All Of My Love

Album: Round Trip (1989)
Charted: 88
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "All Of My Love" didn't crack the Hot 100, but it was a #1 hit for The Gap Band, their first since 1982, when they topped that chart with "Early In The Morning" and "Outstanding."

    Their sound fell out of favor in the mid-'80s but was a big influence on the new jack swing beats were landing hits for the likes of Bobby Brown and Keith Sweat. They got into the action by embracing the new jack sound on "All Of My Love."
  • The song was written by the group's bass player Ronnie Wilson along with the songwriters Ray Calhoun and Aldyn St. John (AKA John Black). Calhoun, who played percussion for The Gap Band, had written their hit "Outstanding." He started writing "All Of My Love" in an effort to get a song on the band's Round Trip album. It started when he found inspiration in the studio.

    "I came up with a bassline and a drum track and then I told the guy who was engineering to put up a mike," he said in the Billboard Book Of #1 Hits. "I went in there and sang this little melody I had. That's all I had at first, so I went home and came back with next day with the lyrics to the first verse."

    The song ended up being pretty straightforward lyrically, with Gap Band frontman Charlie Wilson pledging his love to a special lady.

    "All the songs Charlie's ever done for me, he's always done them right away," Calhoun added. "Real easy, real quick, boom. He didn't have to think about it. He was inspired - he loved the track and it just came to him."
  • The Gap Band went on hiatus following the Round Trip album, with Charlie Wilson launching a solo career. They returned with another album in 1994 and remained active until Robert Wilson, one of the three brothers in the band, died in 2010.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Randy Houser

Randy HouserSongwriter Interviews

The "How Country Feels" singer talks Skynyrd and songwriting.

Gilby Clarke

Gilby ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

The Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist in the early '90s, Gilby talks about the band's implosion and the side projects it spawned.

Subversive Songs Used To Sell

Subversive Songs Used To SellSong Writing

Songs about drugs, revolution and greed that have been used in commercials for sneakers, jeans, fast food, cruises and cars.

Tom Bailey of Thompson Twins

Tom Bailey of Thompson TwinsSongwriter Interviews

Tom stopped performing Thompson Twins songs in 1987, in part because of their personal nature: "Hold Me Now" came after an argument with his bandmate/girlfriend Alannah Currie.

Krishna Das

Krishna DasSongwriter Interviews

The top chant artist in the Western world, Krishna Das talks about how these Hindu mantras compare to Christian worship songs.

What Musicians Are Related to Other Musicians?

What Musicians Are Related to Other Musicians?Song Writing

A big list of musical marriages and family relations ranging from the simple to the truly dysfunctional.