Robbed hit of the week 10/20/14 - Jennifer Rush's "The Power Of Love"...

Jennifer Rush - "The Power Of Love"
from the album Jennifer Rush (1984)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #57

This week's "robbed hit" was a song that made this artist, its songwriter, quite rich anyway. Jennifer Rush was born in Queens, but spent a big chunk of her life in Germany, where her musical career took off. Releasing her first single in 1982 (under her birth name Heidi Stern), it wasn't until 1984 that she landed her first hit in Germany, "25 Lovers" (#25, natch).

Another track from the album that single came from, her self-titled debut, was a stately ballad called "The Power Of Love". With Rush's soaring voice and anthemic chorus, the song was huge in Europe, becoming the biggest-selling single in England in 1985, and topping the charts in at least eight countries. Upon hearing it on the radio, I was certain it was going to be just as big over here in the States...

Well, I was wrong (well, sort of). Jennifer's version of "The Power Of Love" stalled on the Hot 100 in America at #57. However, three more versions of the song would make the pop charts in the U.S., with one a #1 smash....

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First, Australian soft-rock giants Air Supply released their version of "The Power Of Love" the same year as Rush's, and made the pop chart at #68 while climbing to #13 on the adult contemporary radio list in Billboard....

A year after Rush's record hit the chart, similarly big-voiced Laura Branigan released "The Power Of Love" as a single, and reached the top-40 at #26...

But it was Canadian powerhouse Celine Dion who claimed the most successful version of the song in America, topping the Hot 100 for four weeks in 1994...

Not long after, Beverly to a dance version to the top-20 on the Australian singles charts...

But personally, my affection goes to Jennifer's heartfelt and personal take, which balances the vocal theatrics with a more lighter touch. Here she is again, performing on Norwegian TV in 1985..

So in the long run, while she didn't quite make it in America (she would nab a top-40 hit later), I'm sure the millions in royalties she's collecting on this song alone eases the pain.