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

U2

U2Fact or Fiction

How did The Edge get his name? Did they name a song after a Tolkien book? And who is "Angel of Harlem" about?

Penny Ford of Snap!

Penny Ford of Snap!Songwriter Interviews

The original voice of Snap! this story is filled with angry drag queens, video impersonators and Chaka Khan.

Michael W. Smith

Michael W. SmithSongwriter Interviews

Smith breaks down some of his worship tracks as well as his mainstream hits, including "I Will Be Here For You" and "A Place In This World."

Francesca Battistelli

Francesca BattistelliSongwriter Interviews

The 2011 Artist of the Year at the Dove Awards isn't your typical gospel diva, and she thinks that's a good thing.

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear: Teddy Bears and Teddy Boys in Songs

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear: Teddy Bears and Teddy Boys in SongsSong Writing

Elvis, Little Richard and Cheryl Cole have all sung about Teddy Bears, but there is also a terrifying Teddy song from 1932 and a touching trucker Teddy tune from 1976.

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular Music

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular MusicSong Writing

Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.