Groove Approved

Groove Approved is the fourth solo studio album by the English singer-songwriter Paul Carrack, then a member of the supergroup Mike + The Mechanics. It was originally released in 1989, on the Chrysalis label.

While his previous album featured members of Mike + The Mechanics, for this album Carrack worked mainly with producer T-Bone Wolk. The album's only hit was "I Live by the Groove", which was co-written by Carrack and Eddie Schwartz, and which peaked at #31 on the Billboard Hot 100. Schwartz co-produced the track with Wolk and Carrack; the rest of the album was produced by Wolk and Carrack working as a duo.

The song "Battlefield" was later covered by co-writer Nick Lowe under the title "I Live On A Battlefield". Carrack himself would use this longer title when he re-recorded the song in 2007 on his album Old, New, Borrowed And Blue, and again on his 2010 album A Different Hat (backed by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra). Diana Ross also covered the track for her 1991 album The Force Behind the Power. The song "I Live By the Groove" was featured in a montage scene in the 1989 cult film The Wizard, as well as in a scene in the 1994 film Camp Nowhere.

Reception
AllMusic's William Ruhlmann calls Groove Approved "a solid, workman-like collection", and writes that its limited commercial success "had less to do with the album's real commercial potential than with upheavals in the record company".

Jim Green of Trouser Press praised the album for its "good old-fashioned R&B grooves, often garnished with Carrack's tasty Hammond organ licks." However, Green also notes that "unfortunately, the synthetic drums sometimes slicken or stiffen the rhythm too much," and that "the songs aren't unforgettable, but they're mostly painless".

Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.
 * Paul Carrack – lead and backing vocals, keyboards, keyboard programming, additional drums
 * Tom "T-Bone" Wolk – keyboards, accordion, guitars, mandolin, bass
 * Jimmy Bralower – drum and percussion programming

Additional musicians
 * Ed Royensdal – keyboards
 * Mike Campbell – guitars, 12-string guitar
 * Robbie McIntosh – electric guitar
 * Vinnie Zummo – rhythm guitar
 * Mickey Curry – drums, cymbals
 * Sammy Figueroa – percussion
 * Anthony Aquilato – vibraphone
 * Dick Morrissey – saxophone
 * Bob Loveday – violin
 * Bernard Fowler – backing vocals
 * Daryl Hall – backing vocals
 * Curtis King – backing vocals
 * Joe Lynn Turner – backing vocals
 * Paul Young – backing vocals

Production

 * Paul Carrack – producer
 * T-Bone Wolk – producer
 * Eddie Schwartz – producer (2)
 * Tim Leitner – recording
 * Thom Cadley – recording assistant
 * Derek McCartney – recording assistant
 * Bob Clearmountain – mixing (1, 3, 7, 8, 9)
 * Tom Lord-Alge – mixing (2, 4, 5, 6, 10)
 * Lee Curle – mix assistant
 * Joe Pirrera – mix assistant
 * Kevin Whyte – mix assistant
 * Bob Ludwig – mastering
 * Anthony Aquilato – production coordinator
 * Michael Krage – album design
 * John Millar – photography

Studios
 * Recorded at The Hit Factory (New York, NY) and Farmyard Studios (Little Chalfont, England).
 * Mixed at The Hit Factory; Advision Studios and Mayfair Studios (London, UK).
 * Mastered at Masterdisk (New York, NY).