"100% Pure Love" is a 1994 single recorded by American singer and songwriterCrystal Waters from her second studio album, Storyteller. It was released on May 10, 1994 as the album's lead single. The song was a hit in many countries, reaching the top 20 in Australia, Finland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It was certified Platinum in Australia and Gold in the US. Australian music channel Max placed the song at number 698 in their list of "1000 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2011. In 2017, BuzzFeed ranked it at number 9 in their list of "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs Of the '90s"
Background and release
The song is inspired by her relationship at the time. The singer says she chose the stylings of the song as a reaction to the popularity of gangsta rap during the mid-1990s in the United States. Looking to write a positive song, she sent an early draft to her production team Basement Boys who "hated the hook" but "loved the verses." Originally the song was built on the lyrics, "the beat goes boom," before she went back to the drawing board and considered the reasons she was writing the song in the first place. "From the back to the middle and around again, I'm going to be there 'til the end, 100% pure love," emerged as the next draft and became the lyrics in the completed version of the song. The single reached number 11 on the US BillboardHot 100, number one on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, number 38 on the US R&B chart, and number 15 in the United Kingdom. The single spent a total of 45 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming one of the longest charting singles in the US to date. The song won a BillboardMusic Award for Top-Selling Hot Dance Music Club Play Single at the 1994 Billboard Music Awards. The song was certified Gold in the United States. The song proved to be most popular in Australia. It first entered the ARIA Singles Chart at number 40 on June 26, 1994, then reached number three three weeks later. On July 31, the song reached its peak position of number two, behind Wet Wet Wet's runaway hit "Love Is All Around". It dropped to number three the next week, then spent four more weeks at that position before falling to number four on September 11. Afterwards, it remained in the chart for a further seven weeks before dropping out of the top 50 on November 6. It finished 1994 as Australia's 11th best-selling single, the second best-selling number-two hit of the year behind Bon Jovi's "Always". It has since received a Platinum certification from ARIA for sales exceeding 70,000 copies.
Critical reception
from Billboard wrote that "the enigmatic voice behind the 1991 smash 'Gypsy Woman' returns with a percussive pop/dance twirler from her new Storyteller opus. Though it seemed impossible to come up with a hook as catchy as 'la-da-di, la-di-da,' Waters and cohorts the Basement Boys have done exactly that, and wrapped it with dramatic strings and butt shagging cowbells." Bradley Stern from Idolator noted that the song is "armed with a real subtle earworm of a chorus", calling it a "campy house anthem". Wendi Cermak from The Network Forty said it is "100% fierce!" Orla Swift from Record-Journal described it as a "bright, dynamic number" that is "displaying a knack both for catchy melodies and innovative arrangements". Eddie B. Allen Jr. from Toledo Blade noted in his review, that the song is the "most forceful" of the dance singles the album.
