Groove Is in the Heart


"Groove Is in the Heart" is a song by American dance band Deee-Lite. It was released in August 1990 as the lead single from their debut album, World Clique. The song was a hit in many countries, reaching number one in Australia.

Background

Though the album version was not recorded until 1990, the song was originally written in the late 1980s; it was performed live as early as 1989. The backing track was built around many samples, primarily the main riff from Herbie Hancock's track "Bring Down the Birds" from the Blowup soundtrack and Vernon Burch's "Get Up", which provided the drum track and also formed the basis for the breakdown featuring a slide whistle. Parliament-Funkadelic bassist Bootsy Collins provided guest vocals, and the rap is provided by Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest.

Critical reception

editor Ned Raggett wrote in his review of World Clique, "Its reputation may rest on only one hit single -- but what a hit. "Groove Is in the Heart" defined the summer of 1990 on radio and MTV with its delicious combination of funk, modern dance sheen, and Lady Miss Kier's smart, sharp diva ways. Add in guest vocals and bass from Bootsy Collins, brass from the original Horny Horns duo of Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker, and a smooth mid-song rap from A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip, and the results sounded good then and now." Matt Stopera and Brian Galindo from BuzzFeed noted that it is a "perfect little slice of the early '90s New York club scene." Bevan Hannan from The Canberra Times described the song as "good fun". NME called it a "pretty faultless collage of G-Funk, Daisy Age hip-hop, salsa and dippy disco." Ross Grady from The Rice Thresher said it is "one of the creamiest slabs of vinyl ever to come from the house music scene." Slant Magazine ranked the song second in its 100 Greatest Dance Songs list, adding: "No song delivered the group's world-conscious Word as colorfully and open-heartedly as 'Groove Is in the Heart,' which flew up the Billboard charts while goosing stuffed shirts". NME and The Village Voices Pazz & Jop annual critics' poll named "Groove Is in the Heart" the best single released in the year 1990.

Chart performance

An immediate smash in nightclubs, the song went to number one on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart and also hit number four on the Billboard Hot 100. It peaked at number 1 for one week in Australia in November 1990.
In the UK, the record was equally popular and was released as a double A-side with "What Is Love", and, with the UK single released with the subtitle "peanut butter mix", it eventually reached number two during September 1990. Its placing second was due to a rule instituted in the UK Singles Chart in the 1980s, which settled any "ties" over chart positions due to equal sales: the single with sales that had increased most from the previous week would reside above the other, controversially giving "The Joker" by the Steve Miller Band the top place. Following complaints from Deee-Lite's record company, WEA, the rule, of which this had been the only case, was scrapped and joint positions were once again allowed. "The Joker" spent a second week at the number one spot and thereafter convincingly outsold "Groove Is in the Heart".

Music video

The song was accompanied by a psychedelic music video, with Deee-Lite, Q-Tip, Maceo Parker and Bootsy Collins superimposed over a cartoonish late 1960s-style background of various shifting shapes and colors. The video opens and closes with quotes by the band: Lady Miss Kier has an opening dialog consisting of "faux-French" originally spoken in the song's AA-side, "What Is Love?", and the ending features Collins saying, "Don't forget, groove is in the heart, and Deee-Lite have definitely been known to smoke... on stage, that is!" and Lady Miss Kier exclaiming "Deee-groovy!"

Impact and legacy

In 2003, Q Magazine ranked "Groove Is in the Heart" at number 323 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever". VH1 placed it at No. 67 in their list of "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s" in 2007. Pitchfork named it the 59th best track of the 1990s. They wrote: "With their sass-tastic frontwoman and kitsched-to-death fashion sense, Deee-Lite probably seemed like a good bet at a time when pop's future was still up for grabs. If you were a kid in the 'burbs, they almost resembled a Daisy Age hip-hop group as much as a house act."
In 2011, The Guardian featured the song on their "A history of modern music: Dance". In April 2017 the single was re-released on pink vinyl, as part of Record Store Day with remixes of "What Is Love?" on the B-Side. BuzzFeed listed the song number 3 in their "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs of the '90s" list in 2017.
In 2018, Time Out listed the song number 23 in their list of "The 100 best party songs", adding: "In this tale of New York's anything-is-possible East Village of the late '80s, a trio of candy-coloured club kids – Super DJ Dmitri, Lady Miss Kier and Towa Tei – decide to form a band. The threesome come up with 'Groove Is in the Heart', a sweetly innocent percolator of a tune that, against all odds, becomes the worldwide club smash of 1990. True story!"

Accolades

indicates the list is unordered.

Cover versions

This is an incomplete list of samples used in the song.
  1. "Groove Is in the Heart" – 5:14
  2. "Groove Is in the Heart" – 3:31
  3. "What Is Love?" – 4:10
  4. "What Is Love?" – 4:04
  1. "Groove Is in the Heart" – 3:55
  2. "Groove Is in the Heart" – 3:32
  3. "Groove Is in the Heart" – 5:14
  4. "Groove Is in the Heart" – 2:12
  5. "What Is Love?" – 4:13
  6. "What Is Love?" – 0:57
  7. "What Is Love?" – 4:03
  1. "Groove Is in the Heart" – 3:29
  2. "What Is Love?" – 4:10
  1. "Groove Is in the Heart" – 5:10
  2. "Groove Is in the Heart" – 3:29
  3. "What Is Love?" – 4:10
  4. "What Is Love?" – 4:02
  1. "Groove Is in the Heart"
  2. "What Is Love?"
Credits adapted from the album liner notes for World Clique.

Weekly charts

Chart Peak
position

Year-end charts

Chart Rank
US Billboard Hot 10091

Certifications and sales