Late seventies at the skating rink…this one was played and that is what I think of. I knew enough about Rod Stewart at the time I was 10-11 to think this was him for a while. My sister got the single and I loved it. Rod Stewart finally covered the song in 2007.
It’s a Heartache was released in 1978 and peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100, #4 in the UK, and #1 in Canada. It also crossed over to the country charts at #10. The single sold over 6 million copies. This song fits Bonnie Tyler’s voice perfectly. The song was written by Ronnie Scott and Steve Wolfe.
Bonnie Tyler had throat problems severe enough to require surgery in 1976, the procedure can often be career-threatening. In this case, however, the nodules that she developed singing in nightclubs in her native Wales turned out to be career-making. She was told not to speak 6 weeks after her surgery but she did and it helped cause the rasp.
Some useless trivia… The two weeks that “It’s A Heartache” was at #3, for those two weeks the #1 record was “Shadow Dancing” by Andy Gibb and at #2 was “Baker Street” by Gerry Rafferty
The drummer on this song was Mike Gibbons of Badfinger.
It’s a Heartache
It’s a heartache
Nothing but a heartache
Hits you when it’s too late
Hits you when you’re down
It’s a fool’s game
Nothing but a fool’s game
Standing in the cold rain
Feeling like a clown
It’s a heartache
Nothing but a heartache
Love him ’til your arms break
Then he let’s you down
It ain’t right with love to share
When you find he doesn’t care for you
It ain’t wise to need someone
As much as I depended on you
Oh, it’s a heartache
Nothing but a heartache
Hits you when it’s too late
Hits you when you’re down
It’s a fool’s game
Nothing but a fool’s game
Standing in the cold rain
Feeling like a clown
It ain’t right with love to share
When you find he doesn’t care for you
It ain’t wise to need someone
As much as I depended on you
Oh, it’s a heartache
Nothing but a heartache
You love him ’til your arms break
Then he let’s you down
It’s a fool’s game
Standing in the cold rain
Feelin’ like a clown
It’s a heartache
Love him ’til your arms break
Then he let’s you down
It’s a fool’s game
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Love this one and Total Eclipse. She has such a compelling voice! Rod’s version is great too 🎶💕
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Bonnie has the perfect voice for this song. She only had 3 hits that I remember, ‘It’s A Heartache’, ‘Holding Out for a Hero’ and ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’, but they were all really good.
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I loved Bonnie’s version of this song from first listen back then. I didn’t know her voice was the result of surgery and not giving it time to heal properly. She got lucky for sure.
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She did get lucky because she obviously had talent before but that rasp separated her from others.
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I had no idea that was why she sounded like that. Like Jim said, three songs anyone remembers but all three are pretty good. I’d never heard the Rod version before… they do sound a lot alike!
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They sounded closer than that during his early days…his voice has dropped a little
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The right voice for the song for sure. Her voice was so distinctive- I never heard an album of hers but as a singles singer she is memorable, in the same way as Rod. I struggle to listen to two sides of Rod on an LP too!
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With Rod…I liked this Faces period and his solo …I call it his “acoustic” period with Every Picture Tells A Story etc… when he went too slick is when I’m spotty with him.
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Yep; once you start asking ‘Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?’ and keep reaching for the peroxide bottle Rod, its time to get over yourself Rodney, IMHO.
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LOL… that is it obbverse!
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I LOVED her voice! Like Rod Stewart’s, but better!
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Yea…that is why my favorite female singers are Janis and on the country side…I really like Tanya Tucker.
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It does sound like Rod! I’ve never been too keen on this one – it’s kind of mid-tempo and plodding.
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I’ve always liked that song. Tyler’s raspy voice is a perfect fit. I also always could picture Rod Stewart sing this tune. Until I read your post I had no idea he actually covered it!
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Yea I never heard it before until the other night. It fits him!
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Love this song. She could sing me the phone book.
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I love that raspy voice…Tanya and Janis also…the rougher the better
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Tanya, yeah. Janis, no. She makes my hair stand on end.
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Great song, and such a simple one compared to her better-known, bombastic eighties hits.
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This is one I grew up with…loved this song. We played this one in bars. You are right…her other ones are bombastic…I like them but there is a special place in me for this one.
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I always liked this ballad, especially her voice.
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Greast record. Bonnie is still touring and fab. In the uk she had more hits like Lost In France in 76. A hit with shakin stevens – the uk wannabe elvis – a rockin good way and even flirted with disco on married men and recorded The Best before Tina Turner.
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I need to check the rest of her stuff out. Over here it was just the 3 that I’ve heard.
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The price one plays to perform can be hard to digest.
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