"Show Me Love" is a song by the American singer Robin S. It was written by Allen George and Fred McFarlane and released in October 1990 by Champion Records in the United Kingdom. In 1992, a remix by the Swedish house music producer StoneBridge was released in Europe, the US and Japan. It became Robin S.'s biggest hit, one of the best known house tracks in the United Kingdom and helped house music enter the mainstream. In 1993, it was included on Robin S.'s debut album, Show Me Love.
In the US, "Show Me Love" reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100, number four Cash Box Top 100, number seven on the R&B chart and number one on the dance club chart. It was certified gold by and sold 600,000 copies. It reached number six on the UK singles chart in April 1993. Its music video was directed by Millicent Shelton, featuring Robin S. performing in a nightclub. In 2022 and 2025, Rolling Stone and Billboard named "Show Me Love" one of the greatest dance songs.
Recording
The first version of "Show Me Love" was released in 1990 on the British label Champion Records.[5] The producers, Allen George and Fred McFarlane, hired Andrea Martin as a session vocalist to sing the demo.[6] Robin Jackson Maynard, also known as Robin S., was uncomfortable with the tempo, as she had a background in R&B and pop.[6] Maynard said she did not hear Martin's demo.[6]
Billboard described the first version as an uptempo funk,[6] with saxophone and piano.[5] In 1992, the Swedish DJ and producer StoneBridge contacted Champion looking for songs to remix; they suggested "Show Me Love".[7] Champion rejected his first remix, saying he had retained too much of the original.[7] In a few hours, Champion made a second remix, discarding everything but the vocal and kick drum. For the bassline, he changed his Korg M1 synthesizer to the next preset, an organ sound, and liked the effect.[5] Two critics likened the sound to a xylophone.[8][9]
At an American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers panel in 2011, Martin discussed her work on the demo of "Show Me Love". This led to rumors that Martin was the singer on the final version, which was dismissed by Maynard, Martin's songwriting partner Ivan Matias, and the record executive Joey Carvello, who licensed the remix to Atlantic Records.[6] Matias said Martin's statements at the panel had been misinterpreted.[6]
Writing credits
Martin said she helped write the vocal melody but accepted a one-time fee of $300 rather than writing credits, as it made her ineligible for publishing income. Maynard said she also contributed to the melody but did not receive writing credits. McFarlane died in 2016; in 2022, Maynard she hoped George would one day give her a portion of the credits. As is standard for remixes, StoneBridge did not receive a writing credit, though he said it brought him new work opportunities.[6]
Commercial performance
The first version of "Show Me Love" was a commercial failure; according to DJ Mag, it "didn't stand out among the many quality vocal house tracks that were blooming at the start of the '90s".[5] In the US, the 1992 StoneBridge remix reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 on June 12, 1993, and number one on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart on May 8. It reached number four on the Cash Box Top 100 and number seven on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It was certified gold and sold 600,000 copies.[10][11] In Canada, it reached number two on the RPMDance/Urban chart.[citation needed]
The remix debuted at number 66 on the UK singles chart and reached number six on April 4.[12] It reached number two in Spain, number nine in Belgium and Switzerland, and number ten in Sweden. It was a top-20 hit in Austria (15), Denmark (20), France (14), Germany (11), Iceland (14), Italy (17), and the Netherlands (13). On the European Hot 100 Singles, "Show Me Love" reached number 26 on September 25. Elsewhere, the song peaked at number six in Zimbabwe, and in 1994, number 78 in Australia. "Show Me Love" remains Maynard's only top-40 song. She used the success to earn money through live performances.[6] StoneBridge only learned his remix during a visit to London months later, when he watched the weekly TV show Top of the Pops.[6]
Critical reception
The AllMusic editor Alex Henderson observed the influence of Evelyn "Champagne" King on Maynard's vocals, but wrote that she was "obviously her own person". He said the succes led many to think of Maynard as a "dance-floor diva".[13]J.D. Considine from The Baltimore Sun praised the "stomping, bass-driven" song as one of the "best moments" on Maynard's debut album.[14]Larry Flick from Billboard magazine described it as a "big, finger-wavin' performance" combined with "an understated arrangement of icy cool electro beats".[15] M.R. Martinez from Cash Box wrote that "Show Me Love" would "become a testament to any dance floor DJ".[16]
A writer for Complex described "Show Me Love" as "pure" and "powerful",[17] while Anderson Jones from Entertainment Weekly described it as a "techno-tinged house tune".[18] Joe Muggs from Fact wrote, "For all its poppiness, this is a dark, fierce, attitude-filled beast of a record."[19] Howard Cohen from Knight-Ridder Newspapers wrote: "Distinctive, burbling keyboard pattern and rich singing infuse this house classic. A must."[20] Holly Barringer from Melody Maker said, "I think it's that electronic xylophone effect that does it for me. And those vocals. The kind of big, sassy voice that fills your ears. Warm and tight and snappy."[9]
The European magazine Music & Media worte of the "buzzing synth basslines and synthesised xylophone".[8] Alan Jones from Music Week stated on the 1997 re-release, that the track "is widely recognised as one of the classic dance tracks of the Nineties and the original can't be improved on, but our old friend "public demand" has apparently forced a re-release." He added, "Reserve a place in the upper echelons of the chart."[21] A reviewer from The Orlando Sentinel viewed it as "hard-driving".[22] Jeremy Helligar from People Magazine remarked that the singer "sounded so caught up in the rapture of the rhythm that listeners couldn't help following suit."[23] Popdust noted "that gorgeous, glorious riff", adding that Robin S. "sounds shell-shocked and devastated, like she's pleading for her guy to show her love, because she just doesn't know if she can take another crushing disappointment. It's very dark, and could have been overwhelmingly dour, if not for the snare-and-hi-hat shuffle that keeps propelling the song forward."[24]Rob Sheffield from Spin said it was "great" and called its synthesiser riff "haunting".[25]TMZ described it as "infectious" and said Maynard was an "icon in the '90s club scene".[26]
Impact and legacy
The song made it to the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, a rare feat for a house song at the time. According to The Guardian, "Show Me Love" has influenced contemporary house songs such as Kiesza's "Hideaway" (2014) and Disclosure's "White Noise" (2013), and artists such as Clean Bandit and Felix Jaehn.[7] In 2000, VH1 ranked it number 73 in its list of "100 Greatest Dance Songs". In 2006, Slant Magazine ranked the song 41st in its "100 Greatest Dance Songs" list, writing, "'Show Me Love' was not just one of the biggest house-pop crossovers of the early-'90s club-radio boom, it was also one of the last. At least radio house went out with its face on (that is, before it came back in its more Euro varieties). 1993's 'Show Me Love' was as representative as any track of the way house distilled disco's flamboyant, strings-and-all yearning into a minimal thump with skeletal keyboards doing the bulk of melodic support (as defined by Swedish producer Stonebridge's remix).[3] In 2011, The Guardian featured the song in its "A History of Modern Music: Dance". In 2014, Complex included it in their "Songs Every Dance Music Fan Should Know, Vol. 1", naming it "a perfect track." They wrote, "Whatever the case may be, there are memorable hooks or vocals from that era, but 'Show Me Love' is indicative of the soul and heart that resided within the house scene for a while."[27] In 2022, Rolling Stone ranked "Show Me Love" number nine in their list of "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time" saying, "Beyoncé knows it, Charli XCX knows it, and if you don't know it by now, put a pause on this list and go listen to it."[28] In 2023 and 2025, Billboard magazine ranked it among the "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time" and "The 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time".[29][30]
Sampling
"Show Me Love" was sampled by Jason Derulo in his single "Don't Wanna Go Home", from his 2011 album Future History.[31] The American hip hop artist Kid Ink interpolated it in his 2013 single "Show Me", which features guest vocals from Chris Brown.[32][33][34] In 2023, Maynard said "Show Me" was her favorite use of the sample.[35] "Show Me Love" was interpolated in the 2016 song "Your Love" by the French DJ and producer David Guetta and the Dutch electronic dance music duo Showtek.[36]Charli XCX sampled "Show Me Love" on "Used to Know Me" from her 2022 album Crash.[37] After Beyoncé sampled "Show Me Love" for "Break My Soul", the lead single from her 2022 album Renaissance, various record labels, corporations, and other artists inquired about licensing the master recordings. Maynard said Beyoncé's use of the song was "one of the highest compliments ever".[38]
In 2008, following the successful sample of the Mobin Master cover mashup with their song, "Be", Swedish DJ and producer Steve Angello and Filipino-Dutch DJ Laidback Luke used the parts to reconstruct their mashup. Robin S. is featured re-recording her vocals, engineered and co-produced by Mobin Master, which was initially recorded for his version. Also featured are additional vocals from Hal Ritson (co-producer) and Yolanda Quartey. It was originally released through the Happy Music label on December 12, and has had multiple re-releases since. "Show Me Love" is one of Angello's and Luke's best known singles, especially in the United Kingdom where it topped the UK Dance Chart in 2009.
The song was also an international breakthrough for Dutch DJ Hardwell.[136] The song is based on his illegal bootlegmashup of Mobin Master's cover of "Show Me Love", with vocalist Karina Chavez and the instrumental track "Be" by Steve Angello & Laidback Luke.
In 2015, the song was remade by producer Sam Feldt featuring vocals from Kimberly Anne. It was released as a digital download on 16 February 2015[148] through Spinnin' Records. Several remixes were released on 21 June 2015, including EDX's Indian Summer Remix, which became most popular.
↑Molanphy, Chris (July 16, 2022). "Point of No Return Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
↑Pollock, Bruce (1997). The Rock Song Index: The 7,500 Most Important Songs of the Rock and Roll Era, 1944–2000. New York: Schirmer Books. p.346. ISBN0-02-8720687.
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