Songoftheday 10/16/19 - Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you're never coming 'round, every now and then I get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears...

"Total Eclipse of The Heart" - Nicki French
from the album Secrets (1995)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 21

Today's song of the day comes from British singer Nicki French, who comes from the town of Carlisle in way northern England near the Scottish border. A background singer for years, she struck out on her own in 1993, releasing a cover of the #1 American pop hit "Total Eclipse Of The Heart", originally made famous by Bonnie Tyler. The original release flopped; then a year later on "Bags of Fun" records it became a minor pop hit at #55. Lastly, in 1995, moving to the Love This record label, French's sped-up and amp'd up redo of the dramatic Jim Steinman composition delivered, especially in the States, with the remix done by Matt Aitken and Mike Stock adding BPM to the drama...

French's version of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" spent one week in the runner-up position on the American pop chart in June of 1995. It would be her solitary hit on the pop chart here. The song also climbed to #20 on Billboard magazine's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio format chart, while the remixes helped it go to #37 on their Dance Club Play list. Internationally, the single also went to #2 in Australia, and also made the top ten in the UK (#5), Iceland (#5), and the Netherlands (#10). The song reached the top-20 in New Zealand (#13), Belgium (#14), Ireland (#15), and Canada (#16).

French's next single was also a cover, this time of the Carpenters' "For All We Know", but due to bad circumstances it stalled under the top-40 at #42 in the UK, not even reaching the American charts at all. A third release, the original "Did You Ever Really Love Me?", peaked at #55 in the UK,  The final single from the album, "Is There Anybody Out There?", slipped on to the British chart at #83.

A year later, French returned with a one-off single, "Te Amo", which was a minor hit at #84. In 2000, Nicki French won the opportunity to represent the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Festival, with the song "Don't Play That Song Again". Despite it only coming in 16th place in the finals, nevertheless the dance-pop track made the British top-40 at #34. (Ironically, Bonnie Tyler would also participate in Eurovision in 2013.) She's continued to release different collections of her music, most recently with Glitter To The Neon Lights in 2018.

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In Nicki's native Britain, fans preferred version of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" that started off as a ballad and only built to the dance throwdown at the middle (like Toni Braxton's "Unbreak My Heart")....

Here's Nicki showing up for Top of the Pops....

And here she is for an American disco special on ABC, with a 25-year-younger Ryan Seacrest...

And finally, live in concert in Australia....

Up tomorrow: A rough rapper and a savvy lady play the Marvin and Tammi of the 90s.