| "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Billy Ocean | ||||
| from the album The Jewel of the Nile Soundtrack and Love Zone | ||||
| Released | 15 November 1985 (UK) 25 January 1986 (U.S.) |
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| Format | 7", 12" | |||
| Recorded | 1985 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 5:44 (original album version) 4:02 (single edit) |
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| Label | Jive | |||
| Writer(s) | Wayne Anton Braithwaite, Barry James Eastmond, Mutt Lange, Billy Ocean | |||
| Producer | Barry Eastmond, Wayne Brathwaite | |||
| Billy Ocean singles chronology | ||||
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"When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going" is a song written by and originally recorded by Billy Ocean in 1985.
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Written by Wayne Braithwaite, Willy Head, Barry Eastmond, Robert John "Mutt" Lange and Billy Ocean, the song was used as the theme song for the Michael Douglas film, The Jewel of the Nile, the sequel to the hit blockbuster film, Romancing the Stone.
Aided by a video featuring Douglas and co-stars Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito as lip-synching backup singers, the song became a major international hit reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart for four weeks in February 1986 and number two on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
| Chart (1986) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 8 |
| Belgian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 1 |
| French Singles Chart | 6 |
| German Singles Chart | 2 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 1 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 3 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 2 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 2 |
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles | 6 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | 31 |
| "When the Going Gets Tough" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Boyzone | ||||
| from the album By Request | ||||
| Released | 1 March 1999 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Label | Universal | |||
| Writer(s) | Billy Ocean | |||
| Producer | Mike Mangini, Trevor Steel, Carl Sturken, Nigel Wright, Absolute, Jim Steinman, Ian Curnow, Mark Hudson | |||
| Boyzone singles chronology | ||||
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The Irish boyband Boyzone recorded a cover version for the 1999 Comic Relief telethon, shortening the title to "When The Going Gets Tough". Their version reached number #1 on the UK Singles Chart. The song was the tenth best-selling single of 1999 in the UK, and the fifth best-selling single of the '90s in the UK by a boyband, selling over 671,400 copies and receiving a platinum certification.[2] The video included Graham Norton, Jo Brand, Phill Jupitus, Mel Smith, Harry Hill, the cast of Emmerdale and Ulrika Jonsson and Saracen from Gladiators.
| Chart (1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| French Singles Chart[4] | 71 |
| Irish Singles Chart[5] | 2 |
| UK Singles Chart[6] | 1 |
| End of year chart (1999) | Position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 10 |
In 1994, the song was used for a clip of the 1986 edition of the BBC The Rock 'n' Roll Years featuring coverage of the People Power Revolution in the Philippines. Three years later, it was also used as a background song in the 1985-86 football season edition of Match of the 80s, during coverage of the challenge Kenny Dalglish faced on his appointment as player-manager of Liverpool F.C..
| Preceded by "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." by a-ha |
UK number one single (Billy Ocean Version) 17 February 1986 - 24 February 1986 |
Succeeded by "Chain Reaction" by Diana Ross |
| Preceded by "Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears |
UK number one single (Boyzone Version) 7 March 1999 - 14 March 1999 (2 weeks) |
Succeeded by "Blame It On The Weatherman" by B*Witched |
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