"Love Pains" is a dance song written by Michael Price, Dan Walsh and

Steve Barri Steve Barri (born Steven Barry Lipkin in Brooklyn, New York on February 23, 1942) is an American songwriter and record producer. Career Early in his career, Barri was a staff writer with Dunhill Records. He produced such huge hits as " Dizzy" ...

. It was originally recorded by Yvonne Elliman in 1979. Both

Hazell Dean Hazell Dean ( Poole; born 27 October 1952) is an English dance-pop singer, who achieved her biggest success in the 1980s as a leading Hi-NRG artist. She is best known for the top-ten hits in the United Kingdom "Searchin' (I Gotta Find a Man)", ...

and Liza Minnelli covered it and had hits in 1989 and 1990 respectively with their versions. There have also been many other cover versions of this song.

Yvonne Elliman version

Background

"Love Pains" was a hit for Elliman in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

, reaching number 34 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 as well as number 75 on the

Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...

, and number 33 on the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart. "Love Pains" would be Elliman's final chart single, Elliman's extended hiatus from the music business commencing soon after the release of the track's parent album ''Yvonne'' which was the last release of newly recorded music by Elliman until her 2004 EP ''Simple Needs''. In 1982, Moby Dick Records were in the process of re-releasing remixes of previous hits for their Gold Standard label when Rob Kimbel presented them with a remix of "Love Pains". The remix was released as a single and sales for the Moby Dick 12" single surpassed sales of the original record.

Track listings

12" vinyl, US 1979 US (RPO 1019) # "Love Pains" – 5:45 # "Love Pains" – 5:45 12" Moby Dick Records 1982 US (MDR 1201) # "Love Pains" (Special DJ Edited Version) – 7:56 # "Love Pains" – 5:45

Charts

Liza Minnelli version

Background

"Love Pains" is the fourth and final single from Liza Minnelli's album ''

Results A result is the outcome of an event. Result or Results may also refer to: Music * Results (album), ''Results'' (album), a 1989 album by Liza Minnelli * ''Results'', a 2012 album by Murder Construct * "The Result", a single by The Upsetters * "The ...

''. It was released in the UK in February 1990 by Epic Records. The track was produced by the Pet Shop Boys and Julian Mendelsohn. The single's B-side is Liza's take on the Pet Shop Boys single "

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

", which also features on ''Results''.

Steve "Silk" Hurley Steve W. "Silk" Hurley (born November 9, 1962), also known as J. M. Silk (for "Jack Master Silk"), is an American club DJ, house music producer, and songwriter. From 1985 to 1988, he had four top-10 singles on the US Dance chart, including the ...

was commissioned to create several mixes for "Love Pains" which are spread across the single's various formats. The single almost reached the top 40, stalling at number 41. This was 21 places higher than the last single, "

So Sorry, I Said "So Sorry, I Said" is a song by American singer and actress Liza Minnelli, released as the third single from her ninth album, ''Results'' (1989). The song was released on Epic Records on 13 November 1989. It stalled in the charts just outside the ...

". A performance had been recorded for Top Of The Pops, but was never shown, until a brief clip was shown on Top Of The Pops: The Story Of 1990, which was shown on 2 October 2020.

Critical reception

Bill Coleman from '' Billboard'' wrote, "Inspired remake of the Yvonne Elliman disco/ pop nugget deserves a break. Minnelli's vocal prowess charms and the beat still pumps. Try it out." David Giles from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' said that in comparison with

's 1989 version, this song "just twitters away behind Minelli, adding little beside a beat. The song itself is, however, strong enough to make this a hit."

Track listings

7": Epic / ZEE 4 (UK) # "Love Pains" (Hurley's radio edit) – 3:54 # "Love Pains" – 4:10 ** also available on MC (ZEE M4) 12": Epic / ZEE T4 (UK) # "Love Pains" (Hurley's mix) – 5:34 # "Love Pains" (deep dub) – 4:40 # "Rent" – 3:54 12": Epic / ZEE QT4 (UK) # "Love Pains" (deep house pains) – 5:04 # "Love Pains" (Hurley's radio edit) – 3:54 # "Rent" – 3:54 * Limited edition gatefold 12": Epic / 49-73166 (US) # "Love Pains" (Hurley's mix) – 5:34 # "Love Pains" (Hurley's radio edit) – 3:54 # "Love Pains" (Hurley's instrumental) – 4:08 # "Love Pains" (deep house pains) – 5:04 # "Love Pains" (deep dub) – 4:40 12": Epic / 655593-6 (Germany) # "Love Pains" – 4:10 # "Rent" – 3:54 # "Losing My Mind" (Ultimix dub) – 5:07 CD: Epic / ZEE C4 (UK) # "Love Pains" – 4:10 # "Love Pains" (Hurley's mix) – 5:34 # "Rent" – 3:54

Charts

Other notable cover versions

's version, produced by Phil Harding and Ian Curnow, peaked at number 48 on the

UK Singles chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in August 1989, number 18 in Dutch Tipparade, and number 51 in

Dutch Single Top 100 The Dutch Single Top 100 or Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales, legal downloads and since July 2013 streaming and composed by Dutch Charts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Du ...

. The single release's B-side track is "More Than Words Can Say". American singer Viola Wills released her own house cover version of the song in 1989 on Music Man Records. She had a hit with it in Belgium where her version peaked at number 27 on the pop charts.

References

{{authority control 1979 singles 1982 singles 1989 singles 1990 singles Yvonne Elliman songs Liza Minnelli songs Hazell Dean songs Viola Wills songs Disco songs Hi-NRG songs Songs written by Steve Barri Song recordings produced by Julian Mendelsohn 1979 songs RSO Records singles