As Long as You Love Me
Encyclopedia
"As Long As You Love Me" is the second single by the Backstreet Boys
from their debut album in the United States
and the second single from Backstreet's Back
internationally. It was released in September 1997 internationally and in October of the same year in the United States. It is one of the bands' largest hits and considered one of their signature song
s. It peaked at #1 in New Zealand
and the Philippines
, #2 in Australia
and Austria
, #3 in the United Kingdom
, #4 in Switzerland
and Sweden
, and #5 in the Netherlands and Norway
. At The 1997 MTV Europe Music Awards the song won Select Video.
, then-chairman of Zomba, heard the song and called Jive Records
president Barry Weiss, who then contacted the band's manager, Johnny Wright. Due to an error on the part of someone in the production chain, an early mix of "As Long As You Love Me" was included on the re-release 1997 US Backstreet Boys
album, but not on Backstreet's Back. The original release of the US debut album had the "LP Version" included. But once the album was re-released, the "Video Version" was included on the album. This allegedly annoyed writer and producer Max Martin. This version subsequently became the version released as a single to radio and video. It has different instrumentation and mixing, as well as a slightly different structure, very similar to their previous US single, "Quit Playin' Games (With My Heart)". The US version is usually listed as the "Radio" or "Video Version", while the international version is typically listed as "Album" or "LP Version". Also, due to illness and the deadline for the song, member A. J. McLean's vocals do not appear on the recorded version of the song. He was taught the background vocals by Brian Littrell
at the music video shoot on June 15, 1997.
CD1
CD2
CD1
CD2
and filmed on June 15, 1997 in Pasadena, California
. It shows the band auditioning before six ladies. The number chosen so that the ladies would not appear to be matched up with the band members. The ladies video tape the performances and take notes. The band members primarily sing and dance, but each member also has a short "screen test" vignette in which he dresses up in a costume and performs various unusual activities. At the bridge, the members switch places with the ladies and have them perform screen tests. The positions reverse again near the end of the song. The dance for this song, as featured in the video, includes a dance that uses folding chair
s as part of the choreography. For many years after the song's release, the band would end most performances of the song with the same chair dance routine. There are special effects utilized in the video. Most notably, morphing
sequences where the face of one member would morph into the next's, as well as quick dissolves
or straight cuts between footage of the members each doing the chair routine in the same exact position of the set. The cuts cause a working fan
in the background to appear to stutter in its spin. One of the ladies in the video is Leighanne Wallace
. After meeting her during rehearsals of this video on June 14, Littrell would ultimately marry Wallace in 2000.
Backstreet Boys
The Backstreet Boys are an American vocal group, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993. The band originally consisted of A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson. They rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys...
from their debut album in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the second single from Backstreet's Back
Backstreet's Back
Backstreet's Back is an album by the Backstreet Boys released internationally in 1997, but not in the United States. It was a follow-up to their successful self-titled international debut. Some songs from this album, and the prior release were compiled into a second self-titled album whose release...
internationally. It was released in September 1997 internationally and in October of the same year in the United States. It is one of the bands' largest hits and considered one of their signature song
Signature song
A signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with or best known for, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...
s. It peaked at #1 in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, #2 in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, #3 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, #4 in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, and #5 in the Netherlands and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. At The 1997 MTV Europe Music Awards the song won Select Video.
Background
The song is their biggest selling single in the UK and the 13th biggest selling boyband single of the 90's in the UK selling 430,000 copies. In the US, although it was never released as a commercial single, it became an MTV staple and a radio airplay hit, spending 56 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart, with a peak of #4. It's about a man professing his love for a woman. In the song, he tells her he doesn't care about her shady past, as long as she loves him back. The song was a last minute addition to the album, as Clive CalderClive Calder
Clive Calder is a South African-born and UK based record executive and businessman primarily known for co-founding the Zomba Group and its subsidiary Jive Records. The relocation of Warner Music Group Chairman Edgar Bronfman Jr...
, then-chairman of Zomba, heard the song and called Jive Records
Jive Records
Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...
president Barry Weiss, who then contacted the band's manager, Johnny Wright. Due to an error on the part of someone in the production chain, an early mix of "As Long As You Love Me" was included on the re-release 1997 US Backstreet Boys
Backstreet Boys (US)
Backstreet Boys is the second but debut U.S. self-titled album by the vocal-pop group Backstreet Boys. The first was their 1996 Backstreet Boys, which was not released in the United States. This second self-titled album was released in 1997 and was their debut album in the country. It became one...
album, but not on Backstreet's Back. The original release of the US debut album had the "LP Version" included. But once the album was re-released, the "Video Version" was included on the album. This allegedly annoyed writer and producer Max Martin. This version subsequently became the version released as a single to radio and video. It has different instrumentation and mixing, as well as a slightly different structure, very similar to their previous US single, "Quit Playin' Games (With My Heart)". The US version is usually listed as the "Radio" or "Video Version", while the international version is typically listed as "Album" or "LP Version". Also, due to illness and the deadline for the song, member A. J. McLean's vocals do not appear on the recorded version of the song. He was taught the background vocals by Brian Littrell
Brian Littrell
Brian Thomas Littrell is an American singer-songwriter, best known as a member of the Backstreet Boys. He is also a contemporary Christian recording artist and released a solo album, Welcome Home, in 2006...
at the music video shoot on June 15, 1997.
Track listing
- UK
CD1
- "As Long As You Love Me" (Radio Version) - 3:32
- "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" (E-Smoove Vocal Mix) - 6:48
- "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" (Funked Up Mix) - 7:13
- "Every Time I Close My Eyes" - 3:55
CD2
- "As Long As You Love Me" (Radio Version) - 3:32
- "As Long As You Love Me" (Unplugged Version) - 3:32
- "As Long As You Love Me" (Instrumental Version) - 3:30
- America
CD1
- "As Long As You Love Me" (LP Version)
- "As Long As You Love Me" (Plastik Vocal Edit)
- "As Long As You Love Me" (Soul Solution Edit)
- "As Long As You Love Me" (Video Version)
CD2
- "As Long As You Love Me" (Radio Version)
- "As Long As You Love Me" (Unplugged Version)
- "As Long As You Love Me" (Matty's R&B Mix)
- "As Long As You Love Me" (Matty's House Dee Zee AH Mix)
- "As Long As You Love Me" (Soul Solution Club Mix)
Music video
The video was directed by Nigel DickNigel Dick
Nigel Dick is an English music video and film director, writer and musician based in Los Angeles, California. He directed the Band Aid video "Do They Know It's Christmas?", as well as over 300 other music videos.Nigel Dick should not be confused with the Australian Dr...
and filmed on June 15, 1997 in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
. It shows the band auditioning before six ladies. The number chosen so that the ladies would not appear to be matched up with the band members. The ladies video tape the performances and take notes. The band members primarily sing and dance, but each member also has a short "screen test" vignette in which he dresses up in a costume and performs various unusual activities. At the bridge, the members switch places with the ladies and have them perform screen tests. The positions reverse again near the end of the song. The dance for this song, as featured in the video, includes a dance that uses folding chair
Folding chair
A folding chair is a light, portable chair that that folds flat, and can be stored in a stack, row, or on a cart.-Uses:Folding chairs are generally used for seating in areas where permanent seating is not possible or practical. This includes outdoor and indoor events such as funerals, college...
s as part of the choreography. For many years after the song's release, the band would end most performances of the song with the same chair dance routine. There are special effects utilized in the video. Most notably, morphing
Morphing
Morphing is a special effect in motion pictures and animations that changes one image into another through a seamless transition. Most often it is used to depict one person turning into another through technological means or as part of a fantasy or surreal sequence. Traditionally such a depiction...
sequences where the face of one member would morph into the next's, as well as quick dissolves
Dissolve (film)
In the post-production process of film editing and video editing, a dissolve is a gradual transition from one image to another. The terms fade-out and fade-in and are used to describe a transition to and from a blank image. This is in contrast to a cut where there is no such transition. A dissolve...
or straight cuts between footage of the members each doing the chair routine in the same exact position of the set. The cuts cause a working fan
Fan (mechanical)
A mechanical fan is a machine used to create flow within a fluid, typically a gas such as air.A fan consists of a rotating arrangement of vanes or blades which act on the air. Usually, it is contained within some form of housing or case. This may direct the airflow or increase safety by preventing...
in the background to appear to stutter in its spin. One of the ladies in the video is Leighanne Wallace
Leighanne Wallace
Leighanne Reena Wallace Littrell is a former American model and actress.Wallace met Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell in June 1997, when she appeared in the Backstreet Boys' music videos "As Long As You Love Me" and "I'll Never Break Your Heart". Littrell proposed on Christmas night 1999, and they...
. After meeting her during rehearsals of this video on June 14, Littrell would ultimately marry Wallace in 2000.
Charts
| Chart (1997) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... Singles Chart |
2 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 2 |
| Begium (Flanders Flanders Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp... ) Singles chart |
4 |
| Belgium Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... (Walonia) Singles chart |
7 |
| Canadian Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
2 |
| Danish Singles Chart | 3 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 5 |
| Finnish Singles Chart | 17 |
| French Singles Chart | 19 |
| German Singles Chart | 3 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
6 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 9 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart | 1 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 5 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 4 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 4 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay Hot 100 Airplay The Hot 100 Airplay chart is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It measures radio airplay, and is one of the three component charts, along with the Hot Singles Sales and the Hot Digital Songs charts, that determine the chart positions of singles on the Billboard... |
4 |
| U.S. Bilboard Top 40 Mainstream | 3 |
End of year charts
| End of year chart (1997) | Position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 25 |
Trivia
- As Long as You Love Me is on the US Version of Now That's What I Call Music! which was released October 20, 1998 the song is track 2.
- In 2009, John and Edward GrimesJedwardJohn Paul Henry Daniel Richard Grimes and Edward Peter Anthony Kevin Patrick Grimes are an Irish hip pop duo. They are identical twins and perform under the name Jedward...
sang the song while auditioning for The X FactorThe X Factor (UK)The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...
.