-treasure", describing it as "cute" and "fun". Chuck Campbell from ''

Knoxville News Sentinel The ''Knoxville News Sentinel'', also known as ''Knox News'', is a daily newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, owned by the Gannett Company. History The newspaper was formed in 1926 from the merger of two competing newspapers: '' ...

'' described it as "Middle Eastern-flavored" and "slow chugging".Campbell, Chuck (June 23, 1995). "Bjork Returns With Lyrical Surprises". ''

''. In his weekly UK chart commentary,

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a British music critic and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worke ...

wrote, "Her new single goes for the

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

angle, reminiscent of her first hit '

Straight Up Various unique terms are used in bartending. Definitions and usage Straight, up, and straight up In bartending, the terms "straight up" and "up" ordinarily refer to an alcoholic drink that is shaken or stirred with ice and then strained and ...

' but this time round unlikely to become too big a hit for her." Ian Watson from ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' felt that "mucho respect" goes to Abdul "for first having the good sense to employ the wailing woman talents of Ofra Haza and then penning a pop song that flirts dangerously with the intense feelings found in the

Arabic music Arabic music () is the music of the Arab world with all its diverse List of music styles, music styles and genres. Arabic countries have many rich and varied styles of music and also many linguistic Varieties of Arabic, dialects, with each countr ...

world." A reviewer from ''

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 ...

'' gave 'My Love Is for Real' four out of five, adding, "Smooth, soulful vocals with a funky rhythm and

oriental The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

touches show Abdul back on form." John Perry from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' named it the "strongest of all" on the album, "mixing Ofra Haza's ethereal vocals over Paula's

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

-esque whispering, ''almost'' turning a standard sexy ballad into

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...

's ' Safe from Harm'. Almost." 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 three out of five, writing, "Nowadays thoughm she's reduced to copying Madonna with this stab at '

Justify My Love "Justify My Love" is a song released as a single by American singer Madonna. It does not appear on any of her studio albums, but is included on her first greatest hits album, ''The Immaculate Collection'' (1990). The song was written by Lenny ...

'/'

Confide in Me "Confide in Me" is a song by Australian singer Kylie Minogue from her Kylie Minogue (album), self-titled fifth studio album (1994). It was released as the album's lead single on 29 August 1994 by Deconstruction Records, Deconstruction, Imago R ...

' eastern-tinged sexiness. A hit the size of a house, but that's hardly the point."

Chart performance

"My Love Is for Real" was intended to be a comeback single for Abdul, who had not released an album since 1991's triple platinum '' Spellbound''. The single was not as successful as Abdul's previous releases and peaked at number 28 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song fared better on the ''Billboard''

Hot Dance Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart, where it reached the number-one position. Internationally, "My Love Is for Real" peaked at number seven in Australia and became a top-20 hit in New Zealand and Canada. In the United Kingdom, the song peaked at number 28 on the UK Singles Chart and number three on the

UK R&B Chart Official Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart The UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart and the UK Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart (also known as The Official UK Hip Hop and R&B Charts, and previously the Top 40 Hip Hop and RnB Singles and the Top 40 Hip Hop and ...

. The song did not impact Ireland or mainland Europe at all, save for Hungary, where it topped the country's chart, and Germany, where it reached number 87.

Music video

The accompanying music video for "My Love Is for Real", directed by

, features Middle Eastern inspired imagery with Abdul appearing as the head mistress of a

harem A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...

. The video received two

MTV Video Music Award The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

nominations: Best Dance Video and Best Choreography in a Video.

Track listings

* US and cassette CD single # "My Love Is for Real" (radio edit) – 4:23 # "Didn't I Say I Love You" – 3:29 # "My Love Is for Real" (LP version) – 5:21 # "My Love Is for Real" (R&B remix) – 4:04 * US 7-inch single :A. "My Love Is for Real" (radio edit) – 4:23 :B. "Didn't I Say I Love You" – 3:29 * US 12-inch single :A1. "My Love Is for Real" (

E-Smoove Eric Miller (born in Chicago, Illinois) is an American house music DJ, record producer and remixer. As E-Smoove, he worked for a number of years with Steve "Silk" Hurley and Maurice Joshua, before he hit the U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in ...

's Fever mix) – 8:25 :A2. "My Love Is for Real" (

Strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

's Pink Wig dub) – 6:48 :B1. "My Love Is for Real" (downtempo club dub) – 8:02 :B2. "Didn't I Say I Love You" – 3:05 * UK CD single # "My Love Is for Real" (E-Smoove's Fever 7-inch edit) – 3:47 # "My Love Is for Real" (LP version) – 5:21 # "My Love Is for Real" (Strike Straight Up There mix) – 7:05 # "Didn't I Say I Love You" – 3:29 * UK cassette single; European CD single; Japanese mini-CD single # "My Love Is for Real" (LP version) – 5:21 # "Didn't I Say I Love You" – 3:29 * Australian CD single # "My Love Is for Real" (LP version) – 5:21 # "My Love Is for Real" (E-Smoove's Fever 7-inch edit) – 3:47 # "My Love Is for Real" (Strike Straight Up There mix) – 7:05 # "Didn't I Say I Love You" – 3:29

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

Strike version

British

electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

group

released their version of "My Love Is for Real" in November 1996 by label Fresh Records. It was released at the fourth single from their only studio album, '' I Saw the Future'' (1997), and is produced by Andy Gardner and Matt Cantor of Strike with vocals by Victoria Newton. The single peaked at number 35 in the United Kingdom and number 45 in Scotland. Outside Europe, it reached number 157 in Australia.

Critical reception

British magazine ''

'' gave Strike's version of "My Love Is for Real" four out of five, writing, "The magic is still there from the band who have got making commercial

pop dance Dance-pop is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developi ...

down to a fine art. Another smash."

Track listings

* UK 12-inch single (1996) # "My Love Is 4 Real" (Strike's Big Outback 12-inch mix) # "My Love Is 4 Real" (Strike's Small Upfront dub) # "My Love Is 4 Real" (Ramp vocal mix) # "My Love Is 4 Real" (Ramp dub) * UK CD single (1996) # "My Love Is for Real" (radio edit) – 3:48 # "My Love Is for Real" (Strike's Big Outback 12-inch mix) – 6:11 # "My Love Is for Real" (Strike's Small Upfront dub) – 6:35 # "My Love Is for Real" (Ramp vocal mix) – 6:37 # "My Love Is for Real" (Ramp dub) – 7:33

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1995 songs 1995 singles 1996 singles Music videos directed by Michael Haussman Number-one singles in Hungary Paula Abdul songs Song recordings produced by Rhett Lawrence Songs written by Paula Abdul Songs written by Rhett Lawrence Strike (band) songs Trip hop songs Virgin Records singles World music songs

Composition

Critical reception

Chart performance

Music video

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

Strike version

Critical reception

Track listings

Charts

See also

References