Ride on Time — Black Box
Three Italian producers, an uncleared Loleatta Holloway sample and a model miming on Top of the Pops: how Ride on Time became the UK’s biggest single of 1989.
- Made by Italian trio Daniele Davoli, Mirko Limoni and Valerio Semplici, also known as Groove Groove Melody.
- Built on an uncleared sample of Loleatta Holloway’s “Love Sensation” (1980).
- Six weeks at No. 1 in the UK; the country’s best-selling single of 1989.
“Ride on Time” is the record that took Italo house to the top of the UK chart, and one of the most disputed samples in dance music. Black Box released it in the summer of 1989; by September it was No. 1, and by December it was the best-selling single of the year in Britain.
Three Italians and an a cappella
Black Box were DJ Daniele Davoli, keyboard player Mirko Limoni and Valerio Semplici, a classically trained clarinet teacher; as producers they also worked as Groove Groove Melody. Davoli wanted a dance record with “the power of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple”. In New York he bought a 12-inch a cappella of Loleatta Holloway’s 1980 Salsoul single “Love Sensation” and sampled it on an Akai S900; Dan Hartman shares the writing credit on “Ride on Time”. A sample of Love Unlimited Orchestra’s “Love’s Theme” went in too. The backing track came together fast; arranging the samples took weeks. Even the title came from a line the group misheard.
No. 1, and a dispute
Released on 31 July 1989, on Discomagic in Italy and Deconstruction in the UK, the single entered the UK chart at No. 28 in August and reached No. 1 in its fifth week, on 3 September. It stayed there for six weeks and finished as the UK’s best-selling single of 1989. It also went to No. 1 in Ireland, Iceland and Israel and No. 2 in Australia and New Zealand.
The sample had not been cleared. When talks with Salsoul broke down, BMG had a new vocal recorded. Heather Small, later the voice of M People, sang it within an hour for a flat fee, without being told what it was for. Deconstruction withdrew the original and issued the new version on the Ride on Time (Remix) EP. Holloway said: “It annoyed me knowing that Black Box were number one.” In 2018 Davoli said BMG had only ever paid Salsoul, the owner of the master, and Black Box bought the rights to the sample that year.
The face on Top of the Pops
For Top of the Pops, the group hired French model Katrin Quinol to mime the vocals; she also appeared in the video and fronted Black Box shows in Europe. The miming drew criticism, and Davoli later admitted it was wrong.
Black Box kept the hits coming. “I Don’t Know Anybody Else” gave them their first No. 1 on Billboard’s Dance chart and “Everybody Everybody” their second, and the album Dreamland, released on 8 May 1990, went to No. 1 in Australia. The vocal question came back with that album: Martha Wash sued over uncredited vocals on six of its songs, including “Everybody Everybody”, and RCA settled in December 1990.
Why it still works
Reviews in 1989 were split. Record Mirror found it “splendid and instantly catchy”; Billboard’s Bill Coleman heard it as derivative of S’Express. The verdict has since settled: in 1993 NME called it the “ultimate Italian house shouter”, and Melody Maker later described it as “a modern classic”. Duke Dumont ranked it fourth among UK No. 1s in 2014, and The Guardian placed it 67th among the 100 greatest UK No. 1s in 2020. On a dance floor the shouted vocal and the bouncing groove still do their job within seconds. For the diva house that followed, read about “Show Me Love” by Robin S and “Gypsy Woman” by Crystal Waters; for Italy’s next big export, “The Rhythm of the Night” by Corona.
FAQ
Who sings on Ride on Time?
The original uses an uncleared sample of Loleatta Holloway’s 1980 single “Love Sensation”. After the dispute, a replacement vocal was recorded by Heather Small, later the singer of M People.
Who was the woman in the Ride on Time video?
French model Katrin Quinol, hired to mime the vocals on Top of the Pops and in the video. Daniele Davoli later said the decision was wrong.
How successful was Ride on Time?
It spent six weeks at No. 1 in the UK from September 1989 and was the country’s best-selling single of the year. It also reached No. 1 in Ireland, Iceland and Israel.
