Total Eclipse of the Heart

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"Total Eclipse of the Heart"
Single by Bonnie Tyler
from the album Faster Than the Speed of Night
Released 5 March 1983
Format 7", 12"
Genre Power ballad, Pop
Length 7:02 (Album version)
4:30 (Single version)
5:32 (Music video version)
3:49 (2005 re-recording for the album Wings)
Label Columbia
Writer(s) Jim Steinman
Producer Jim Steinman
Certification Platinum (RIAA)
Gold (SNEP, BPI)
Bonnie Tyler singles chronology
"Goodbye to the Islands"
(1981)		 "Total Eclipse of the Heart"
(1983)		 "Faster Than the Speed of Night"
(1984)
Audio sample
file info · help

"Total Eclipse of the Heart" is a song written and produced by Jim Steinman and recorded by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler in 1983 on her fifth studio album Faster Than the Speed of Night. The song was the first single release from the album and is Tyler's biggest hit.

Contents

[edit] Background

The song remains Tyler's most successful song, peaking at #1 in the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. At its peak, it sold 60,000 copies per day, and approximately 6 million copies in total. It won the Variety Club award in the UK for best single of 1983. [1]

Tyler's career reached new heights with this release and put her as the only Welsh artist to hit the number-one slot in the U.S Billboard charts.

According to Meat Loaf, Steinman had given the song, along with "Making Love (Out of Nothing At All)," to Meat Loaf for his Midnight at the Lost and Found album. However, Meat Loaf's record company refused to pay for Steinman and he wrote separate songs himself. Steinman's songs were then given to Bonnie Tyler and Air Supply, respectively.[2]

[edit] Music video

The music video for "Total Eclipse of the Heart" was directed by Russell Mulcahy. It was story-boarded by Jim Steinman and drew inspiration from the 1976 film Futureworld.

The Gothic themed video features Bonnie Tyler clad in white, apparently having a dream or fantasy about her students in a boys' boarding school. Young men are seen dancing and participating in various school activities such as swim team, karate, fencing, football, and singing in a choir. The video was shot at Holloway Sanatorium.

[edit] Length

The original version of the song, on Faster Than the Speed of Night, was just over seven minutes in length. Thus, an edited version was, and still is most commonly played on radio. The radio version is four and a half minutes, and removes the entire third verse and trims the extended fade-out ending. The music video version is roughly one minute longer than the radio version.

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Reception

In November 2002, it was voted the #72 in "The Greatest Number Ones Of All Time" in UK. It was also voted #94 in the "Greatest Music Videos of All Time" poll held by Channel 4.

In October, 2006, VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 80s" special included "Total Eclipse of the Heart" at #56.

MuchMoreMusic aired a four-episode series in 2006 titled Top 50 Guilty Pleasures, and listed the song at #9.[citation needed]

[edit] Cover versions

It has been covered several times, and rewritten with Michael Kunze for the musical Tanz der Vampire as "Totale Finsternis".

[edit] Nicki French version

"Total Eclipse of the Heart"
Single by Nicki French
from the album Secrets
Released 1994
Format CD single, cassette single, 7", 12"
Recorded 1994
Genre Dance
Label Bags of Fun, Love This, Mega
Producer Nicki French
Nicki French singles chronology
- "Total Eclipse of the Heart"
(1994)		 "For All We Know"
(1995)

Nicki French released a dance cover of the song in 1994, which was also a worldwide hit. In the United States, French's version peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100[3] and garnered frequent airplay on CHR and AC radio. It also reached #4 in the UK Singles Chart after being re-issued in 1995.

On June 2006 Nicki French released an updated version of the track with the Diva DJs. The track has since gone on to sell thousands of copies worldwide.[citation needed]

[edit] Versions with Bonnie Tyler or Jim Steinman involvement

  • In December 2003, a re-recorded French/English duet version called "Si demain... (Turn Around)" was released. It was sung by Bonnie Tyler and Kareen Antonn and peaked at #1 in France, Belgium and Poland, selling nearly two million copies all over the world.
  • Westlife recorded a cover of the song on their 2006 album The Love Album. The song would have been released the album's second single but has been canceled due to their Love Tour conflicts, though a promo release still reached #5 on the radio charts in the Philippines. Three official remixes have been made for their version as well as a remix done by Jim Steinman, which was ultimately rejected by the record label but has surfaced on the Internet.
  • The song was rewritten in 1997 with Michael Kunze as "Totale Finsternis" for the musical Tanz der Vampire.
  • BabyPinkStar recorded the song with Bonnie Tyler in a punk/electronic remix version that was released in the UK in January 2007.
  • In preparation for the 2002 Broadway, New York show Dance of the Vampires, a demo of the song, with some modifications in the music and lyric, sung as a duet by Steve Barton and Elaine Caswell became available on the internet. Barton and Cornelia Zenz had sung the German-language song "Totale Finsternis" on the original cast album for Tanz der Vampire. For each cast that performed Tanz der Vampire and each cast recording, in any language, the actors cast as Krolock and Sarah sang "Totale Finsternis".

[edit] Other versions

  • This song was sampled by scottish band The Beta Band on their track "The Hard One", from their self-titled album. They also altered the lyrics to "Once upon a time I was falling apart, now I'm always falling in love". Jim Steinman, took objection and tried to persuade the band to re-record the song without the samples but later had a change of mind.
  • The song is a longstanding staple for cult-favorite cabaret performers Kiki and Herb. Usually performed as a show-closer, their cover incorporates the opening verse of Pat Benatar's hit, "Love Is a Battlefield". A recorded version of this cover can be found on the album Kiki and Herb Will Die for You: Live at Carnegie Hall.
  • Experimental Norwegian rockers Hurra Torpedo did a cover version of the song on the Norwegian television programme 'Lille lørdag in 1995. A video of the performance, featuring kitchen appliances as percussion, became an internet meme in 2005. Since the video the band has found a strong following in the United States.
  • On August 21, 2005, Tori Amos covered the song during a live performance in Boston. It is featured on the album The Original Bootlegs, Volume 6: B of A Pavilion, Boston, MA, CD 1, Track 8.
  • The song was released in Icelandic in 2005, entitled "Mundu mig" ("Remember Me") by Icelandic Idol star Heiða.
  • Mexican singer, Yuridia, released a Spanish version for this song on her 2006 album, Habla El Corazón.
  • An infamous profanity-laced version by The Dan Band. Two versions of this song are included on the album The Dan Band Live, a studio version and a live version. The Dan Band shot to fame by performing their version of this song in the film Old School.
  • The song has been performed three times on American Idol by Nikki McKibbin, Jessica Sierra, and Carly Smithson. Sierra recorded a version that was released on the American Idol Season 4: The Showstoppers album.
  • The song and its video were parodied in 2009, in what the fans and makers call a "literal video version", which replaces the original song lyrics with humorous lyrics describing the images in the video.
  • The song was covered by the Hong Kong actress / pop star Sammi Cheng on her 2004 Sammi vs Sammi album of cover versions.
  • Bonnie Tyler released a new version of the song with Welsh choral group Only Men Aloud backing her.

[edit] Use in other media

[edit] References

  1. ^ Total Ecipse of the Heart Songfacts
  2. ^ Adams, Cameron. "Meat Loaf's a Hell raiser". Herald Sun. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20642893-5006024,00.html. 
  3. ^ Allmusic.com: Nicki French Charts and Awards

[edit] External links

Preceded by
"Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson		 UK Singles Chart number-one single
12 March 1983 - 19 March 1983		 Succeeded by
"Is There Something I Should Know?" by Duran Duran
Irish Singles Chart number-one single
13 March 1983 - 27 March 1983		 Succeeded by
"Let's Dance" by David Bowie
Preceded by
"I Was Only Nineteen" by Redgum		 Australian Kent Music Report number-one single
30 May 1983 - 4 July 1983		 Succeeded by
"Flashdance... What a Feeling" by Irene Cara
Preceded by
"Beat It" by Michael Jackson		 New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart number-one single
1 July 1983 - 22 July 1983
Preceded by
"White Wedding" by Billy Idol		 Canadian RPM number-one single
13 August 1983 - 20 August 1983		 Succeeded by
"Our House" by Madness
Preceded by
"Tell Her About It" by Billy Joel		 Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
1 October 1983 - 22 October 1983		 Succeeded by
"Islands in the Stream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton
v • d • e
Bonnie Tyler
Studio albums
Singles
DVD
Associated artists
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