Songfacts®:

• You're traveling through a dimension of sound where Billy Ocean sings seductively over a sultry groove. You've just crossed over into... the Love Zone.
  
  Sometimes forgotten among Ocean's wave of '80s hits is this one. "Love Zone" wasn't a huge pop hit but went to #1 on the R&B chart, one of his four songs to do so. You'll still hear it from time to time on Quiet Storm playlists.
• Ocean wrote the song with his producers, Wayne Brathwaite and Barry Eastmond, who also played on the track. It started with a drumbeat Eastmond came up with, then Brathwaite developed the bassline that really powered the song. With the groove going, Ocean brainstormed lyrics and hit on the word "zone." Brathwaite suggested "Love Zone" for a title, so Ocean used that, making the song about a special place he can share with his lover.
• "Love Zone" is the title track to Ocean's 1986 album. It came in the middle of his run of hits that lasted from 1984-1988. The lead single was "When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going," which is also on the soundtrack to The Jewel Of The Nile; and "There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)."
  
  Ocean had a few other hits in the '70s when he was just starting out, most significantly "Love Really Hurts Without You," but nothing on the level of his '80s hits. Born in Trinidad, he moved to London with his family when he was young and remained based in the UK. He claims to be the most successful UK-based Black singer in history.
• There aren't any credits on the music video but it's a pretty clever concept. It's set in the studio with the song being recorded - a standard setting for videos on a tight budget - but the producer is a lovely lady who, as the song goes on, lets her hair down and falls into the love zone.