| Slave to Love | |
| Cover: | Slave To Love.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Bryan Ferry |
| Album: | Boys and Girls |
| Released: | 3 May 1985[1] |
| Genre: | Sophisti-pop |
| Length: |
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| Label: | E.G. |
| Producer: |
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| Prev Title: | That's How Strong My Love Is |
| Prev Year: | 1978 |
| Next Title: | Don't Stop the Dance |
| Next Year: | 1985 |
"Slave to Love" is a song by 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 in July 1985.
The song features Neil Hubbard, Dave Gilmour and Keith Scott on lead guitar,[2] Dire Straits' Guy Fletcher on keyboards, Omar Hakim on drums, and Tony Levin on bass guitar.
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.
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]
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[5] | 29 |
| Italy (Musica e dischi)[6] | 9 |
| US Bubbling Under Hot 100 (Billboard)[7] | 109 |