"Your Loving Arms" is a 1994 song by German singer Billie Ray Martin, the former lead singer of Electribe 101. It was released as the first single from her debut solo album, Deadline for My Memories. Written by Martin and David Harrow, it is known to be one of her most notable singles. It was produced by English electronic dance group the Grid and was originally released on 31 October 1994. The track found greater chart success in 1995, when it peaked at number one in Italy and on Billboard'sHot Dance Club Songs and number 6 on the UK Singles Chart. On the Eurochart Hot 100, "Your Loving Arms" reached number 21. There were made two different music videos for the song. In 1996, Mixmag ranked it at number 47 in its 100 Greatest Dance Singles Of All Time list.[1]
"Your Loving Arms" received favorable reviews from music critics. AllMusic editor John Bush described it as a "magical" electro-pop track.[2] On the 1994 release, Larry Flick from Billboard called it "a spirited foray into trancecarpetedhi-NRG territory. Her distinctively creamy voice has seldom sounded so strong and worldly, giving the song's romantic prose a decidedly dark and anxious edge."[3] In 1995, he added it as "an NRGetic dance number that makes excellent use of her milky soprano range. Her torchy style makes an intriguing contrast with the Grid's cool and rigid groove production."[4] He also called it "deliciously dramatic".[5] Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report said that "there's something in Billie Ray's voice that is simply magnetic. This one-time member of London's Electribe 101 releases a lot of electricity on her own as proven by one super hot dance track."[6]
Ross Jones from The Guardian complimented the singer as the "owner of this era's most haunting voice". He wrote, "At first, this high-octane disco spinner doesn't seem like the best place for her Marlene-meets-Aretha tones, but listen closely and try imagining anyone else caressing it so lovingly, with such unassailable cool."[7] On the re-release, he called it a "glowing piece of dancefloor TNT".[8] John Hamilton from Idolator described it as "fiery" and "a predestined club classic, a pulsating techno torch song in which Martin sasses, vamps, and pleads over ominous rising chords and a frantic tambourine-inflected beat."[9] Howard Cohen from Knight Ridder said that "an instantly memorable hook, retro-disco beat and warm, inviting vocals make this the most musical dance offering 1995 has offered so far."[10]Music & Media wrote, "Is there such a thing as adult-orientated pop dance? If there isn't yet, then it is debuting right here thanks to a lady who looks like Marianne Faithfull's twin sister with the voice of Carly Simon."[11]James Hamilton from Music Week's RM Dance Update deemed it "mournful" and "husky".[12] Barry Walters from Spin stated that it "was the pop song with underground credibility, one that everyone could agree had something special. Martin's lyrics speak of profound joy and pain, the melody soars through consciousness like a caress, and the vocal sets itself apart from the wailing of generic gut-busting divas."[13]
Chart performance[]
"Your Loving Arms" was a major hit in Europe and remains Ray Martin's most successful song to date. It went to number-one in Italy and was a Top 10 hit in Ireland, Scotland and the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number 6 in its second week on the UK Singles Chart, on May 21, 1995.[14] But on the UK Dance Chart, the single reached number 2. On the Eurochart Hot 100, "Your Loving Arms" peaked at number 21 on June 3, 1995. Outside Europe, it hit number-one on the US BillboardDance Club Songs, number 5 in Israel and number 85 in Australia in November 1995. Additionally, the single also went to number 46 on the US BillboardHot 100 and number 30 on the US Cash Box singles chart in 1996. It received a silver record in the United Kingdom with a sale of 200,000 singles.
Music video[]
There were made two different music videos for the song. The UK version is in black-and-white and features Ray Martin performing the song in a bedroom, sometimes lying on the bed or sitting in a chair. Other scenes features the singer walking in a garden or dancing with a man in a hallway. The second version is in colours. The UK version was uploaded to YouTube in 2014.
Impact and legacy[]
British magazine Mixmag listed the song at number 47 in its ranking of the 100 Greatest Dance Singles Of All Time in 1996. They wrote,
If you went into the ladies bogs in any club last summer while Billie Ray's song was playing you could see and hear all the girls joining in. Not only a top tune, Billie Ray Martin's heartfelt lyric spoke the truth about feeling insecure, needing reassurance and hating yourself for it. And, judging by the bogs, many women could recognise the sentiments Billie Ray sang with her incredible sweeping voice - the antithesis of house music's clichéd screaming divas and all the more real for it.[15]
Same year, Ray Martin was awarded the prize for Best New Dance Solo Artist of 1995 on the International Dance Music Awards in Miami.[16]
^Hamilton, James (5 November 1994). "Dj directory"(PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 15. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
