Slave to Love

This article is about the Bryan Ferry song. For other uses, see Slave of Love (disambiguation). For the unrelated song of the same name by Willy DeVille, see Crow Jane Alley.

"Slave to Love" is a song by the English singer-songwriter Bryan Ferry, released as the first single from his sixth solo studio album, Boys and Girls (1985). The song is one of Ferry's most popular solo hits. The single was released on 3 May 1985 and spent nine weeks in the UK singles chart in 1985, peaking at number 10. He performed the song at Live Aid in the London concert at Wembley Stadium on 13 July 1985. It also appears in the 1986 film, 9½ Weeks, and features on the movie's soundtrack album.^{[citation needed]}

"Slave to Love"
Single by Bryan Ferry
from the album Boys and Girls
Released	3 May 1985[1]
Genre	Sophisti-pop
Length	3:59 (7" mix) 5:56 (12" extended mix) 4:26 (album version)
Label	E.G.
Songwriter(s)	Bryan Ferry
Producer(s)	Bryan Ferry Rhett Davies
Bryan Ferry singles chronology
"That's How Strong My Love Is" (1978) "Slave to Love" (1985) "Don't Stop the Dance" (1985)
Music video
"Slave to Love" on YouTube

The song features Neil Hubbard, David Gilmour and Keith Scott on lead guitar,^[2] Dire Straits' Guy Fletcher on keyboards, Omar Hakim on drums, and Tony Levin on bass guitar.

Music video

A promo video directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino and featuring the Swedish model Christine Bergström, the French model Laurence Treil, the Dutch model Marpessa Hennink, Jillian King, Fabrice Langlade, Olivier Poivre and Richard Teophile was shot to promote the single. The cinematographer was Pascal Lebegue.

Reception

Writing for AllMusic, Bill Janovitz called "Slave to Love" an "achingly beautiful ballad" which "clearly has a 1980s aura to it, yet 'Slave to Love' was not a slave to the gimmicks of the era, sounding more timeless and classic than other radio hits from the mid-'80s."^[3] Writing for The Guardian, Jeremy Allen likened it to Roxy Music's "Dance Away", saying that Ferry had "hit on a formula to write the same oleaginous ballad over and over again to handsome remuneration (play 'Dance Away' and 'Slave to Love' back to back and you'll see what I mean)."^[4]

Track listing

• 7"

1. "Slave to Love"
2. "Valentine" (instrumental)

• 12" UK single: E.G. Records / FERRx 1 881873-1

1. "Slave to Love" (special 12" re-mix) – 5:56
2. "Slave to Love" (instrumental) – 4:23
3. "Valentine" (instrumental) – 4:00

Charts

Chart (1985)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[5]	29
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[6]	11
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[7]	75
France (SNEP)[8]	45
Germany (GfK)[9]	30
Ireland (IRMA)[10]	8
Italy (Musica e dischi)[11]	9
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[12]	36
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13]	33
Norway (VG-lista)[14]	5
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[15]	11
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[16]	18
UK Singles (OCC)[17]	10
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 (Billboard)[18]	109
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[19]	19

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[20]	Gold	30,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[21]	Silver	200,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.