Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart

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"Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart"
Single by Gene Pitney
from the album Just One Smile
B-side "Building Up My Dream World"
ReleasedSeptember 1967
Genre Pop
Length3:37
Songwriter(s)
Gene Pitney singles chronology
"Tremblin"
(1967)
"Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart"
(1967)
"The More I Saw of Her"
(1968)

"Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart" is a song written by Roger Greenaway and Roger Cook.

Contents

Originally recorded by David and Jonathan, and then Gene Pitney in 1967, the latter's version of the song reached No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart in December 1967, [1] but failed to chart in the United States. The song was subsequently covered by a number of other acts including Cilla Black, Allison Durbin on her 1968 album I Have Loved Me a Man, Terry Reid, and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on their 1986 album of covers Kicking Against the Pricks . It was sung in French by Herbert Léonard in 1968 with the title "Quelque chose tient mon cœur" and in Italian by Pitney himself with the title "Uomo, non sai" ("Man, you don't know").

It achieved its greatest success in 1988 when Some Bizzare UK Record label released a cover version by Marc Almond. Originally recorded by Almond alone for his 1988 album The Stars We Are , the single version was remixed to also include new vocals from Gene Pitney. Their version became a number one single in the UK for four weeks in January 1989. [2] The music video for this version was filmed on-location in Las Vegas. [3]

Marc Almond featuring Gene Pitney version

"Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart"
Almondpitney.jpg
Single by Marc Almond featuring Gene Pitney
from the album The Stars We Are
B-side
  • "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart" (solo version)
  • "The Frost Comes Tomorrow"
Released3 January 1989 [4]
Recorded1988
Genre Pop
Length4:41
Label EMI
Songwriter(s)
  • Roger Greenaway
  • Roger Cook
Producer(s) Bob Kraushaar
Marc Almondsingles chronology
"Bitter Sweet"
(1988)
"Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart"
(1989)
"Only the Moment"
(1989)

Marc Almond originally recorded the song as a solo track for his album The Stars We Are and was released as a follow-up to his single "Bitter Sweet". By then, Gene Pitney had heard of Almond's version and offered to re-record it with him, as a duet. This version replaced the solo version which was put on the B-side of the single. The duet reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in January 1989. A music video featuring the duo was recorded in Las Vegas.

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart"
Charts (1989)Peak
position
Australia (ARIA) [5] 24
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [6] 2
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [7] 2
Finland Sales (Suomen virallinen myyntilistasijoitus) [8] 1
France (SNEP) [9] 8
Ireland (IRMA) [10] 1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [11] 5
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [12] 5
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [13] 4
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [14] 7
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [15] 1
UK Singles (OCC) [16] 1
West Germany (GfK) [17] 1

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart"
Charts (1989)Position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [18] 11
Belgium (Ultratop Flanders) [19] 14
Germany (Official German Charts) [20] 11
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [21] 51
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [22] 59
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [23] 15

Cover versions

The song was covered by Vicky Leandros in 1968, along with a Greek version the same year titled "To Mistiko Sou" ("Your secret") on her Greek album Vicky (To Mistiko Sou) which became a hit. The same year in French by Herbert Léonard "Quelque chose en moi tient mon cœur". In 1985 this song was covered, with alternative lyrics, by the Window Speaks on the single and after in 1987 on their album Heartland. Following Marc Almond's success across Europe, in 1989 Leandros released a 12-inch remix of "To Mistiko Sou" in Greece which topped the Greek charts. [24] Since its release, both the English and Greek versions of the song have appeared on various Leandros compilations worldwide. In 2010, Greek singer Maro Lytra covered Leandros' Greek version of the song produced by Dimitris Kontopoulos.[ citation needed ]

In 1986, the song was covered by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on the album Kicking Against the Pricks .[ citation needed ]

In 1996, Robson & Jerome covered the song for their second studio album Take Two .[ citation needed ]

In 2012, the song was covered by Joe McElderry and is featured on his fourth studio album, Here's What I Believe . [25] In 1990, The Shadows recorded an instrumental cover of the song on their studio album Reflection .[ citation needed ]

Pate Mustajärvi recorded the Finnish version "Sydän syrjällään" as a duet with Sakari Kuosmanen in 1995. Finnish lyrics were by Juice Leskinen. The song appeared on the B-side of the single "Emmanuelle"[ citation needed ].

The song was covered by Dana Winner on her 2001 album Unforgettable.[ citation needed ]

Another Finnish version called "Sydämeni osuman sai" was recorded by Siiri Nordin in 2003, with Finnish lyrics by Pauli Hanhiniemi. [26]

The song was featured in the 2015 film The Lobster , where it was performed by Garry Mountaine and Olivia Colman. [27]

The song was also adapted in Malay with the title "Tak Sanggup" by the Malay pop group, X-Factor, in 2004.[ citation needed ]

The song was also covered by New Zealand singer Bic Runga in 2008 for her album Try to Remember Everything .[ citation needed ]

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