Is This Love (Bob Marley and the Wailers song) explained

Is This Love
Cover:	IsThisLove.jpg
Caption:	Artwork for UK and Italian releases
Type:	single
Artist:	Bob Marley and the Wailers
Album:	Kaya
B-Side:	Crisis
Released:	3 February 1978^[1]
Genre:	Reggae
Length:	3:52
Label:	Tuff Gong, Island
Prev Year:	1977
Next Title:	Blackman Redemption
Next Year:	1978

"Is This Love" is a song by Bob Marley and the Wailers, released on their 1978 album Kaya. The song became one of the best-known Marley songs and was part of the Legend compilation. It peaked at number 9 in the UK charts upon its release in 1978. A live rendition of the song can be found on the Babylon by Bus live album from Paris in 1978.

Music video

A music video was also produced, shot at the Keskidee Arts Centre in London; in the video, future supermodel Naomi Campbell, then seven years old, made her first appearance in the public eye.^{[2] [3] [4] [5]}

Lvndscape and Bolier remix

Is This Love
Cover:	Is This Love by Lvndscape and Bolier.jpg
Type:	single
Artist:	Bob Marley featuring Lvndscape and Bolier
Released:	10 June 2016^[6]
Genre:	Tropical house
Label:	Spinnin' Records
Chronology:	Bob Marley
Prev Title:	Stand Up Jamrock
Prev Year:	2005

In June 2016, the song was remixed by Dutch electronic music collaborators Lvndscape and Bolier, and the remix version reached #16 single in the UK.^[7] The music video was released via Spinnin' Records YouTube channel on 17 June 2016.^[8]

Notable covers

The following artists have covered the song:

• The Pat Travers Band, on their 1980 album Crash and Burn
• Carly Simon, on her 1983 album Hello Big Man
• Hawaiian reggae music group Three Plus, on their 2003 album 3+ 4 U. That album won the 2003 Na Hoku Hanohano Award for Reggae Album of the Year. Their version of "Is This Love" is also included on the 2010 compilation album Putamayo Presents: Tribute To A Reggae Legend: Bob Marley.
• Scott Matthews, as a bonus track on his 2009 album Elsewhere
• Corinne Bailey Rae, on the 2011 EP The Love EP. This version was released as a single and won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance at the 54th Grammy Awards.

Live covers

• Rihanna covered the song during her first worldwide Good Girl Gone Bad Tour (2007—09). The performance is included in her DVD album Good Girl Gone Bad Live.^[9]
• Adam Lambert covered the song in an acoustic set in Sydney, Australia, in the summer of 2012, as well as in his 2013 "We Are Glamily" world tour.^[10]
• Allen Stone performed the Corinne Bailey Rae version of this song on the tour of his self-titled album, Allen Stone.

In popular culture

• The song is played in the movies In the Name of the Father (1993), Six Days Seven Nights (1998), Lake Placid (1999), 50 First Dates (2004) and Just Go With It (2011).
• The song is featured as the theme for the ending credits of Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball as well as its sequel, Dead or Alive Xtreme 2.
• In the book Marley and Me, author John Grogan says that he and his wife Jenny came up with the name Marley for their dog when, during an argument about what to name him, Jenny walked to the tape deck and pushed play, and the song started playing.
• A reference to the song is made in the lyrics "Just like the song on our radio set / We’ll share the shelter of my single bed" from James Blunt's song "Stay the Night", the first single of the 2010 album Some Kind of Trouble.
• Bon Jovi's song "Lay Your Hands on Me" opens with the lyrics "you're ready, I'm willing, and able. Help me lay my cards down on the table", which bears a clear similarity to the lyrics of "Is This Love".

Charts

"Is This Love"

Year-end charts

"Is This Love" featuring LVNDSCAPE and Bolier

Notes and References

1. Web site: Bob Marley & the Wailers – Is This Love . New Zealand-charts.com . 11 April 2024 .
2. http://www.islington.gov.uk/publicrecords/documents/LeisureandCulture/Pdf/lhcexhib_keskidee.pdf "The Keskidee - a community that discovered itself", Islington Local History Centre, 2009.
3. Web site: Peter Gruner, "Green plaque honours Keskidee arts centre where Naomi Campbell met Bob Marley", Camden New Journal, 25 March 2011. . 2013-03-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151222105759/http://www.camdennewjournal.com/news/2011/mar/green-plaque-honours-keskidee-arts-centre-where-naomi-campbell-met-bob-marley . 2015-12-22 . dead .
4. Web site: Pavan Amara and Andrew Johnson, "Fire rips through pioneering black arts venue where Bob Marley shot Is This Love video", Islington Tribune, 9 March 2012. . 2013-03-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151222163841/http://www.islingtontribune.com/news/2012/mar/fire-rips-through-pioneering-black-arts-venue-where-bob-marley-shot-love-video . 2015-12-22 . dead .
5. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/honour-for-arts-centre-where-bob-marley-danced-with-naomi-campbell-7-6382917.html Mark Blunden, "Honour for arts centre where Bob Marley danced with Naomi Campbell, 7", Evening Standard, 21 March 2011.
6. Web site: 2016-06-13. Bob Marley feat. LVNDSCAPE & Bolier - Is This Love. 2021-11-22. T.H.E - Music Essentials. en-GB.
7. Web site: is+this+love+(remix) - full Official Chart History - Official Charts Company. officialcharts.com. 25 January 2017.
8. Web site: 2016-06-10. New Music: "Is This Love" Remix ft. LVNDSCAPE & Boiler. 2021-11-24. Bob Marley. en-US.
9. Web site: Rihanna – Good Girl Gone Bad (Live). iTunes Store (AU). Apple. April 9, 2012.
10. Web site: Adam Lambert Covers Bob Marley's 'Is This Love,' And DUH It's Incredible (Video). https://web.archive.org/web/20120826173033/http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2012/08/23/adam-lambert-bob-marley-is-this-love-cover-video/. dead. August 26, 2012. Rubenstein, Jenna Hally. 2012-08-23. 2012-09-19.
11. Web site: Kent Music Report No 236 – 1 January 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1978. Kent Music Report. Imgur.com. 8 January 2022.
12. Web site: ARIA CHART WATCH #389. auspOp. 8 October 2016. 8 October 2016. 9 October 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161009204300/https://www.auspop.com.au/2016/10/aria-chart-watch-389/. dead.