Heartaches (song)

"Heartaches" is a popular song with music by Al Hoffman and lyrics by John Klenner. The song was published in 1931, was placed on all of the record labels of the time (Victor, Columbia, Brunswick and the many dime store labels), but it was not a particularly big hit at the time.

Ted Weems cover

The biggest recorded version of the song was by the Ted Weems Orchestra, with Elmo Tanner whistling.^[1] The recording was made in 1933 on Bluebird B-5131 but subsequently revived (not in a new recording, but in the original 1933 recorded version) fourteen years later. In early 1947, Kurt Webster, a disc jockey on WBT, the 50,000 watt station in Charlotte, North Carolina, had a program, "Midnight Dancing Party," which was heard along the East Coast from Bangor, Maine to Boot Key, Florida. One night, he apparently picked up the old Weems version of "Heartaches" and played it. Possibly it was one of those "I wonder where he is today" situations, because Weems had dissolved his band in early 1942 after he and many musicians went off to fight in World War II. Webster liked the tune so much that he continued to play it, almost nightly. Listeners also began to request it and the song attracted national attention. Single-handedly Webster launched "Heartaches" to its revived national success. Because of that one tune and recording, Weems revived his band briefly to capitalize on "Heartaches." This recording was jointly released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-2175 and Weems' 1938 re-recording on Decca Records as catalog number 25017. The Victor version first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on February 21, 1947 and lasted 16 weeks on the chart, peaking at #1.^[2]

Harry James cover

The recording by Harry James was released by Columbia Records as catalog number 37305. It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on April 18, 1947 and lasted 3 weeks on the chart, peaking at #8.^[2] This was his last charting hit.

The Marcels cover

A radically altered arrangement of "Heartaches" also became popular in 1961 as a version by The Marcels was released as a followup to their U.S. hit "Blue Moon". Although the Marcels' "Heartaches" single failed to match the #1 position on the U.S. singles charts achieved by "Blue Moon",^[3] "Heartaches" reached the Top 10 (peaking at #7) and eventually sold over one million copies worldwide. In addition to a vocal hook similar to that of "Blue Moon", the Marcels added to the introduction of the recording of "Heartaches" the group saying, then singing, "Watch out! Here we go again..."

Allan Sherman parody

In 1963, Allan Sherman produced a parody version titled "Headaches," a commentary on television aspirin commercials. In the middle of the whistled part, a kid named Tom Greenleigh shrieks, "Mommy, can't you keep Daddy's car out of the driveway?!"

Other recorded versions

• Air Lane Trio^[4]
• Laurindo Almeida
• Chet Atkins
• Kenny Ball
• Pat Boone
• Ruby Braff
• Vikki Carr
• Patsy Cline
• The Country Gentlemen
• Billy Daniels
• Dukes of Dixieland
• Barbara Eden
• Exotic Guitars
• Connie Francis
• Enoch Light
• Dexter Gordon
• Marty Grosz
• Tiny Hill & His Hilltoppers (Okeh #5530)
• Vince Hill
• Eddy Howar
• Jack Hylton and his orchestra (vocal: Pat O'Malley)
• Sonny James
• Barney Kessel
• Frankie Laine
• Bert Lown
• The Maxes
• Magic Organ
• Clyde McPhatter
• The Migil 5
• Sid Phillips and His Melodians voc: Al Bowlly
• Jimmy Roselli
• Ruby & the Romantics
• Jimmy Rushing
• Rocky Sharpe
• Somethin' Smith
• The String-A-Longs
• Billy Vaughn
• Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan
• The Rock-afire Explosion featuring Dook
• Mrs Mills

References

1. ↑ Helgesen, Ray (22 June 1947). "Miracle Mystery of "Heartaches"". The Milwaukee Sentinel. Retrieved 13 April 2011. 
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Whitburn, Joel (1973). Top Pop Records 1940-1955. Record Research. 
3. ↑ Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits: The Inside Story Behind Every Number One Single on Billboard's Hot 100 from 1955 to the Present (5 ed.). Billboard Books. p. 87. ISBN 0-8230-7677-6. 
4. ↑ "45 Discography for DeLuxe Records". Global Dog Productions. Retrieved December 22, 2013.