Heartaches (song)

The biggest recorded version of the song was by the Ted Weems Orchestra, with Elmo Tanner whistling.[1] The recording was made in 1933 on Bluebird B-5131 (in a novelty fast rhumba tempo) to low record sales. Weems re-recorded "Heartaches" at a slightly slower "rhumba fox trot" tempo for Decca Records in 1938. Weems dissolved his band in early 1942, leaving to fight in World War II.

In early 1947, Kurt Webster, a late-night disc jockey on WBT in Charlotte, North Carolina, a 50,000-watt station that reached across the East Coast, played Weems's 1938 version of "Heartaches." Webster enjoyed the tune and it entered his regular rotation, leading to listeners frequently requesting it and "Heartaches" gaining national attention.[2] Decca reissued the 1938 record (catalog number 25017), prompting Victor to reissue its 1933 version (catalog number 20-2175); both labels shared credit on the charts, where the song remained for 16 weeks, peaking at number 1.[3]

Ted Weems revived his orchestra to capitalize on the success of "Heartaches." Weems made front-page news in 1947 when he publicly repaid his debt to Kurt Webster, the man who had revived "Heartaches" and thus Weems's career. Weems staged a benefit performance by his band on June 6, with all proceeds going to war veteran Webster.[4]

The recording by Harry James was released by Columbia Records as catalog number 37305. It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on April 18, 1947 and lasted 3 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 8.[3] This was his last charting hit.

The Four Aces had recorded an up-tempo vocal arrangement of "Heartaches" in 1957, which was released as a B-side. This may have inspired the similar vocal treatment by the Marcels in 1961. The Marcels' version was embellished with vocal effects, similar to those used in their US hit "Blue Moon". Although the Marcels' "Heartaches" single failed to match the number 1 position on the US singles charts achieved by "Blue Moon",[5] "Heartaches" reached the Top 10, peaking at number 7, as well as number 19 on the Hot R&B Sides chart.[6] In addition to a vocal hook similar to that of "Blue Moon", the Marcels added to the introduction of the recording of "Heartaches" the group saying, then singing, "Watch out! Here we go again...". Eventually, this version sold over one million copies worldwide. The Marcels version is sampled in the 2016 Lonely Island song "I'm So Humble," featuring Adam Levine. This version appeared in the movie Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.

In 1963, Allan Sherman produced a parody rendition titled "Headaches (Aspirin Commercials Give Me Headaches)," a humorous commentary on aspirin commercials. In the middle of the song, while Sherman is whistling the tune, a child credited as Tom Greenleigh interrupts by yelling, "Mommy, can't you keep Daddy's car out of the driveway?!" In the final verse, Sherman states that he solved his headache problems by eating his television set.

From 2016 to 2019, English electronic musician Leyland James Kirby, also known as the Caretaker, sampled the Al Bowlly, Seger Ellis, and Guy Lombardo covers of "Heartaches" for his final project, Everywhere at the End of Time; all three are used multiple times in the project, with each subsequent appearance becoming more distorted and disfigured than the last, representing the gradual distortion and destruction of memory and other mental faculties brought about by dementia. The complete edition of the project has achieved greater popularity in October 2020 on TikTok as an online challenge, receiving notability from renowned publications such as The New York Times.[7][8][9]

• Somethin' Smith and the Redheads - US #71 Billboard Hot 100 (1956)[10]
• Patsy Cline - US #73 (1962)[11]