| "Eternal Flame" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by The Bangles | ||||
| from the album Everything | ||||
| Released | February 11, 1989 | |||
| Format | Vinyl record (7") CD (3") Cassingle |
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| Recorded | Ocean Way, Studio 55 (1989) | |||
| Genre | Pop Soft rock |
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| Length | 3:56 | |||
| Label | CBS | |||
| Writer(s) | Susanna Hoffs Tom Kelly Billy Steinberg |
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| Producer | Davitt Sigerson | |||
| The Bangles singles chronology | ||||
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"Eternal Flame" is a song by The Bangles which became a hit single in 1989, peaking at number one in the charts in six countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It was written by popular songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly and the Bangles' own Susanna Hoffs.
Contents |
History
It was a ballad, unlike the rest of the garage-band pop songs on their album Everything. Co-writer Billy Steinberg describes it as "The Beatles meet The Byrds".
The song was inspired by two eternal flames: one for Elvis Presley that Michael Steele saw when the band was at Graceland, and one at a local synagogue in Palm Springs which Steinberg attended as a child.[1] Steinberg recalled to Songfacts: "Susanna was talking about The Bangles having visited Graceland, and she said there was some type of shrine to Elvis that included some kind of eternal flame. As soon as those words were mentioned, I immediately thought of the synagogue in the town of Palm Springs, California where I grew up. I remember during our Sunday school class they would walk us through the sanctuary. There was one little red light and they told us it was called the eternal flame." [2]
It spent one week at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, preceded by "The Living Years" by Mike + The Mechanics and followed by "The Look" by Roxette.
The song debuted on the UK Singles Chart in February 1989 at number 81 and peaked at number one in April spending four weeks there and went on to spend twenty weeks in the chart and was the UK's third best-selling song of 1989.
The song also spent seven weeks at the #1 position in the Dutch Top 40. It also topped the U.S. adult contemporary chart for two weeks.
The song was Australia's biggest selling single of '89 and was sent-up on the Australian TV show Fast Forward.
The song provided the musical backdrop for the closing montage of Season 1, Episode 21 of Cold Case.
Eternal Flame was featured in an episode of True Blood on HBO and Pushing Daisies on ABC, where it was sung by Kristin Chenoweth.
Track lists
| Side | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| A | "Eternal Flame" | 3:56 |
| B | "What I Meant To Say" | 3:20 |
"What I Meant To Say" is a non-album track
Charts
| Chart (1989) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austria Top 75 | 5 |
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart | 1 |
| Dutch Top 40[3] | 1 (Platinum)[4] |
| French Singles Chart | 5 |
| German Singles Chart | 4 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 2 |
| UK Singles Chart | 1 (Gold)[5] |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks | 1 |
End of year charts
| Country | Chart | Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| UK | UK Year-End Singles | 3 |
| Preceded by "Alles kan een mens gelukkig maken" by René Froger and Het Goede Doel |
Dutch Top 40 number one single (Bangles version) 15 April 1989 – 27 May 1989 |
Succeeded by "Me Myself and I" by De La Soul |
| Preceded by "The Living Years" by Mike + The Mechanics |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single (Bangles version) April 1, 1989 |
Succeeded by "The Look" by Roxette |
| Preceded by "Like a Prayer" by Madonna |
UK Singles Chart number one single (Bangles version) April 9, 1989 - April 30, 1989 |
Succeeded by "Hand on Your Heart" by Kylie Minogue |
Credits
- Writers: Susanna Hoffs, Billy Steinberg, Tom Kelly
- Producer: Davitt Sigerson(Bangles version)
- Recorded by: John Beverly Jones
- Mixed by: Frank Filipetti
Cover versions
Atomic Kitten
| "Eternal Flame" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Atomic Kitten | ||||
| from the album Right Now (Re-issue) | ||||
| Released | July 23, 2001 | |||
| Format | CD single, digital download | |||
| Recorded | 2001 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 3:17 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Producer | Ray Ruffin | |||
| Certification | Platinum | |||
| Atomic Kitten singles chronology | ||||
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History
A cover version by Atomic Kitten was released as a single and reached number one for two weeks on the UK charts in 2001. Susanna Hoffs liked the cover version and subsequently teamed up with Atomic Kitten and once again with Eternal Flame writers Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly and wrote "Love Doesn't Have to Hurt" for their next album Feels So Good.
Track listing
| Side | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Eternal Flame" | 3:15 |
| 2. | "Album Medley" | 5:30 |
| 3. | "Eternal Flame (Blacksmitch RnB Rub)" | 3:54 |
| 4. | "Eternal Flame" video | 3:16 |
Atomic Kitten's version was remixed by Love to Infinity (T-Club Mix: 7:20).
Charts
Atomic Kitten made the song another massive success, entering at #1 in the UK with over 140,000 in its first week and 70,000 in its second week. The song has sold 390,000 copies in the UK as stated by the Official UK Charts Company. The single entered the top 5 in over ten countries.
| Chart (2001) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austria Top 75 | 1 |
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart | 47* |
| Belgium Singles Chart | 1 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 9 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 1 |
| French Singles Chart | 1 |
| German Singles Chart | 3 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 1 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart | 1 (Gold)[6] |
| Norway Singles Chart | 5 |
| Poland Singles Chart | 1 |
| Portugal Singles Chart | 3 |
| Spain Singles Chart | 5 |
| Sweden Singles Chart | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart | 1 (Gold)[7] |
- released as double-A side with "Right Now"
| Preceded by "Eternity / The Road to Mandalay" by Robbie Williams |
UK Singles Chart number one single (Atomic Kitten version) July 29, 2001 - August 12, 2001 |
Succeeded by "21 Seconds" by So Solid Crew |
| Preceded by "19-2000" by Gorillaz |
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart number one single (Atomic Kitten version) September 23, 2001 |
Succeeded by "Eternity / The Road to Mandalay" by Robbie Williams |
Other covers
| "Eternal Flame" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Rollergirl | ||||
| from the album Now I'm Singin'... And the Party Keeps Rollin' | ||||
| Released | 2000 | |||
| Recorded | 2000 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Writer(s) | Susanna Hoffs Tom Kelly Billy Steinberg |
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| Rollergirl singles chronology | ||||
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- The song has been covered in Japanese language in 1997 by Tomoya Nagase, the vocalist of the Japanese idol rock group Tokio, featuring 3T. This song was used as the theme song of the Nippon TV drama "DXD", in which Nagase played the main role. He also wrote the Japanese version lyrics. This version was released as a single in Japan under the name of "Tomoya with 3T".
- A Japanese rendition of "Eternal Flame" was also performed by Seiko Matsuda
- The song has been covered in 1999 by the Australian group Human Nature on the Counting Down album.
- The song has been covered in 2000 by Rollergirl on the Now I'm Singin'... And The Party Keeps On Rollin' and released as a single which peaked at #87 in the Swiss Charts[8]
- A eurodance cover by Rochelle was released in the 2000s by Almighty Records. An audio sample can be heard on the official Almighty Records website.[9]
- A punk rock version by Tagtraum was included on the 2001 compilation Punk Chartbusters Vol. 4.
- The song was covered in 2001 by the Argentine band Smitten on them Let me be album.
- The song was covered in 2004 by Japanese pop singer Beni Arashiro on her Infinite... single.
- The song was covered in 2005 by Jeremy Udden on his Torchsongs album.
- The song was covered in 2005 by Japanese artist LISA on her Melody Circus album.
- A cover version has been made in 2005 by the Filipino acoustic duo M.Y.M.P. on the Versions album.
- Portuguese power metal band Oratory included a rendition of the song on their 2005 "Interludium" EP.
- In 2006, the song was covered by former Deutschland sucht den SuperStar contestant Lena Hanenberg on the Love Songs album.
- A hi-NRG cover by Lady Crew was released as a single in 2008.
- Indie artists Marx/Engels recorded a cover of the song which was available for download on the Internet.
Solo and Live Performances
- An a cappella version of this song was performed by The Night Owls as a part of Comedy Central Presents: Zach Galifianakis, which was shown on September 17, 2001
- A reggae version of "Eternal Flame" was performed by Wayne Wonder
- A jazz version of this song was performed by Laura Fygi
- A Japanese rendition of "Eternal Flame" was performed by Seiko Matsuda
- The song was performed in 2006 by one of the Canadian Idol, Ashley Coulter
- It was performed in the Star Academy by Cynthia, Elfy, and Dominique
- Comedian Jeremy Hardy, famous for his atrocious singing, 'sang' the song at the end of an episode of the BBC Radio4 series You'll have had your Tea.
- Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal's character sang an abbreviated a cappella version in the independent film Sherrybaby
- Singer-actress Kristin Chenoweth sang a humorous version of the song for the staged reading of the musical version of the film Earth Girls Are Easy. She also covered it on Pushing Daisies in the show's second season, on the episode called Comfort Food.
- Comedian Zach Galifiankis used the song in his Comedy Central special, showing words on a large pad while a group of female singers performed the song.
The song has been covered in 2008 by Human Nature on their album: "A Symphony of Hits"
References
- ^ Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, 500 Nr. 1 hits uit de Top 40, page 261, 9023009444
- ^ "Eternal Flame". Songfacts.com. http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=627. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
- ^ "De Nederlandse Top 40, week 15, 1989". http://www.radio538.nl/web/show/id=44685/chartid=4939. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
- ^ NVPI.nl Dutch certification database Accessed November 4, 2006
- ^ BPI.co.uk Certification "Eternal Flame" (Bangles) Accessed: November 2, 2006
- ^ Rianz.org.nz Chart 9 December 2001 Accessed: November 2, 2006
- ^ BPI.co.uk Certification "Eternal Flame" Accessed: November 2, 2006
- ^ SwissCharts.com "Eternal Flame" (Rollergirl) page. Accessed: November 2, 2006
- ^ http://www.almightyrecords.com/product/ALMY168/
Additional sources used:
- The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition)
External links
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