The first thing you think of is the video. That's okay: everybody thinks of the video first. "Addicted to Love" has been viewed, referenced and imitated so many times that it's familiar even to people who never had MTV - who weren't even alive the last time the network played music videos. It represents Reagan-era decadence, music industry excess, rampant misogyny or the glory of rock and roll (depending on who's watching), and to this day, it epitomizes what a lot of people think the Eighties was about: sharp-dressed men in Italian suits and high-fashion models with glossy lipstick, everyone's face a mask of exquisite boredom. Stripped of those signature visuals, "Addicted to Love" still can seem like a collection of Eighties stereotypes: the glossy synths; the wanky guitar solo; the monolithic beat, like a dinosaur swaggering down the street. But keep listening, and those stereotypes fall away. You realize that "Addicted to Love" is a brilliant blend of styles: classic soul vocals, heavy metal guitar pop and, holding it all together, a bedrock of funk.
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Vocal arrangements by
Chaka Khan 
