"Love Sensation" is a 1980 song performed by American R&B singer Loleatta Holloway, taken from her album of the same name. The song was produced and written by Dan Hartman, arranged by Norman Harris, and mixed by Tom Moulton. It was a hit on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart, where the song spent a week at No. 1 in September 1980. Vocals from the song have been widely sampled, particularly in electronic dance music, such as in the 1989 Black Box song "Ride on Time".

Development

Originally, Hartman envisioned either Bette Midler or Patti LaBelle as singing "Love Sensation". However, after seeing Holloway perform at a nightclub, he approached her instead to sing the vocals. In various interviews, Holloway recalled that Hartman had her perform the song 29 times over a two-day recording session. She lost her voice as a result, and only recovered by putting Vicks VapoRub in her coffee.

Samples

Since the rise of the remix culture during the 1980s, "Love Sensation" has been heavily sampled with large portions of the song incorporated into other works. The original 1989 release of "Ride on Time" by Black Box sampled Holloway's "Thank you baby, 'cause you're right (sic) on time" lyric before a rerecording as well as instrumental portions by the Salsoul Orchestra, and Hartman received a writing credit. In 1991, "Good Vibrations" by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch lifted a sample of Holloway's singing. She received a singing credit on the No. 1 song, giving Holloway her highest U.S. pop chart hit. Holloway even made an appearance performing the chorus in the music video. "Good Vibrations" itself has been frequently sampled with the inclusion of Holloway's contribution. Parts of "Love Sensation" have been sampled and reused in songs such as:

Remixes

In addition to Tom Moulton's 1980 remix for the original 12" single release, the song has been subject to a number of other remixes. These include: