“Total Eclipse of the Heart” (Bonnie Tyler)

Still celebrating yesterday’s birthday of the late Jim Steinman, here’s the biggest-selling song he wrote, “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” Performed by Welsh songstress Bonnie Tyler, this over-the-melodramatic-top power ballad was released in June of 1983 (February in the UK) and shot to #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100 charts. It also hit #1 in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, and the UK. It was the #6 song for all of 1983, according to Billboard, and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Female Pop Performance. (It lost to Irene Cara and “Flashdance… What a Feeling.”)

Bonnie Tyler sought out Jim Steinman after seeing Meat Loaf perform “Bat Out of Hell” on the British TV show The Old Grey Whistle Test, and he agreed to produce and write songs for her next album. Steinman said he wrote “Total Eclipse of the Heart” specifically for Tyler, “to be a showcase for her voice,” which reminded him of a combination of John Fogerty and Janis Joplin. Her voice “isn’t pure or smooth,” he said. “It sounds ravaged, like it’s been through a lot. It’s what rock ‘n’ roll is all about.”

Ms. Tyler said that she reacted enthusiastically when Steinman first demoed “Total Eclipse of the Heart”:

“When I first heard it, I thought, ‘Oh my God, this song is amazing.’ You know, I couldn’t believe he was giving it to me.”

Steinman recruited vocalist Rory Dodd to sing the secondary vocal part (“turn around bright eyes”). He also brought back E Street pianist Roy Bittan and drummer Max Weinberg for the recording session; they’d also played on “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” and most of the other tracks on Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell album.

Interestingly, when “Total Eclipse of the Heart” hit #1 in the U.S., the song right behind it at #2 was another Steinman composition, “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” by Air Supply. The only way to top a Steinman tune is with another Steinman tune, apparently.

And here’s today’s daily bonus video of the day, the music video for “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” It was directed by famous Australian director Russell Mulcahy and was nominated for two Billboard Video Music Awards (Best Performance by a Female and Most Effective Use of Symbolism).