"My Heart Can't Tell You No" by Rod Stewart
Genre: Pop, Rock
Pop Bits: At this point in time, Stewart's fifteenth album Out of Order was doing quite well. It had just reached the platinum level in sales thanks to a pair of hits, "Lost in You" and "Forever Young." Both singles would peak at #12, which was a good result, but it was slightly disappointing that neither one could dip into the Pop Top 10. Stewart and his label then gave it a third go with this next single. At first it didn't seem like the song was going to do so well, but then it steadily made its way up the chart and finally peaked at #4 in its 17th week. It was Stewart's tenth Pop Top 10 hit. The tune would also get to #3 AC and #50 Rock. Third time was the charm for Stewart and singles form Out of Order.
ReduxReview: This was a song that kind of crept up on you. I remember hearing it when I bought the album and though it was a nice, lovely tune that was a bit forgettable. But then after a few plays something about the song started to sink in. I think part of it had to do with the sad lyrics. The lines in the chorus resonated. It wasn't long before the tune itself started to ingrain itself into my brain. It also was nicely produced and had a good arrangement. The tune's slow rise up the chart tells me that others may have had the same experience. It took a minute, but eventually the song would hook you.
Trivia: This song was written by Simon Climie and Dennis Morgan. Morgan had been a successful songwriter mainly for country artists. In a partnership with Kye Fleming, the pair wrote many hits including Barbara Mandrell's "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed" and Sylvia's "Nobody." Climie was also a songwriter who had a taste of success with Pat Benatar's "Invincible" and with his own duo Climie Fisher on the tune "Love Changes (Everything), which was co-written with Morgan and was a song originally intended for Rod Stewart. After Morgan and Fleming's writing partnership ended, Morgan began another partnership with Climie. Their first major hit together was the #1 "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" by Aretha Franklin and George Michael. They would then go on to write "My Heart Can't Tell You No." The artist they had in mind for the song was Barbara Mandrell. Morgan had a lot of history writing for Mandrell, so it seemed like an easy sell. While it is in question as to what happened, Mandrell didn't get to record the song and it somehow made it over to Stewart who snatched it up and made it a hit. While the tune didn't get to be a country hit initially, it did make it onto the chart later. Country star Sara Evans recorded a version in 2011 and it would end up reaching #21 on the Country chart (and #5 on the Pop Bubbling Under chart).
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