11 February 1983, London: Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler (real name Gaynor Hopkins) releases the single “Total Eclipse of the Heart” on CBS Records. Producer and writer - Jim Steinman, known for a 5-year partnership with Meat Loaf (“Bat Out of Hell”, 1977). In September 1983 - #1 Billboard Hot 100 (4 consecutive weeks), #1 UK Singles Chart (2 weeks), #1 in 14 countries. The single sold 6 million copies; the album Faster Than the Speed of Night - 11 million. It was the best-selling single of 1983 in the UK (counting re-releases) and Billboard's #6 single of 1983. Tyler, with her distinctive rasp, and Steinman with his wild rock opera - an unlikely pairing that produced one of the decade's most epic pop tracks.
Who Bonnie Tyler was before 1983
Gaynor Hopkins was born on 8 June 1951 in Skewen, Wales. From 13 she sang in local soul groups; in 1975 she signed with RCA Records under the stage name Bonnie Tyler. Her first hit - “It's a Heartache” (1977) - #4 Billboard, #4 UK. The key feature - her distinctive husky voice, the result of surgery to remove nodules from her vocal cords in 1976.
After the operation Tyler's voice turned from a standard female soul tone into a recognisable chest rasp. She was cast as “the Welsh Rod Stewart” - a parody label Tyler didn't love.
By 1982 her career was trending down: three albums across 1979-1982 had flopped. RCA did not renew her contract. CBS Records signed Tyler to a new deal in June 1982 with a plan for “a major rebrand”. The budget for the new album - US$1.2 million - one of the largest CBS budgets of the year.
How Jim Steinman agreed
Steinman (1947-2021) - American rock composer known for his overloaded, Wagnerian approach to rock. His peak project was Bat Out of Hell with Meat Loaf (October 1977) - 43 million copies by 2024, one of the 10 best-selling albums of all time.
In 1981 Steinman fell out with Meat Loaf over money and was looking for a new performer for new material. First pick - Barbra Streisand. Streisand declined: “too rock-opera for my range”. Second - Donna Summer. Also no - same reason. Third - Tina Turner. No.
CBS Records in July 1982 offered Steinman a project with Bonnie Tyler. Steinman first said no: “I don't know who that is.” They sent him “It's a Heartache”. After ten minutes Steinman called CBS: “Yes, I agree. Her voice is exactly what I was looking for. Husky, epic, tragic.”
Tracking at Power Station - autumn 1982
Recording ran September-November 1982 at The Power Station in New York (the same room where Nile Rodgers cut Chic and “Like a Virgin” Madonna). Single budget for “Total Eclipse of the Heart” - US$220,000. Tracking took 18 days.
- Yamaha CP-80 - Steinman's signature intro electric piano
- Roland Jupiter-8 - chorus string lifts
- Prophet-5 - additional pads
- Oberheim OB-Xa - bass part
- Fender Stratocaster - guitar (Richard Gerstin)
- Fender Precision bass - live bass (Jimmy Bralower)
- Ludwig drum kit - drums (Max Weinberg of the E Street Band)
- Choral section - 24 vocalists, for booming backgrounds
- Neve V Series 48-channel console + Studer A820 24-track
A characteristic of the arrangement - alternation of quiet verses and booming epic choruses. Steinman specifically asked mixer Neil Dorfsman to make 24 dB dynamic range between verse and chorus. That's three times the standard pop value.
Tyler's vocals - 17 hours of recording
Tyler tracked vocals at the Power Station from 14 to 22 October 1982 - 17 hours of recording over 8 days. Steinman was a perfectionist - asking her to redo each phrase up to 30 times. Tyler said in a 2020 interview: “By day 5 I wanted to kill him. By day 6 I was resigned. By day 7 I understood he knew what he was doing.”
“Jim Steinman broke my voice again - in the right direction. I'd been singing soul ballads for six years. He made me sing rock opera. The difference between "It's a Heartache" and "Total Eclipse" is the difference between a cabaret number and an operatic aria. I didn't know I could sing that way”, - Bonnie Tyler in Smooth Radio, 2020.
The Russell Mulcahy video
The “Total Eclipse of the Heart” video was directed by Russell Mulcahy - Australian director later known for Highlander (1986). Budget - US$150,000. Shooting took place in May 1983 at Holloway Sanatorium - an abandoned Victorian psychiatric asylum in Surrey.
The concept - a gothic nightmare: Tyler in a white nightdress, ghostly boys in school uniforms, candles, flying objects, mirrors, fencers in white. Mulcahy worked with Hitchcockian horror aesthetics and early MTV music-video style. The clip picked up three MTV VMA 1984 nominations, winning Best Overall Performance.
The video was shocking for 1983 - dim casting, sexual ambiguity (the boys watching Tyler, she watching them), gothic elements. MTV initially declined daytime airing, but reversed within a week under CBS pressure.
Numbers
- US: #1 Billboard Hot 100, 4 weeks (October 1983); platinum
- UK: #1 UK Singles Chart, 2 weeks (March 1983); platinum
- Canada: #1 RPM, 6 weeks
- Australia: #1, 5 weeks
- Ireland: #1, 3 weeks
- Norway, South Africa, New Zealand, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden: #1
- Germany: #5
- Japan: #8 Oricon
- Total global sales by end 1984: 6 million copies
- Album Faster Than the Speed of Night: 11M copies, 7× platinum UK
- Billboard Year-End 1983: #6 single of the year
Spotify 2024 - over 1.1 billion streams. YouTube video - 990 million views.
Reissues and cultural afterlife
“Total Eclipse of the Heart” has been reissued multiple times, each returning to the charts:
- 1994: American singer Nicki French released a dance version - #2 UK, #1 Billboard Dance Chart
- 2007: British remix Total Eclipse of the Heart '07 - #40 UK
- 2017: during the US solar eclipse, “Total Eclipse of the Heart” climbed back to #27 Billboard Hot 100, 34 years after release
- 2023: Tyler's version during her tour with the StarsAlive Festival
Jim Steinman
After “Total Eclipse of the Heart” Steinman didn't fade: in 1989 he wrote “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” for Air Supply (#2 Billboard), in 1993 “I'd Do Anything for Love” for Meat Loaf (#1 Billboard 5 weeks), in 2003 music for the Broadway musical Tanz der Vampire.
Steinman died on 19 April 2021, aged 73, in Fair Haven (New Jersey), of kidney failure. Bonnie Tyler performed at his funeral, singing “Total Eclipse of the Heart” a cappella.
Place in pop culture
“Total Eclipse of the Heart” is one of the tracks that defined “power ballad” in the 80s. The formula: quiet verse, epic chorus, booming dynamic range, dramatic orchestration, a recognisable central riff. That formula was copied after Steinman: “Alone” Heart (1987), “Because the Night” 10,000 Maniacs (1993, Patti Smith cover), “Don't Cry” Guns N' Roses (1991).
Related: “Eye of the Tiger” Survivor, “Take My Breath Away” Berlin, “Call Me” Blondie. Bonnie Tyler in 2024 is 73. She still tours: in 2023 she played 80 concerts in 22 countries. “Total Eclipse of the Heart” is always the closing song of her set. Every time, she says, “I see 60-year-olds crying. They remember 1983. They were 20 when that song played on the radio. I give them 4 minutes and 32 seconds of that era”.