"Heart of the Night" by Juice Newton

Song#:  1264
Date:  11/27/1982
Debut:  73
Peak:  25
Weeks:  16
Genre:  Soft Rock, Adult Contemporary



Pop Bits:  Newton's third single from her gold album "Quiet Lies" did okay at pop reaching the Top 30. It did much better at AC where it hit #4. It was her sixth consecutive Top 10 on the AC chart. Unfortunately, the pop/rock tune didn't make much of a dent at country fizzling at #53. It was a bit surprising since it came out hot on the heels of her Grammy-winning #2 country hit, "Break It to Me Gently" (#11 pop, #1 AC).

ReduxReview:  I thought this song got overlooked. This opening track from her album was a more mature sound from Newton and I think it suited her very well. Since it leaned towards pop more than country, I can understand why it failed at country. However, pop audiences should have turned this into a bigger hit. It even seems to get ignored today in favor of her bigger hits, which is too bad as it is a terrific song.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  This song was co-written by lyricist John Bettis. His first taste of success came with the Carpenters. With Richard Carpenter, Bettis co-wrote the majority of tracks on the duo's 1969 debut album. He would go on to co-write several hits for the Capenters including the #1 "Top of the World" (1973). He continued to write hits including The Pointer Sisters' "Slow Hand" (#2, 1981) and Michael Jackson's "Human Nature" (#7, 1983). He also co-wrote the theme to the hit TV show "Growing Pains" titled "As Long As We Got Each Other."

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