Who knew that back in 1983, when my dad Anthony Stephens was sitting around with his band in Montreal, Canada, smoking, drinking and vibing in the studio that they’d record a song that would still be heard around the world almost 30 years later. In 1986, The Source approached gospel singer Candi Staton about putting her vocals on the track and together, her and The Source delivered, “You Got The Love.” While it would be easy to say, “the rest is history,” that would be lying.
The song barely registered on the Billboard charts when it was released in the United States. For years, royalty checks ranged from the $100s to sometimes less than a $1 (I still have the stubs, by the way). And then in 1991, DJ Eren released a bootleg mix of it in the UK with Candi’s vocals laid over the house song “Your Love.” DJ Eren’s mix reached #4 on the UK charts. Because of the success from Eren’s bootleg mix, the song has been remixed into a dance version, a Euro rock version, had a splash of reggae added to it, and then covered and returned to its soulful roots.
Since 1991, the song has steadily been on the UK charts, and has been licensed for corporate events, movies (Layer Cake), TV shows (Sex and City Series Finale), TV promos (Grey’s Anatomy), reality shows (T.O. Show season finale), and more. In 2009, it was released by both Florence and The Machine (UK’s Best New Artist) and Joss Stone (soulful artist extraordinaire); two artists who have widely different audiences, but who can appreciate a good song. Asked why she decided to cover, “You Got The Love,” Joss Stone replied, “I appreciate other people's writing and music as well as my own and it's a great song!” With both of their releases, the success of “You Got the Love” reached heights never before seen in its history.
And yet for all its international success, nobody's ever heard of the song, The Source, or Anthony Stephens, the primary creator behind the song. The success of this song overseas, shows that there are many ways to achieve success in the music business and it doesn’t always include becoming a household name. Only four members from the original band are still living, but Anthony Stephens and his business partner John Bellamy will continue to take advantage of the song’s popularity as long as people enjoy the song. Look for The Source magic to continue in 2011 with new music from their production company Tri-She*Kieta in 2011. For licensing information regarding any of their mixes, contact licensing@sourcemusicgroup.com.
Arnecia Harris
TOPAZ Writing Solutions
P.O. Box 751044
Houston, Texas 77275
(281) 793-0610
www.mytopazsolution.com
Anthony Stephens
Tri-She*Kieta Productions/Light and Sound Music
P.O. Box 408453
Chicago, Il 60640
(773) 387-7903
www.sourcemusicgroup.com -coming soon!
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