Heartbeat (Taana Gardner song)

Last updated
"Heartbeat"
Taana Gardner-Heartbeat.jpg
Single by Taana Gardner
Released1981
Genre Post-disco [1] [2]
Length9:34 (Club Version)
Label West End WES-22132 (US)
Songwriter(s) Kenton Nix
Producer(s) Kenton Nix
Taana Gardner singles chronology
"When You Touch Me"
(1979)		"Heartbeat"
(1981)		"No Frills"
(1981)

"Heartbeat" is a song by American disco singer Taana Gardner, released in 1981 by West End Records. It was arranged by Dennis Weeden and Kenton Nix, and released with the more famous club mix created by Larry Levan. The single peaked at No. 10 on the US Billboard R&B Singles chart and No. 6 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. [3] In 1998, it had sold over 800,000 copies. [4] In 2022, Rolling Stone ranked "Heartbeat" number 63 in their list of the "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time". [5]

Contents

Composition

"Heartbeat" is a post-disco song, which runs for 9 minutes and 34 seconds [6] for the 12-inch "Club version" mixed by Levan. It is set in common time and has a tempo of 100 beats per minute. [7] Despite praise for its "hip-shaking, booty-bumpin' beats and rhythms" and hook-laden lyrics, it was considered peculiar at the time due to its slow tempo, "dizzy" vocal delivery and dissonant accompaniment. Danny Krivit recalls "When [Levan] put ["Heartbeat"] on, a full club of people left the room to get food. There was not one person left on the floor." [8] Levan, known for his musical idiosyncrasies, kept playing the record at the Paradise Garage even several times in an evening until weeks later "no one [was] off the floor when they played ["Heartbeat"]." [8] Because of its atypical "dance music-hostile" tempo numerous DJs find it unsuitable for dancefloors even today. [7]

Reception

In his consumer guide for The Village Voice , Robert Christgau reviewed the song's 12-inch release in 1981 and gave it an A rating, [9] indicating "a great record both of whose sides offer enduring pleasure and surprise." [10] He dubbed it a "classic one-shot" and "the hottest r&b record in the city right now for two self-evident reasons", stating:

First is the beat, which is like what it says only deeper and more deliberate (in the drums and handclaps) with palpitations (provided by a slow-humping bass). Second is Taana, who'd combine the melodic dislocations of Esther Phillips and the girlish screech of Diana Ross if she had the technical control of either. Because she doesn't, she also recalls another timbre-sister, Shirley Goodman (of & Lee and 'Shame, Shame, Shame'). First I played the 6:30-minute 'party' version; now I prefer the 9:34-minute 'club' version. One-shot, eh? [9]

— Robert Christgau

AllMusic editor Andy Kellman found the song's rhythm "instantly memorable" and recognized its widespread sampling by hip hop producers, stating "Though hip hop fans are just as familiar with that bass line – often put to great use after its original recording — as rock fans are familiar with the guitar riffs of 'Purple Haze,' no song that has referenced 'Heartbeat' comes close to matching it." [11] Kellman also writes that the song's "greatness comes down to Gardner's vocals just as much as that rhythm", stating:

Her typically sweet delivery knows when to coo and when to growl at all the right moments, riding atop the wave of bass, drums, handclaps, and unobtrusive synth lines that twinkle and zap. Few vocal turns have conveyed the butterflies of love better than this one; in fact, the repeated refrain of 'Heartbeat, it makes me feel so weak' sticks in the head just as much as any other element of the song. Without a doubt – and with or without its status as a constant sampling source – 'Heartbeat' is one of the best pop singles of the ‘80s. [11]

— Andy Kellman

Legacy

In October 2000, VH1 ranked "Heartbeat" number 90 in their list of "100 Greatest Dance Songs". [12] In 2019, Spin ranked it among "The 30 Best Disco Songs That Every Millennial Should Know". [13] In 2020, Slant Magazine ranked it number 12 in their list of "The 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time". [14] In 2022, Rolling Stone ranked it number 63 in their list of the "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time". [5]

Track listing

Side A
No.TitleVersionLength
1."Heartbeat"Club Version9:34
Side B
No.TitleVersionLength
1."Heartbeat"Party Version6:30

Influence

"Heartbeat" has been extensively sampled in Hip hop music, pop music and dance music:

Cover versions

Charts

Taana Gardner version

Chart (1981)Peak
position
US R&B Singles ( Billboard ) [3] 10
US Hot Dance Music/Club Play ( Billboard ) [3] 6

Seduction version

Chart (1990)Peak
position
Australia (ARIA) [19] 169
US Billboard Hot 100 [16] [17] 13
US Hot Dance Music/Club Play ( Billboard ) [16] [17] 2
US R&B Singles ( Billboard ) [16] [17] 21

See also

References

  1. ↑ Matos, Michaelangelo (20 March 2002). "THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE – Playgroup Reconstructs an Idealistic Aural Snapshot of the Early '80s". Baltimore City Paper . Retrieved 27 October 2013. the stripped-down post-disco of club records like Taana Gardner's "Heartbeat"
  2. ↑ Kellman, Andy. "Larry Levan – Journey into Paradise: The Larry Levan Story". AllMusic. All Media Network . Retrieved 26 October 2014. Taana Gardner's "Heartbeat" (one of the sexiest, sweetest, slowest post-disco singles)
  3. 1 2 3 "AllMusic: Taana Gardner - Discography". AllMusic, Billboard. Retrieved 2011-08-27.
  4. ↑ Flick, Larry (November 14, 1998). "Dance Trax: Humperdinck Takes To The Dancefloor on 'Dance Album'". Billboard , p. 31.
  5. 1 2 Dolan, Jon; Lopez, Julyssa; Matos, Michaelangelo; Shaffer, Claire (July 22, 2022). "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone . Retrieved April 6, 2025.
  6. ↑ "Heartbeat" 12" single liner notes. West End Records. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  7. 1 2 Paoletta, Michael (Jun 30, 2001). "The Dance Trax Hot Plate". Billboard. Vol. 26, no. 113. p. 24. ISSN   0006-2510.
  8. 1 2 Brewster, Bill (Jan 14, 2014). Last Night a DJ Saved My Life. p. 301. Grove Pres. ISBN   9780802146106.
  9. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (March 30, 1981). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice . Retrieved 2012-03-18.
  10. ↑ Christgau, Robert (1980). "CG 70s: The Grades". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
  11. 1 2 Kellman, Andy. "Heartbeat". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation . Retrieved 2012-03-18.
  12. ↑ "100 Greatest Dance Songs". VH1. October 2000. Archived from the original on March 24, 2002. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
  13. ↑ Spin Staff (June 18, 2019). "The 30 Best Disco Songs That Every Millennial Should Know". Spin . Retrieved April 12, 2025.
  14. ↑ Slant Staff (June 15, 2020). "The 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time". Slant Magazine . Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  15. ↑ http://www.whosampled.com/.../The-Treacherous-Three-Feel-the-He... [ dead link ]
  16. 1 2 3 4 Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 229.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 516.
  18. ↑ "New Videoclips" (PDF). Billboard . Vol. 102, no. 10. New York, New York, U.S.: BPI Communications. March 10, 1990. p. 73. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved September 17, 2025.
  19. ↑ "Bubbling Down Under 30 July 1990". July 30, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
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