Turn It into Love explained

Turn It into Love
Cover:KylieTurnItIntoLoveCover.png
Type:single
Artist:Kylie Minogue
Album:Kylie
B-Side:Made in Heaven
Released:21 December 1988
Studio:Melbourne, Australia
Genre:Hi-NRG
Length:3:37
Label:PWL
Producer:Stock Aitken Waterman
Prev Title:It's No Secret
Prev Year:1988
Next Title:Hand on Your Heart
Next Year:1989

"Turn It into Love" is a single released by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. It was taken from her debut studio album Kylie (1988). The single was released in December 1988 in Japan only. The B-side was a new song "Made in Heaven", which also served as the B-side to both "Je ne sais pas pourquoi" and "It's No Secret" in other international territories.

The song, written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW), was also released by British singer Hazell Dean the same year, sparking years of speculation about which performer recorded it first. But the track's writer and producer Matt Aitken insists it was written for Minogue, and later given to Dean when it became apparent the Australian singer didn't need another UK single from her debut album.[1]

Kylie performed the song (as part of medleys) during her On a Night Like This Tour and Showgirl Homecoming shows in the 2000s, as well the Mushroom Records 25th birthday concert in Melbourne, Australia in 1998.

Critical reception

A favourite track among Stock Aitken Waterman enthusiasts, the song also featured on the 2005 UK compilation album Stock Aitken Waterman Gold, one of just two tracks included that were not released as a single in the UK. Retrospectively, in 2017, Christian Guiltenane of British magazine Attitude described it as "one of SAW's most amazing songs", noting "its exuberant xylophone intro and lilting melody" but with "a melancholy in the verses".[2] In 2021, British magazine Classic Pop ranked the song number 21 in their list of 'Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs', adding that it "is surely one of their finest creations for Minogue".[3] In 2024, the same magazine ranked the song at number 18 in its list of "Top 40 Kylie Minogue songs", describing it as a "breezy, moreish serving of galloping SAW loveliness".[4] In 2023, Robert Moran of Australian daily tabloid newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald ranked the song as Minogue's 38th best song (out of 183), adding that it is the "proof that Kylie's been doing Euro-disco since the very beginning. The chorus is the sort of earworm you'll suddenly find yourself repeating every time you turn a tap, a doorknob, etc".[5]

Format and track listing

This is the format and track listing of major single release of "Turn It into Love".

Japanese 7" single and 3" CD

  1. "Turn It into Love" – 3:35
  2. "Made in Heaven" – 3:29

Official versions

"Turn It into Love"

No official vocal extended version of "Turn It into Love" was ever produced at PWL.

"Made in Heaven"

Live performances

Minogue performed the song on the following concert tours:

Charts and certifications

Certifications

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Hazell Dean version

Turn It into Love
Type:single
Artist:Hazell Dean
Album:Always
Released:12 September 1988
Recorded:1988
Length:3:35
Label:EMI
Producer:Stock Aitken Waterman
Prev Title:Maybe (We Should Call It a Day)
Prev Year:1988
Next Title:Love Pains
Next Year:1989

In September 1988, just prior to Kylie's "Turn It into Love" being released in Japan, British Hi-NRG singer Hazell Dean released her version which was also produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, however, the arrangement was noticeably different from that of Kylie's version.

Background and release

Published reports and notes contained in Dean's own 2012 greatest hits compilation, Evergreen, have claimed that the singer was at PWL Studios recording "Maybe" when she was played a selection of songs being recorded for Kylie's debut album. In this version of events, "Turn It into Love" stood out, and she liked the song so much, she asked Pete Waterman to let her record her own version of the song. Waterman obliged and it was eventually released as the lead into the release of Dean's second Stock Aitken Waterman-produced album Always in October 1988.

However, Dean has refuted these long-repeated claims, insisting she never knew Kylie had recorded the song until the Australian singer's version later came to prominence.[7] Asserting that she thought she was recording a totally original song when given "Turn It Into Love", Dean admitted she was "p-ed off" when she discovered there had been a double up, calling the reuse of the song by SAW "a cop out".

Chart performance

Dean's version of "Turn It into Love" was a moderate hit in Europe. It peaked at number 21 in the UK Singles Chart for the week ending 8 October 1988, number 30 in Swiss singles chart for the week ending 30 October 1988, and number three in Finland on 19 November 1988. On the overall Eurochart Hot 100, it peaked at number 68, and charted for five weeks.

Critical reception

A review in Pan-European magazine Music & Media deemed the song "a very professional disco record with the familiar PWL groove".[8] James Hamilton from Record Mirror praised the extended version, stating this "SAW created attractively trotting -- bpm plaintive light swinger is not surprisingly very Kylie Minogue-like (though better sung!), being one of the best song from her LP – a generous move giving it to Hazell as such an obviously hit-bound single".[9]

Charts

Chart (1988)! scope="col"
Peak
position
Europe (European Hot 100)[10] 68
Europe (European Airplay Top 50)[11] 48
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[12] 3
UK Dance (Music Week)[13] 20

Same Difference version

Brother-sister duo Same Difference recorded "Turn It into Love" and included it on their debut album which was released on 1 December 2008.[14] It was intended to have been the second single from the duo (and from the album), and was due for release in 2009 but was cancelled. In 1990, Hong Kong band Echo covered this song in Cantonese.

Wink version

Ai ga Tomaranai (Turn It into Love)
Cover:Wink - Ai ga Tomaranai (Turn It into Love).jpg
Type:single
Artist:Wink
Album:At Heel Diamonds
Language:Japanese
B-Side:Ding Ding: Koi kara Hajimaru Futari no Train
Recorded:1988
Length:3:29
Label:Polystar
Composer:Stock Aitken Waterman
Lyricist:Neko Oikawa
Producer:Haruo Mizuhashi
Prev Title:Amaryllis
Prev Year:1988
Next Title:Namida wo Misenai de (Boys Don't Cry)
Next Year:1988

"Turn It into Love" was covered by Japanese idol duo Wink as . Released by Polystar Records on 16 November 1988, it was their third single, with Japanese lyrics written by Neko Oikawa. The song was used as the theme of the Fuji TV drama series . The B-side is a Japanese-language cover of Annica Burman's "I en ding ding värld".

The single became Wink's first No. 1 on Oricon's singles chart.[15] It sold over 645,000 copies, making it the duo's biggest-selling single.[16]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Neko Oikawa; all music is arranged by Motoki Funayama.

Chart positions

Weekly charts
Charts (1988)Peak
position
Japanese Oricon Singles Chart1
Japanese The Best Ten Chart1
Year-end charts

Cover versions

Year Artist Album
1995 Ai ga Tomaranai (愛が止まらない) (Single)
2001 The Hit Parade
2003 Koyanagi the Covers Product 2
2003 Dream World
2008 Girls' Rock √Hakurai
2009 Two Sing 2 (ふたりうた2 Futari Uta 2)
2010 Junichi Inagaki (duet with Nanase Aikawa) A Man and a Woman 3 (男と女3 Otoko to Onna 3)
2011 Power Spot (パワースポット Pawāsupotto )
2020 Lovers Wanted Lovers Wanted

External links

Kylie Minogue version
Wink version

Notes and References

  1. Web site: A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman: Ep 41: Looking Back with Matt Aitken on Apple Podcasts . 2022-10-24 . Apple Podcasts . en-AU.
  2. The very best hits (and misses) of Stock Aitken Waterman . Christian . Guiltenane . . 7 September 2017 . 1353-1875 . London . 24 January 2024.
  3. Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs. Classic Pop. 18 August 2021. 14 August 2023.
  4. Top 40 Kylie Minogue songs. Classic Pop. 27 March 2024. 1 May 2024.
  5. News: Every Kylie Minogue song ranked . Robert . Moran . Annabel . Ross . . 25 September 2023 . 0312-6315 . Sydney . 28 February 2024.
  6. Book: Okamoto, Satoshi. Oricon Single Chart Book: Complete Edition 1968–2005. Oricon Entertainment. Roppongi, Tokyo. 2006. 4-87131-076-0.
  7. Web site: A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman: Ep 36: The Loco-Motion to Turn It Into Love on Apple Podcasts . 2022-08-15 . Apple Podcasts . en-AU.
  8. Previews – Singles. Music & Media. 5. 41. 8 October 1988. 25. 29800226. World Radio History . 15 August 2023.
  9. Hamilton . James . James Hamilton (DJ and journalist) . DJ directory by James Hamilton . . 27 August 1988 . 39 . London . Spotlight Publications Ltd.. World Radio History . 0144-5804 . 30 October 2023.
  10. Eurochart Hot 100 Singles. Music & Media. 5. 42. 15 October 1988. 26-27. 29800226. World Radio History . 28 August 2023.
  11. European Airplay Top 50. Music & Media. 5. 43. 22 October 1988. 27. 29800226. World Radio History. 28 August 2023.
  12. Top 3 Singles in Europe. Music & Media. 5. 47. 19 November 1988. 24. 29800226. World Radio History . 15 August 2023.
  13. Top Dance Singles . . 1 October 1988 . 13 . World Radio History . 28 August 2023.
  14. Web site: Song of the Day; Turn It into Love . Popjustice.com . 2012-08-02.
  15. Web site: 愛が止まらない~TURN IT INTO LOVE~ WINK . . 22 July 2021.
  16. Web site: Wink(シングル) . Yamachan Land . https://web.archive.org/web/20110524095747/http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~yamag/single/wink.html . Japanese . 22 July 2021. 24 May 2011 .