Loveboat

About

Written by Robbie Williams, Guy Chambers and Kylie Minogue, Love Boat opened Minogue’s 2000 album Light Years. Produced by Steve Power, the song was recorded during the same sessions that yielded Kids and Your Disco Needs You, marking a creative high point in the collaboration between Williams, Chambers and Minogue. Bright, playful and drenched in retro glamour, it perfectly captured the tongue-in-cheek disco revival of the early 2000s.

Set against a breezy brass and string arrangement, Love Boat evokes 1960s lounge pop and the carefree sensuality of seaside romance. Its camp lyricism — “Pass me a peach, rub on some lotion, the places I can’t reach” — and playful tone reflect both artists’ shared love of irony and nostalgia. The title nods to the American TV series of the same name, while the French phrases sprinkled throughout echo Minogue’s then-Parisian life.

We wanted it to sound like summer on vinyl — kitsch but classy. Kylie’s brilliant at that kind of pop theatre.Robbie Williams

Minogue opened her On a Night Like This tour with the track, descending from the ceiling on an anchor onto a cruise-ship-themed stage. Williams’ melodic influence is clear in its jaunty rhythm and whimsical humour, traits that linked it closely to his own Sing When You’re Winning era.

Though lighthearted, Love Boat remains one of the most polished examples of Williams and Chambers’ songwriting versatility — a joyful collaboration that celebrates escapism, flirtation and the unabashed fun of pop music.