Love Is All (Roger Glover song)

"Love Is All" is a 1974 pop song, credited to Roger Glover & Guests in the credits, but in reality sung by Ronnie James Dio.[1] It was featured on Glover's solo album The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast and the single – released in the UK on 8 November 1974 – was a number one-hit in the Netherlands and Belgium. The song was notable for its music video, which featured an animated cartoon starring a guitar-playing frog.[1][2]

Background

In 1973 Roger Glover left Deep Purple because of work pressure and tensions between him and Ritchie Blackmore. Together with Jon Lord he worked on a solo project. Their plan was to make a rock opera based on William Plomer and Alan Aldridge's book The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast (1973), in itself based on the eponymous poem by British historian William Roscoe (1802).[2] However, because Lord was too busy with Deep Purple Glover decided to make it into a concept album recorded by himself and musicians like Glenn Hughes, David Coverdale, John Lawton and Ronnie James Dio. The resulting album was titled The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast.[1]

Eddie Hardin wrote the song Love Is All based on a song featured in The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast named Love's all you need, which was inspired by The Beatles' song All You Need Is Love (1967). The song was sung by Ronnie James Dio, but the single was credited to Glover.[1] It's B-side was Old Blind Mole/Magician Moth.

Music video

The song came with an animated music video featuring a guitar playing frog gathering animals in the forest for the upcoming ball.[2] The animation was done by Halas & Batchelor's studio[1] and one of the animators on the short was Harold Whitaker.[2] The video received a lot of airplay over the decades, particularly as a fill-in during technical difficulties, such as the French TV channel Antenne 2 and in the United States in children's TV programs such as The Great Space Coaster and Nickelodeon morning shows.[1] These random airings, together with the psychedelic tone of the clip and the lack of subtitles, made it very popular amongst young viewers.

Reception

While Love Is All did little in the United Kingdom it became an unexpected number one-hit in the Netherlands and Belgium for several weeks. In the Dutch Top 40 it reached number one for two weeks.[1] In 1980 it was featured on the Australian music show Countdown, where it ended up in the Top 10.[1] It was also regularly used as an interstitial program on the ABC.

Cover versions

The song was covered by Sacha Distel in 1976. In 2002 Flemish singer Dana Winner released her cover version. Other artists who covered the song have been Gonzales (2008), Keedz (2010) and Playing for Change (2012).[3]

The song was used in a 1991 French TV ad by Sironimo, a brand of flavored syrup.

In 2006 the song was used by the Dutch political party CDA in its election advertisements for the 2006 Dutch General Election. In 2014 the song was featured in The Video Game Just Dance 2015 By Ubisoft

Sources
  1. ""The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast": Remembering Dio's psychedelic children's song "Love is All"". nightflight.com. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  2. "Alan Aldridge". lambiek.net. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  3. "Love Is All by Roger Glover on WhoSampled". WhoSampled. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
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