It is widely regarded as one of the single most iconic dance songs of all time, "Show Me Love," by Robin S. is one of the biggest flukes in music, that resulted in an enduring success despite the lack of support from the singer herself.
Robin Stone was an R&B singer from New York, newly signed to Atlantic Records', sub label Big Beat Records. Going by the name Robin S. she was given the song "Show Me Love" to sing for her debut. The original version of Show Me Love was written by Allen George and known dance song writer Fred McFarlane, as an upbeat House track, which Robin herself did not like. Wanting to sing in a more R&B or crossover pop style like a Chaka Khan or Whitney Houston, Robin felt Show Me Love was to fast a pace to sing at and didn't feel she could give the song her best performance since she didn't have a feel for that type of music.
House Music at the time was just starting to spread worldwide as it mainly only had US success in its hometown of Chicago and sister cities of Detroit and New York, and didn't start to break out globally until it blew up in the UK and spread throughout Europe. Dance singles at the time were easier to push and had a chance to catch fire quickly, so the strategy of using a House track for Robin was a sound one. Fighting off a cold from the night before, Robin pushed herself to record the song even though she hated the result, and Show Me love was presented to Atlantic as her debut single. Not really having a feel for where to release the single the record company shelved the song until it optioned it to indie label, Champion Records, who released the song in the UK in 1990. The song had moderate success but didn't move enough units to motivate Robin to support it in Europe.
By 1992, the song was well past its initial run when, by sheer luck it was found by Swedish DJ StoneBridge, who litteraly found it on the shelf of one of the studios at Champion Records. Liking her performance, StoneBridge remixed the track by dropping everything but her voice and turning the traditional House single into a Deep House track, by giving it its signiture organ sound. The marriage of the two turned Show me love into a club Banger! First played by StoneBridge in clubs, the song caught on like wildfire and spread through Europe, making it one of the hottest rising singles in the UK. Robin was still reluctant to go to England to promote the single until it hit the top five across Europe. Robin would go to England to perform the song on Top Of The Pops, England's top music show and that's where StoneDridge learned that the single he remixed was a sensation. US DJ's caought wind of the single seeing what it did to the crowds in the clubs and brought the song back to the US where it caught fire all over again, getting into the top of the Billboard charts and topping the dance charts, selling over 600,000 copies.
For Robin it was a cruel twist of fate, that the one song she hated to record two years earlier was her biggest hit, but the outpour of affection she's gotten over time has softened her view on the song. Show Me Love is one of the most successful singles in dance music history and to this day still turns out clubs when it drops in a mix. A staple of the deep house sound it has influnced House music DJ's to this day as its structure is still used from modern House tracks to the rising Amapiano craze that's spreading across the world right now. You never know what surprises life can hand you and for Robin S. her one shining moment in music is a song that still shines as brightly today as it did when it first caught fire over 30 years ago. The dance world as a whole still shows her love.