Total Eclipse of the Heart

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"Total Eclipse of the Heart"
"Total Eclipse of the Heart" cover
Single by Bonnie Tyler
from the album Faster Than the Speed of Night
Released 1983
Format 7"
Genre rock (Power ballad)
Writer(s) Jim Steinman
Producer(s) Jim Steinman
Chart positions

UK #1, US #1, France #1, Ireland #1, South Africa #1, Australia #1, Canada #1, Brazil #1, Norway #1,Philippines #1, New Zealand #1, Japan #1, Venezuela #1, Argentina #1, Spain #1, Portugal #1, Belgium #1, Mexico #1, Swiss #3, Sweden #3, Finland #7, Germany #16, Italy #17, NL # 24,
(see separate section for subsequent versions)
Bonnie Tyler singles chronology
Goodbye to the Islands Total Eclipse of the Heart Faster Than the Speed of Night

"Total Eclipse of the Heart" is a power ballad written, composed, and produced by Jim Steinman, inspired by the classic novel, Wuthering Heights. It was originally performed by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler in 1983. It has been covered several times, and rewritten (with Michael Kunze) for the musical Tanz der Vampire as "Totale Finsternis".

Contents

[edit] Charts

It is probably Steinman's most successful commercial composition to date and Bonnie Tyler's most successful song, going to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States and number one in Canada, Australia and the UK singles chart. At its peak, it sold 60,000 copies per day, and approximately 5-6 million copies in total, and was number one throughout (almost) the entire world charts according to Bonnie Tyler's greatest hits manual. It is therefore widely considered not just a hit, but a "smash hit".

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

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's record company refused to pay for Steinman and he wrote the songs himself. Steinman's songs were then given to Bonnie Tyler and Air Supply.[1]

[edit] Chart positions of cover versions

See infobox (right) for the positions of the original)

UK #54.

  • 1995, Nicki French

Australia #1, Spain #1, Brazil #1, Hong Kong #1, Canada #1, Israel #1, Japan #1, United States #2, United Kingdom #5, The Netherlands #7, Ireland #15, Germany #65.

Germany #13, Austria #6.

UK #28.

  • 2003, Bonnie Tyler/Kareen Antonn (French/English version).

France #25

  • 2004, Bonnie Tyler/Kareen Antonn (French/English version).

France #1, Belgium #1, Poland #1, Swiss #7, Russia #155, Eurocharts #3, World Singles Charts #9.

  • 2006, Nikki French/Diva DJs

UK #168

[edit] Length

The song appears on Tyler's 1983 album, Faster Than the Speed of Night, on which it totaled nearly seven minutes in length. Thus, an edited version was — and still is — most commonly played on radio. The radio version is just under four minutes and thirty seconds, and removes the entire third verse and trims the extended fade-out ending. The music video version is about one minute longer than the radio version. The video mix of the song was released on the Billboard magazine compilation album for 1983.

[edit] Video

The video was directed by Russell Mulcahy. It has apparently little to do with the song's lyrics; despite its surrealist nature, it is apparently meant to be taken seriously, and not as kitsch or some form of satire. The video opens in a room decorated to resemble the set of a stereotypical 1980s soap opera, with rows of burning candles and dramatic white lighting. Bonnie Tyler herself is dressed like a stereotypical Soap Opera actress. For the first several moments of the video Tyler stares out a window into the night; the image of a teenage boy with glowing white orbs in place of his eyes entering her bedroom prompts her to run into into the hall. As Tyler progresses through the building, her surroundings become increasingly surreal:

  • A little boy on a throne with bird's wings opens his hands to release a dove, which flies towards Tyler
  • Tyler passes by a room filled with nude teenage boys, who are then replaced by members of a high school swim team, who are themselves then splashed with water from offscreen
  • A trio of Ninjas dance onscreen, wielding samurai swords, and mock-battle one another
  • Tyler finds five teenage boys in tuxedos sitting at a banquet table in the middle of a ballroom; they all raise their glasses in toast
  • The camera abruptly cuts to a shot of two men fencing
  • Football players form two lines of scrimmage while a man in leotards bounces up and down in the background
  • Numerous teenage boys wearing Ray Ban wayfarers, dressed like greasers, dance up a flight of glowing stairs in immitation of West Side Story, all of them reaching towards Tyler, who is standing above them on a balcony
  • A quartet of football players dive onscreen, dance, and then abruptly dive back offscreen

When the instrumental portion begins halfway through the song, the focus of the video switches from Tyler to a series of shots of the building's hallways, as doors burst open to reveal white light flooding out and red, filmy curtains blowing in the wind. These shots are intercut with a variety of other images including:

  • A shirtless, muscular boy does a cartwheel across the screen in slow-motion
  • A different muscular boy, dripping wet, drags his hair back while staring at the camera
  • The boys in tuxedos begin throwing food at one another and otherwise trashing their table and one another
  • A fencer slowly pulls off his mask, stopping when it reaches his nose
  • The boys in tuxedos continue trashing their table
  • A fencer slowly pulls off his mask to allow a rush of water to cascade down his face

When the instrumental segment ends, Bonnie Tyler is shown entering a fog-filled room; dozens of Choir boys with glowing white eyes rise up from the floor like zombies and begin singing in unison while beckoning to Tyler. After a few lines, one of them levitates and flies towards Tyler. When he lands in front of her, the image abruptly cuts to a child in a business suit staring at the camera, followed by a shot of numerous boys dressed like Tarzan running up a flight of stairs to meet--and dance around-- Bonnie Tyler. The remainder of the video is comprised of montages of the boys dressed like Tarzan (who are later joined by a few teenage boys in S&M gear) gyrating around Tyler, intercut with shots of the glowing-eyed choir boys levitating and spinning around Tyler, and close-up shots of boys in neckties and dress shirts singing. At the conclusion of the song, an angel--a teenage boy in briefs with giant wings growing out of his back--wraps his arms around a crying Tyler.

The video ultimately concludes in a largely non-surrealist scene on the steps of a Private School, in a denounement indicating that Tyler's character is the wife of the school's president or one of its teachers. As Tyler and her husband inspect the graduating class, Tyler and several boys exchange glances; the last boy she approaches takes her hand and refuses to let go, and sings the song's final line ("Turn around, bright eyes"), revealing that his eyes have been replaced with glowing white orbs. Tyler remains in place while the boys force their way past her into the school.

[edit] Musicians

  • Bonnie Tyler - lead vocals
  • Rick Derringer - guitar
  • Steve Buslowe - bass guitar
  • Roy Bittan - piano
  • Larry Fast - synthesizers
  • Steve Margoshes - additional keyboards
  • Max Weinberg - drums
  • Jimmy Mealen - percussion
  • Rory Dodd - 'Turn around' and backing vocals
  • Eric Troyer - backing vocals

[edit] Reception

  • In November 2002, it was voted the seventy-second in "The Greatest Number Ones Of All Time" in UK.
  • Also in the UK, the video was voted ninety-fourth in "Greatest Music Video Of All Time" poll held by the commercial television channel Channel 4.
  • October, 2006. VH1: 100 Greatest Songs of the 80's included "Total Eclipse of the Heart' at #56.

[edit] Cover Versions

  • Nicki French released a dance remake of the song in 1994, which was also a worldwide hit. In the U.S., French's version was a number two Hot 100 hit and garnered frequent airplay on CHR and Adult Contemporary radio.
  • 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 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 ("Little Saturday") in 1995. A video of this 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.
  • The song has also been rewritten for the musical Tanz der Vampire.
  • At the end of 2001 it was a European dance hit by Jan Wayne.
  • There is a popular anti-drug skit based on this song, called the "Turnaround Skit." (See External Links)
  • In December of 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 went to number one in France, Belgium and Poland, selling two millions copies all over world.
  • In October of 2004, Australian tenor Peter Brocklehurst recorded this as a duet with Bonnie Tyler on his album For You. [1]
  • In 2005, Bonnie Tyler recorded an edited version for the album Wings, the album charted at No. 133 in french top 200 album charts.
  • On the 21th of August 2005, Tori Amos covered the song during a live performance in Boston. It is featured on the album Official 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.
  • In June 2006 Nicki French released an updated version of the track along with the Diva DJs, the track not charted in the UK top 75, but is due for release in USA, Germany and Austria
  • September 2006, Lucy Lawless duet with Bonnie Tyler TEOTH in Celebrity Duets.
  • On The Beta Band's self titled album in 1999, they offer a unique adaptation of the song during "The Hard One." The chorus is changed to "Once upon a time I was falling apart, now I'm always falling in love."
  • Westlife has recorded the song for their new album, The Love Album.
  • Finally, there's the 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 movie Old School.
  • BabyPinkStar has together with Bonnie Tyler recorded the song in a new punk/electronic-remixversion that will be released in the UK in January 2007.

[edit] Awards

RIAA - USA.

Bonnie Tyler

  • Gold 10/03/1983
  • Platinum 09/18/2001

Nicki French

  • Gold 06/14/1995

British Phonographic Industry BPI - UK.

Bonnie Tyler

  • Silver 03/01/1983
  • Gold 03/01/1983

Nicki French

  • Silver 1995


SNEP[2] Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique - France.

Bonnie Tyler

  • Gold 1983

Bonnie Tyler & Kareen Antonn (french version).

Si Demain (turn around)

  • Silver 05/04/2004
  • Gold 05/04/2004
  • Platinum 05/04/2004



[edit] See also

  • Holly Sherwood, a vocalist who provided back-up vocals for "Total Eclipse of the Heart"
  • Rory Dodd, one of Steinman's most used back-up vocalists, did the "turn around" line
  • Pandora's Box, an all girl musical band formed by Steinman in 1989 to sing his songs.
  • Bad for Good, Jim Steinman's to date only solo album features songs very similar to "Total Eclipse of the Heart"
  • Tanz der Vampire, a successful musical with music composed by Jim Steinman, includes German version called "Totale Finsternis".
  • Hurra Torpedo, a Norwegian band who in 1995 performed "Total Eclipse of the Heart" for a TV show using various kitchen appliances such as freezers and stoves for percussion
  • Thunderstruck, an Australian movie from 2004 in which the four main characters sing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (badly) in a memorable scene.

[edit] Trivia

Preceded by:
"Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson		 UK number one single
March 6, 1983		 Succeeded by:
"Is There Something I Should Know" by Duran Duran
Preceded by:
"Tell Her About It" by Billy Joel		 Billboard Hot 100 number one single
October 1, 1983		 Succeeded by:
"Islands in the Stream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton

[edit] References

  1. ^ Adams, Cameron. "Meat Loaf's a Hell raiser", Herald Sun. Retrieved on 2006-10-26.

[edit] External links

[edit] Turnaround skit links

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