"Rock My Heart" is a song by Trinidadian-German musician

Haddaway Nestor Alexander Haddaway (born 9 January 1965) is a Trinidadian-born German singer best known for his 1993 hit single " What Is Love", which reached number 1 in 13 countries. Early life Haddaway was born in Trinidad and Tobago. His father wa ...

, released in March 1994 by Coconut Records as the fourth and final single from his debut album, '' The Album'' (1993). It was written and produced by Dee Dee Halligan and Junior Torello. Like the previous single " I Miss You", the song was a hit in several countries, particularly in the UK, Germany, Finland, Switzerland, Ireland and Belgium, where it reached the top 10. "Rock My Heart" shot into the

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at number 17 on 9 April 1994 and peaked at seven four weeks later. Its accompanying music video featured Haddaway in a desert-like setting, and received heavy rotation on European music television channels.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

editor Jose F. Promis noted that "Rock My Heart" "shine just as brightly" as "

What Is Love "What Is Love" is a song by Trinidadian-German singer Haddaway, released as his debut single from his debut album, ''The Album (Haddaway album), The Album'' (1993). The song, both written and produced by Tony Hendrik, Dee Dee Halligan and Karin ...

" and "

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". A reviewer from ''

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'' magazine deemed the song "among the most potent offerings" from the Haddaway-album. Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' wrote, "Escorted by his steady female background singers, Haddaway bounces like a

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wizard on a synthesiser

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." Alan Jones from ''

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'' gave it a score of four out of five, saying, "This busy bounder is more akin to the happy house style of 'What Is Love' and 'Life', though with some Cappella-like synth phrases. As with all Haddaway songs, it's more contagious than the common cold." Dele Fadele from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' felt it "is not a patch" on "What Is Love", remarking that the rhythm "sports some 2 Unlimited lifts", and concluding that "you get the feeling that he'll be around to bother you for a while yet." The ''

Reading Evening Post The ''Reading Post'' (formerly the ''Reading Evening Post'') was an English local newspaper covering Reading, Berkshire and surrounding areas. The title page of the paper featured the Maiwand Lion, a local landmark at Forbury Gardens. The paper ...

'' called the song "effervescent", adding that it "should follow his others into the charts". They also wrote that "he undeniably has a way with this sort of repetitive Euro synth pop."

James Hamilton James Hamilton may refer to: Dukes *James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton (1606–1649), heir to the throne of Scotland *James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton (1658–1712), Scottish nobleman *James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton (1703–1743), Sco ...

from the ''

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'' Dance Update named it a "typically cheesy 130bpm Euro galloper" in his weekly dance column.

Chart performance

"Rock My Heart" entered the top 10 in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In the latter country, the single peaked at number nine on 10 April 1994, during its third week on the UK Singles Chart, spending two weeks at that position. On the ''

'' Dance Singles chart, it reached number eight. Additionally, it was a top-20 hit in Austria, France, Iceland, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. In Italy, the song was a top 30 hit, peaking at number 21. On the

, "Rock My Heart" climbed to number seven in May 1994, after having debuted as number 17 on the chart. It also reached number seven on the Canadian ''

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'' Dance/Urban chart, number 25 on the US ''

'' Maxi-Singles Sales chart, number 43 in New Zealand and number 83 in Australia.

Airplay

"Rock My Heart" entered the European airplay chart Border Breakers at number 16 on 26 March 1994 due to crossover airplay in West Central-, West-, North West- and South-Europe. It peaked at the third position on 23 April.

Music video

The music video for "Rock My Heart" features Haddaway in a desert-like setting along with backing singer Natascha Wright, who has also worked with DJ BoBo and La Bouche. She appears like a tall

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

-like creature with her hair looking like twigs. In between, dancers painted in gold and silver performs. Haddaway also performs choreography with them in some scenes. The video received heavy rotation on

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV as 24-hour music video and entertainment pay television network officially launched on 1 August 1987 as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initia ...

and was A-listed on Germany's VIVA.

Track listings

* 7-inch single #"Rock My Heart" (radio mix) – 3:57 #"Rock My Heart" (album mix) – 4:16 * 12-inch single #"Rock My Heart" (extended mix) – 5:58 #"Rock My Heart" (radio mix) – 4:08 #"Rock My Heart" (Celebration mix) – 5:48 #"Rock My Heart" (Trime'N Delgado club mix) – 5:43 * CD single # "Rock My Heart" (radio mix) – 3:57 # "Rock My Heart" (extended mix) – 5:55 * CD maxi # "Rock My Heart" (radio mix) – 3:57 # "Rock My Heart" (extended mix) – 5:55 # "Rock My Heart" (Celebration mix) – 5:58 # "Rock My Heart" (Trime'n Delgado club mix) – 5:56

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1994 singles 1993 songs English-language German songs Eurodance songs Haddaway songs Logic Records singles Songs about dancing Songs about music Songs written by Tony Hendrik