Chart Week: September 27, 1986
\nSong: \u201cHeartbeat\u201d – Don Johnson
\nChart Position: #14, 6th week on the chart. Peaked at #5 for two weeks in October.<\/p>\n
The history of pop music is riddled with vanity projects by actors, comedians, athletes, and others in the public eye who decided to leverage their fame in other mediums in an attempt to get a hit record. The 1980s in general, and 1986 in particular, were thick with these songs. Early \u201986 brought us Eddie Murphy\u2019s album. Bruce Willis recorded his The Return of Bruno<\/em> album in \u201986, although it was not released until early 1987. Eddie\u2019s music was ok; he could clearly carry a tune but, as I recall, there was nothing special about his voice or his songs. He came across as being careful, offering fairly generic music that could get airplay on both white and black stations. There was always a sense that if Eddie really wanted to throw down, he could have done something so much better than this.<\/p>\n Willis\u2019 album was also rather generic. His sound was exactly what you would expect: that of a guy who, after a couple drinks grabs the mic and leads a band and gets away with it because he has the most charisma in the room and his voice isn\u2019t great but it\u2019s not terrible either so, hey, let the guy sing a couple songs\u2026<\/p>\n Smack in the middle, in the late summer of \u201986, came Don Johnson\u2019s Heartbeat<\/em> album, fronted by this title track. I\u2019ll hear this song once or twice a year and always laugh. I laugh at 15-year-old me, because, as I was into all things Don Johnson at the time, I loved this track. I laugh at America, because we bought this shit up, pushing the record to #5 and snatching up half a million copies of the album. I laugh at the lyrics, which are pretty terrible:<\/p>\n \nI don\u00b4t care what you say I laugh at the track\u2019s production, which has every element of bad, mid–80s pop rock in it.<\/p>\n And I laugh most at Johnson\u2019s vocal efforts, especially on the song\u2019s verses, where it sounds like he came straight off the Miami Vice<\/em> set and started reciting lyrics as he would lines on the show. And now, after doing some research, I laugh at what Johnson said about the album upon its release.<\/p>\n \n\u201cI didn’t want it to sound like something that other people designed and I just stopped by for a few minutes to do the vocals. And I made it clear to Walter that I would walk away from it if I didn’t think it was credible. I was prepared every step of the way to throw it away and walk away."\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n That\u2019s some beautiful, first-class bullshit there.<\/p>\n But here\u2019s the thing\u2026his vocals on the chorus are pretty solid. I mean, there\u2019s not much to work with lyrically. But he throws himself into those words and shouts them out much better than you would expect him to. He\u2019s no Springsteen, Bryan Adams, or Kenny Loggins for sure. It\u2019s not totally terrible, though. Which, I suppose, makes the song a success.<\/p>\n The song\u2019s video was perfect for the era, too. Just look at Don prowling around the stage in his silk shirt! That\u2019s Dweezil Goddamn Zappa playing some kick-ass, cheeseball guitar! The headless bass is beautiful. And if you have an actor singing, you have to throw in some segments from a \u201cmini-film\u201d that don\u2019t really make sense but make grandma and grandpa say, \u201cOh, yes, I remember this young man. He\u2019s on that Miami Vice<\/em> program. Isn\u2019t he married to that actress, Melanie something-or-other<\/a>?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nYou can give it away
\nYour money don\u00b4t mean much to me
\nI\u00b4ve been out on my own
\nGoing to go it alone now
\nCause that\u00b4s the way it\u00b4s got to be\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n