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Harden My Heart

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"Harden My Heart"
Single by Quarterflash
from the album Quarterflash
B-side"Don't Be Lonely"
ReleasedSeptember 1981
Recorded1981
Length3:51[1]
LabelGeffen Records
Songwriter(s)Marv Ross
Producer(s)John Boylan
Quarterflash singles chronology
"Harden My Heart"
(1981) 		"Find Another Fool"
(1982)

"Harden My Heart" is a song by rock group Quarterflash, written by their guitarist Marv Ross. It is a million-selling Gold-certified single and was featured on the band's Platinum-selling Quarterflash album, released in 1981.

The song was originally released as a single in early 1980 by Seafood Mama, Quarterflash's predecessor band. It featured more sparse instrumentation but a more dramatic vocal arrangement than the hit version and was a regional success on radio stations in Portland, Oregon. The record's video features theatrics in and around an office trailer with dark corridors and swinging light bulbs from the ceiling before it was bulldozed and torched.

After changing their name, Quarterflash released their self-titled debut album in 1981 which contained the new version of "Harden My Heart". This power ballad[2] version was released as the album's first single. In early 1982, it reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100[3] and also hit #1 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.[4] The song also charted in Germany, New Zealand, Australia and the UK. It was the group's only top-ten pop single in the United States, although the follow-up single from the album, "Find Another Fool", and the 1983 hit "Take Me to Heart" both entered the top 20.[3] It reached No. 41 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart.[5]

This song is included in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, on radio station Emotion 98.3 and was played twice in the pilot episode of Knight Rider. The song is used in the 2001 film Wet Hot American Summer, which is set in 1981.

Julianne Hough and Mary J. Blige sing this song in the film Rock of Ages.[6]

An excerpt of this song is also heard in the opening scene of the pilot episode of The Americans, a 2013 television series aired on the FX cable channel. The series is set in United States in 1981.

Personnel

  • Rindy Ross: Vocals, Saxophone
  • Marv Ross: Guitars
  • Jack Charles: Guitars, vocals
  • Rick DiGiallonardo: Keyboards
  • Rich Gooch: Bass
  • Brian David Willis: Drums, percussion

Chart performance

See also

References

  1. ^ "iTunes - Music - Harden My Heart - The Best of Quarterflash by Quarterflash". iTunes.
  2. ^ "The 40 Greatest Power Ballads".
  3. ^ a b c "Billboard > Chart History > Quarterflash > Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 513.
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 194.
  6. ^ "Mary J. Blige Talks 'Rock Of Ages' & 'The Help'". Screen Rant. July 12, 2011. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  7. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 242. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  8. ^ "Quarterflash – Harden My Heart" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  9. ^ "Quarter Flash – Harden My Heart (song)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  10. ^ "Quarterflash – Harden My Heart". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  11. ^ "Quarterflash – Harden My Heart". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  12. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  13. ^ "Billboard > Chart History > Quarterflash > Adult Contemporary". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  14. ^ "Kent Music Report No 445 – 3 January 1983 > National Top 100 Singles for 1982". Kent Music Report, via Imgur.com. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  15. ^ "Talent in Action : Top Pop Singles". Billboard. 94 (51): TIA-20. December 25, 1982.
  16. ^ "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved December 10, 2018.


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