Heaven (Joan Armatrading song)

Last updated
"Heaven"
Joan Armatrading Heaven 1983 single cover.jpg
Single by Joan Armatrading
from the album Track Record
B-side "Back to the Night"
Released18 November 1983
Length
  • 4:40 (album version)
  • 3:24 (single version)
Label A&M
Songwriter Joan Armatrading
Producers
Joan Armatrading singles chronology
"(I Love It When You) Call Me Names"
(1983)		"Heaven"
(1983)		"Frustration"
(1983)
Audio
"Heaven" on YouTube

"Heaven" is a song by English singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, released on 18 November 1983 by A&M Records as the first single from her first compilation album, Track Record (1983). The song was written by Armatrading and was produced by Armatrading and Steve Lillywhite.

Contents

Release

"Heaven" was released as a single in the UK on 18 November 1983. [1] It failed to reach the top 100 of the UK singles chart, but did gain airplay across Independent Local Radio. It spent four consecutive weeks in Music Week magazine's Airplay Action listings as one of 75 "most playlisted records in the UK". [2] [3] [4] [5]

Critical reception

Upon its release as a single, James Belsey of the Bristol Evening Post picked "Heaven" as the newspaper's "single of the week" and wrote, "The lady sounds as good as she's ever done with a great drum sound behind her on this tough, incisive piece of rock." [6] Lenny Juviski of The Northern Echo stated, "Raunchy R&B number swirls up and down Joan's immense vocal range. Slow at first but takes off into her best yet." [7] Joanne Sweeney of the Lurgan Mail praised it as "beautiful" and recommended readers to "keep listening and it'll grow on you". [8] Lucy Patton of the Bracknell Times called it a "great song", with Armatrading's voice "amazingly effective". She added, "Although it seems at first to be another slow one, the tempo varies, but never rises to the same pace as 'Drop the Pilot'. Devoted fans will not be disappointed." [9] Tony Jasper of Music Week noted the "powerful vocal projection" and "sympathetic musical colouring rather than an insistent riff or memorable melody [to] win [it] through". [10]

Eleanor Levy of Record Mirror felt "Heaven" was "too plodding to follow 'Drop the Pilot' into the charts and too shallow to choke the way 'Willow' always can", but added "it's impossible to say anything but good about such a strong and talented woman". [11] Sunie, writing for Number One , called the single "pointless". She wrote, "If this is intended to give a fillip to the Track Record LP, A&M would have done better to reissue one of Joan's corking almost-hits such as 'Me Myself I'. There seems no other reason for putting this drab ballad out as a single." [12] Frank Edmonds of the Bury Free Press gave the song a 3 out of 10 rating, criticising it for being "such a grim, wailing dirge [that] it sounds more like down below than up above". [13] John Mahoney, writing for the Telegraph & Argus , was also negative in his review, stating that it was a "big disappointment" and "definitely not single material". [14]

Track listings

7–inch single (UK, South Africa and Australia) [15] [16] [17]

  1. "Heaven" – 4:40
  2. "Back to the Night" (remix) – 4:04

7–inch single (US) [18]

  1. "Heaven" – 4:40
  2. "Frustration" – 3:35

Personnel

Production

Other

References

  1. ↑ "New Singles". Music Week . 12 November 1983. p. 28. ISSN   0265-1548.
  2. ↑ "Airplay Action". Music Week . 3 December 1983. p. 11. ISSN   0265-1548.
  3. ↑ "Airplay Action". Music Week . 10 December 1983. p. 11. ISSN   0265-1548.
  4. ↑ "Airplay Action". Music Week . 17 December 1983. p. 9. ISSN   0265-1548.
  5. ↑ "Airplay Action". Music Week . 24 December 1983. p. 9. ISSN   0265-1548.
  6. ↑ Belsey, James (19 November 1983). "Pops: Single of the week" . Bristol Evening Post . p. 12. Retrieved 12 December 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ↑ Juviski, Lenny (24 November 1983). "Singles: Double helping of our best" . The Northern Echo . p. 8. Retrieved 12 December 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Sweeney, Joanne (1 December 1983). "Weekly record review: Waterfront is quite simply a hit" . Lurgan Mail . p. 22. Retrieved 12 December 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ↑ Patton, Lucy (8 December 1983). "Sounds: Armatrading back with a winner" . Bracknell Times. p. 2. Retrieved 12 December 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ↑ Jasper, Tony (3 December 1983). "Select Singles". Music Week . p. 30. ISSN   0265-1548.
  11. ↑ Levy, Eleanor (19 November 1983). "Singles". Record Mirror . p. 12. ISSN   0144-5804.
  12. ↑ Sunie (26 November 1983). "Singles". Number One . No. 30. p. 34.
  13. ↑ Edmonds, Frank (2 December 1983). "Soundscene" . Bury Free Press . p. 10. Retrieved 12 December 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ↑ Mahoney, John (24 November 1983). "Rock On: Sorry Joan – not good enough" . Telegraph & Argus . p. 8. Retrieved 12 December 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Heaven (UK 7-inch single sleeve). A&M Records. 1983. AM 162.
  16. ↑ Heaven (South African 7-inch single sleeve). A&M Records. 1983. AMRS 1434.
  17. ↑ Heaven (Australian 7-inch single sleeve). A&M Records. 1983. K 9299.
  18. ↑ Heaven (US 7-inch single sleeve). A&M Records. 1984. AM-2622.
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