Today’ song is from an English rock band based in London, England. The band achieved success in the mid-1980s and are best remembered for this song. The band’s original name, 'Baseball Boys', was from a teen gang called "The Baseball Furies" in the cult film The Warriors, which the keyboardist had just seen.
The band got a reputation as a very "American-sounding" group and signed in the US after playing for just a few months in England. Their manager, an
American living in England, recommended a new band name with a similar attitude since 'Baseball Boys' seemed too "tacky" and "tongue-in-cheek". Soi they landed on the name we all know now, which kept the baseball theme.
They had an unusual experience for a British band in that they enjoyed commercial success in the US, but never in their homeland. The band released their first album, Play Deep, in 1985 where it reached No. 9 on the Billboard 200 list and then reached triple platinum in the United States.
The band continued to record and tour through the 1980s and then into the early 1990s, when the group's popularity waned.The group essentially disbanded in the 1990s, but they resumed touring in 1998, and released their final album, Replay.
Sadly, two of the original members have died: John Spinks in 2014, from cancer; and Tony Lewis, in 2020.
There are currently more than 1,000 cover versions of today’s song online. It’s taken on a life of its own, turning up on movie soundtracks like Ryan Reynolds Adventureland. As well remixes of all types of dance subgenres; it’s sampled on hip-hop singles; DJs keep it at the ready for at weddings; jukeboxes in all kinds of bars include it as a selection.
Katy Perry even did a remake but she changed the lyrics and the title calling it “Use Your Love.” When asked what made Katy remake the song she said when she sees a group of women at a club, this song will come on and all the ladies put their drinks down and sing along. Katy says only Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” shares this put-down-your-drinks distinction.