Heavy D & The Boyz "Now That We Found Love"

Album: Peaceful Journey (Uptown/ MCA; 1991)
Songwriters: Kenny Gamble, Heavy D & The Boyz and Leon Huff
R&B Peak Position: #5

"Now that we found love/ What are we gonna do...with i-i-i-t"

Snuggled in between the powerful social and political commentary that made The O'Jays' 1973 album Ship Ahoy a magnum opus of not only Philly soul and R&B, but rock & roll in general, album cut "Now That We Found Love" might not have garnered as much attention as it's LP mates (which included the undying soul favorite "For The Love of Money"), but in time, it's popularity loomed just as large thanks to a couple of noteworthy remakes.

Co-written and produced by Gamble & Huff (then at the peak of their prime) in it's original creation, "Now That We Found Love" broke away from Ship Ahoy's dominant sense of anger and disgust concerning the world's ills for some good old-fashioned amorous sentiment. Celebrating the beginnings of a new coupling and the promise of eternal happiness it carries, the song expertly matched The O'Jays' testifying leads and thick, church-hewned harmonics over G&H's at-turns both serene and soaring orchestration brew.



DL: "Now That We Found Love (The O'Jays)" (YFH)

Five years later, the tune would experience a major break onto radio when Jamaican band Third World revamped it for their third album, Journey To Addis, under an electrifying umbrella of reggae, disco, funk and pop. Surpassing the original not only in international acclaim but, arguably, in form as well, Third World's fusion of island elements with a clubby spirit made "Love"'s lyrical pronouncements (now enhanced with some infectious patois) feel ten-times bigger, inviting the masses to wind and grind as it's never-ending poly-rhythms lit up the skies above.

Not only did it land Top 10 chart placements in both America and the UK, providing the modestly successful act with an explosive mainstream breakthrough, it also helped in grabbing them a fan in Stevie Wonder who would go on to write and produce the band's second big US hit, 1982's "Try Jah Love".

Third World - Now That We Found Love
Uploaded by Discodandan

DL: "Now That We Found Love (Third World)" (YFH)

Fast-forward to 1991 and it was Heavy D and his Boyz' turn to re-popularize the song for a whole new generation.

In the late '80's and early '90's, the "Overwight Lover" had managed to become one of the hip hop field's most likable personalities. Armed with quick rhyming skills, dancing chops you wouldn't think someone of his size would be able to pull off so effortlessly and a backing soundtrack that sometimes adhered to radio-friendly new jack trends, Hev stood out as one of rap's few true well-rounded (oooh...pun-tastic) entertainers, earning them the shot to collaborate with both Michael Jackson and sis Janet on two separate occasions.

His "Now That We Found Love" was positioned as the first single for his Peaceful Journey album and with beat-crafting duties by Teddy Riley and Aaron Hall featured on the hook, it had all the necessary makings to be the crossover monster it would soon become.

"Keep movin', keep movin'", D orders, Riley's crisp hip-house-styled production making it hard as hell not to follow orders. His version of getting hit by Cupid adopts the randy girl-watching additives from Third World, resulting in requests to "slip my quarters inside your slot to hit the jackpot". Despite semi-suggestive lines like that, Heavy keeps his verses mostly wholesome before smartly stepping out of the way to allow the urgent sampled groove and Hall's sweaty ad-libs play more of a focal role in this aerobic-like dance workout.

Heavy D & The Boyz - Now That We Found Love
Uploaded by Hakunamatata67

DL: "Now That We Found Love (Heavy D & the Boyz)" (YFH)