"It Hurts to Be in Love" by Dan Hartman

Song#:  0650
Date:  06/27/1981
Debut:  84
Peak:  72
Weeks:  5
Genre:  Pop



Pop Bits:  After issuing a couple of disco/dance-oriented LPs that did pretty good business and reached the chart, Hartman moved away from that dying genre and released an album that leaned towards pop/rock. "It Hurts to Be in Love" got off to a slow start with the first ballad single "Heaven in Your Arms" only reaching #86. This second title-track single was a very slight improvement, but it still wasn't enough to generate interest in the LP and it sank without getting on the album chart.

ReduxReview:  As a fan of Gene Pitney (see below), his Brill Building take is still far better. But Hartman does a nice job with the update and it sounds good, even though it seems to lack a little personality. It needs a little dirty drama to really push the song, which was always a highlight of a solid Pitney vocal. Very pleasant to hear, but I'll stick to the original.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  This song is a remake of the #7 hit by Gene Pitney in 1964. The song was originally intended for Neil Sedaka, but a label issue prevented his first version from being released. Sedaka recorded a second version, but it was again denied release. The song was offered to Pitney and strangely, they took Sedaka's second take and simply replaced his lead vocal with Pitney's. For whatever reason, that was acceptable and Pitney's version reached the Top 10.

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