Roxy Music

"Love Is the Drug" is a 1975 single from Roxy Music's fifth studio album Siren.

The song was the lead single taken from the album Siren. A number two hit in the United Kingdom, it also gave the group its first substantial exposure in the United States, reaching number 30 in early 1976 on the US pop singles chart and doing even better on progressive rock radio. Its B-side in most countries was "Sultanesque", a non-LP instrumental track written by Ferry, which is now available on the The Thrill of It All boxset.

The song started as an Andy MacKay instrumental, but then gained lyrics from Bryan Ferry; Ferry said the song came to him while he was walking and kicking the leaves in London's Hyde Park. The audio sample at the start of the single version is taken from the opening audio of the 1971 film Duel, wherein Dennis Weaver is walking to the garage at his house, stepping into a 1972 Plymouth Valiant, starting its Slant Six motor, and peeling out on gravel that is in the gutter in front of his house.

The unique bassline by John Gustafson became influential. In the DVD, More Than This: The Story of Roxy Music, Nile Rodgers of Chic states that the song was a big influence as the bass timing is almost identical to the one in Chic's song, "Good Times". In the Depeche Mode tour documentary/film 101, lead vocalist Dave Gahan sings along to the song while playing a pinball machine.

The song remains Roxy Music's highest-charting single in the US, while in the UK it was topped only by their 1981 version of John Lennon's "Jealous Guy". It is one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

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