The Philadelphia-based synthpop quartet Book of Love released their debut, Book of Love, in the spring of 1986, when synthpop was at its peak in the mid-1980s. During 1984 and 1985, the band recorded various demos at the recording studio Noise, in midtown Manhattan. One of the demos was the song "Boy", a toe-tapping tale of teen-girl angst featuring tubular bells and a skip-along beat. Noise recording studio had many bells and chimes available at the band's disposal. Reflecting on that time, Ted Ottaviano stated, "I was fascinated with Altered Images and other bands that were incorporating bells and chimes into their music. Long brass chimes, tubular bells, whatever. It sounded right, for the time." Keyboardist Lauren Roselli gave a copy of the "Boy" demo to disc jockey Ivan Ivan, who had recently co-produced the dancefloor hit "The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight" by Dominatrix. Ivan forwarded the demo to Sire Records president Seymour Stein, who subsequently signed the group to his label in August 1984.
In 1985, the band began recording what would become their debut album at Unique Recording with Ivan Ivan as producer. The band recorded two tracks for the single, "Boy" and the band's theme song "Book of Love". "Boy" was released as a single, and became a huge dance club hit, peaking at no. 7 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.
After having a hit with "Boy", the band quit their day jobs. While doing promotion for the single, the band met Depeche Mode at a party hosted by Rockpool (modern rock promotion company). Subsequently, the band was offered the opening slot on the North American leg of Depeche Mode's Some Great Reward Tour. Starting in Washington, D.C., on March 14, 1985, the band, still without an album, joined the tour with Depeche Mode, playing coast to coast throughout their fifteen North American tour dates.
Upon returning from the Depeche Mode tour, the band went straight into the recording studio to record "Happy Day" for inclusion on the UK single of "Boy". The remainder of the summer was spent on a small club tour of the southern states that the Depeche Mode tour had skipped over, and recording the songs "I Touch Roses" and "Lost Souls" for the next single. A second single, "I Touch Roses", was then released in September 1985. Daniel Miller, founder of Mute Records and producer of Depeche Mode, remixed the song as a single remix and an extended 'Full Bloom Version' for the European single that was released in early 1986. "I Touch Roses" became a big club hit, peaking at no. 8 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. Because of the success of "I Touch Roses", the band got a green light to finish the album.
Up until the end of the summer of 1985, the band had only recorded five songs. ("Boy", "Book of Love", "Happy Day", "I Touch Roses", and "Lost Souls") Following the success of I Touch Roses", the band resumed work on the album in September 1985 at Unique Recording and Sigma Sound Studios in New York City, recording the seven new songs that would make up the rest of their debut album. Instruments the band used to record the album were various synthesizers (Oberheim Xpander, Yamaha DX-7, Casio CZ-1000, Roland Juno 6, Roland JX-8P), an E-mu Emulator sampler, piano, tubular bells, chimes, melodica, and both acoustic and electronic percussion (Yamaha RX-11 drum machine, Simmons Toms). The main songwriting duties on Book of Love fell to Ted Ottaviano, with Susan Ottaviano co-writing six of the tracks, and Jade Lee contributing to two. One of the songs recorded was a cover song of "Die Matrosen" ("The Sailor", in English), originally by the all-girl Swiss post-punk band LiLiPUT, which features a catchy chorus of whistling. Recording of the album was finally finished in January 1986.
"You Make Me Feel So Good" was released as the first official single from the record on July 31, 1986, and became Book of Love's first CHR radio hit. In April 1986, a music video was filmed on location in New York City for "You Make Me Feel So Good" and released in late July along with the single to promote the album. In 1986, Depeche Mode once again asked the band to be their opening act. Finally with an album to promote, Book of Love toured as the opening act on the massive Depeche Mode Black Celebration Tour, joining the band's first European leg on April 29, 1986 in Hanover, West Germany, and playing 48 shows in twelve weeks throughout the full North American leg which ended on July 15, 1986, in Irvine, California.
A second official and final single taken from the album, "Modigliani (Lost in Your Eyes)", was released in April, 1987. The song was a dance club hit, peaking at no. 17 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, becoming as popular as New Order and Depeche Mode singles in clubs at its peak. "Modigliani (Lost in Your Eyes)" is an ode to Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani. The track was penned by Jade Lee, Susan and Ted Ottaviano (no relation), who had all been art school students and were inspired by the Italian painter's paintings and history.
The four-minute 'Requiem Mass' remixed version of "Modigliani (Lost in Your Eyes)" was featured in an episode of Miami Vice on November 6, 1987, and both the original single and 'Requiem Mass' remix were used in the 1987 film Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
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