14 June 1965
Bom! Buh-bom! Bom! Buh-bom! That’s the sound of ’60s UK and US pop swinging mildly to a borrowed calypso beat: we hear it in hits like ‘It’s Not Unusual’, ‘Do You Know The Way To San Jose’ and this. ‘Long Live Love’ in its final verse even replicates the brassy calypso blare of ‘It’s Not Unusual’ – a song Sandie Shaw apparently turned down before Tom Jones found he could shout along to it.
Benign rhythm aside, Shaw’s bright, wonder-struck voice—capturing the same self-confident freedom as her trademark bare feet—is what carries the track and sells the sunny chorus. I had remembered ‘Long Live Love’ as having a bit more urgency, but on re-listening it actually shuffles meekly: the bland andante routine of “we meet every night at eight” starts to edge out that calypso rhythm. Likeable, but I can’t muster any stronger feelings for it than that.
