YOU ARE HERE: zharth.net / Zharth's Music Log / Week 59 (Heartbreakers)
(Originally finalized on February 24, 2024)
Preface: Love is one of the most common themes for songwriters, and heartbreak is probably one of the most frequent forms it takes. But how many songs out there are actually titled "Heartbreaker"? That's the question that drives this theme. And yes, I managed to find seven of them - without breaking genre (or era)! (Apologies to Mariah Carey, Justin Bieber, Michael Jackson, and others). And, unlike my Rock Me Baby and Johnny B. Goode themes, these are all distinct songs - not just different artists covering a common source.
Monday: Led Zeppelin - Heartbreaker [Led Zeppelin II, 1969]
Comments: We'll start the theme with the song that will always be the original song titled Heartbreaker in my mind - a Led Zeppelin classic, and one of the first riffs I learned to play on guitar.
Tuesday: Free - Heartbreaker [Heartbreaker, 1973]
Comments: I can trace the impetus for this theme back to the release of Joe Bonamassa's 2011 album Dust Bowl, which features a cover of a song titled Heartbreaker. I got excited, thinking it was a Led Zeppelin cover, but it turned out to be a different song, by Free - another good one.
Wednesday: Grand Funk Railroad - Heartbreaker [On Time, 1969]
Comments: When I remembered that Grand Funk Railroad also has a song titled Heartbreaker, I knew I had the makings of a great theme. I just needed to find four more songs to fill it out.
Thursday: The Rolling Stones - Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) [Goats Head Soup, 1973]
Comments: The next song that fell into place is one of my favorites by The Rolling Stones. Though only subtitled Heartbreaker, the word is repeated in the chorus...
Friday: Pat Benatar - Heartbreaker [In The Heat Of The Night, 1979]
Comments: Despite coming a little late in the era at 1979, Pat Benatar's popular song by the title Heartbreaker was a shoo-in, and an exemplary choice for the theme.
Saturday: B.B. King - Heartbreaker [Blues On Top Of Blues, 1968]
Comments: At five songs, I was too invested to give up, but I needed to fill two more slots. Then I discovered that B.B. King has also recorded a song titled Heartbreaker - in 1968. But the last spot still eluded me.
Sunday: The Strawbs - Heartbreaker [Burning For You, 1977]
Comments: For a time, I was considering a song by ELO Part II - a spin-off band from the original Electric Light Orchestra - but I wasn't really feeling it. Then I discovered The Strawbs, a British band verging on progressive rock. When I heard their Heartbreaker, I knew the theme was complete!
Honorable Mention: Great White - Heartbreaker [Hooked, 1991]
Comments: Only later did I realize that Great White also has a song titled Heartbreaker (and despite starting out as a Led Zeppelin cover band, it's not a cover). But since it's from 1991, I feel comfortable leaving it as a footnote.