How “Show Me Love” Became an Unexpected House Classic

Robin S and StoneBridge share their sides of the story.

There are very few records in dance music history that can match the durability of “Show Me Love,” the early 90s house anthem that propelled little-known singer Robin S into the charts. In the 23 years since its release, “Show Me Love” has inspired a steady string of remixes, cover versions, updates, and knock-offs, but the original remains untouchable. As enduring as the track has been, though, its runaway success sprung from an inauspicious origin story.

While “Show Me Love” features a powerhouse turn from Robin S, another name was instrumental in making it a hit: Swedish producer Sten “StoneBridge” Hallström. It was Hallström who took the singer’s original demo, which was gathering dust in the basement of London label Champion, and made it into the 1993 club record we know. Within six months, Robin S had world tours booked and Hallström was in high demand as a remixer. “I didn’t get paid much and I didn’t get royalties on it,” the producer recalls, “but it gave me a career, more or less.”

“Show Me Love” can still light up a dancefloor, and its combination of a gutsy vocal and the Korg M1 synthesizer set a template that’s since been replicated by many other chart hits. As Hallström tells it, he’s reverse engineered his mix “a hundred times” to decipher what made it so powerful. “Obviously Robin sings it very well,” he says. “The kick drum and the organ clearly were in the right key, so you had the soulful bottom-end of the mix. I couldn’t find a clean snare, so I had to take one with a kick in it, so it’s really heavy. Plus the bassline is a hook—the whole record is a big hook. It’s relentless.”

For this edition of Beatport’s How I Made That series, Robin S and StoneBridge tell how “Show Me Love” came to life.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE: BEATPORT - ROBIN S / STONEBRIDGE