What Is Love? (Howard Jones song)

"What Is Love?" is a song by English musician Howard Jones, released in November 1983 as the second single from his debut studio album, Human's Lib (1984). It reached number 2 on the UK singles chart, becoming the singer's highest chart placing to date. In the US, it peaked at number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100.

"What Is Love?"
Single by Howard Jones
from the album Human's Lib
B-side	"It Just Doesn't Matter"
Released	26 November 1983 (1983-11-26)[1]
Genre	Synth-pop[2][3]
Length	3:41 (single version) 6:36 (extended version)
Label	WEA
Songwriter(s)	Howard Jones Bill Bryant
Producer(s)	Rupert Hine
Howard Jones singles chronology
"New Song" (1983) "What Is Love?" (1983) "Hide and Seek" (1984)

The song was originally entitled "Love?" on the demo tape which Howard Jones recorded in 1982, which itself was available at his gigs. Jones also used the question mark motif around this time on posters advertising his gigs; posters which also hung behind him on stage at his early 1980s Marquee Club appearances and which read simply "Howard Jones?".

Background

Howard Jones said, "I didn't want to write songs about, 'I love you, baby, you've hurt me and I'm sad.' I didn't want to write songs about co-dependency. If I was going to write about love, I wanted to say what do we mean by love? What is it, really? You can't be dependent upon another person for your happiness. So you'd better question this idea of romantic love pretty soon, otherwise you're going to be pretty miserable. So that's really what that song is."^[4]

Music video

The music video for "What Is Love?" was filmed in Paris and features Jones walking around the city and a park.

Personnel

Credits sourced from One Two Testing and Electricity Club^[5][6]

• Howard Jones – lead and backing vocals, Yamaha DX7, SCI Prophet T-8, Roland Juno-60 and Moog Prodigy synthesizers, E-mu Drumulator programming
• Rupert Hine – backing vocals

Track listing

7″

1. "What Is Love?" (Jones/Bryant) – 3:41
2. "It Just Doesn't Matter" (Jones/Bryant) – 3:36

12″

1. "What Is Love?" (extended version) (Jones/Bryant) – 6:33
2. "It Just Doesn't Matter" (Jones/Bryant) – 4:30
3. "Hunt the Self" (live at the Marquee) (Jones/Bryant) – 5:36

Limited edition 12″

A limited edition pack was also released featuring the standard 12-inch single and a "Live at the Marquee" bonus 7-inch single which featured the tracks:

1. "What Can I Say" (Jones/Bryant) – 5:10
2. "Bounce Right Back" (Jones) – 5:23

Demo tape

1. "What Can I Say"
2. "Always Asking Questions"
3. "Human's Lib"
4. "Love?" (a.k.a. "What Is Love?")
5. "Risk"

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1983–1984) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[7] 31 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[8] 16 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[9] 49 France (IFOP)[10] 80 Germany (GfK)[11] 6 Ireland (IRMA)[12] 3 Norway (VG-lista)[13] 10 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[14] 10 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[15] 24 UK Singles (OCC)[16] 2 US Billboard Hot 100[17] 33 US Cashbox[18] 35

Year-end charts Chart (1984) Position Germany (Official German Charts)[19] 68 UK Singles (Gallup)[20] 76

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[21]	Silver	250,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.