"It Hurts So Good" is a song written by Phillip Mitchell, and first recorded in 1971 by Katie Love and the Four Shades of Black on the Muscle Shoals Sound label. "It Hurts So Good" at SecondhandSongs.com
Retrieved 13 February 2014 That version was not a hit, and the song was later recorded more successfully by

Millie Jackson Mildred Virginia Jackson (born July 15, 1944) is an American R&B and soul recording artist. Beginning her career in the early 1960s, three of Jackson's albums have been certified gold by the RIAA for over 500,000 copies sold. Jackson's songs o ...

, whose 1973 recording was featured in the blaxploitation

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...

Cleopatra Jones ''Cleopatra Jones'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation film directed by Jack Starrett. Tamara Dobson stars as an undercover government agent who uses the day job of supermodel as her cover and an excuse to travel to exotic places. Bernie Casey, S ...

''. Hit versions were also recorded by

Susan Cadogan Susan Cadogan (born Alison Anne Cadogan; 2 November 1951) is a Jamaican reggae singer best known for her hit records in the 1970s. Biography Cadogan is the daughter of singer Lola Cadogan, who released several 78rpm singles of devotional music ...

and

Jimmy Somerville James William Somerville (born 22 June 1961) is a Scottish pop singer and songwriter. He sang in the 1980s with the pop groups Bronski Beat and The Communards, and has also had a solo career. He is known in particular for his powerful and sou ...

, both titled as "Hurt So Good".

Covers

Millie Jackson version

Millie Jackson's recording charted at #24 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #3 on what was then called

R&B Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

. It was used as the title track of her second album, '' It Hurts So Good''.

Charts

Susan Cadogan version

released a

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the song later that year retitled as "Hurt So Good", which featured bassist

Boris Gardiner Boris Gardiner (born 13 January 1943) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter and bass guitarist. He was a member of several groups during the 1960s before recording as a solo artist and having hit singles with " Elizabethan Reggae" (in 1970), " I Wann ...

and the

Zap Pow Zap Pow is a Jamaican reggae band, founded by singer/bassist Michael Williams aka Mikey Zappow and guitarist Dwight Pinkney. Members also included singer Beres Hammond, trumpeter David Madden, saxman Glen DaCosta, and drummer Cornell Marshall ...

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

s. It was released to little effect in Jamaica on Lee Perry's new 'Perries'

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

, but was released in the UK by Dennis Harris's DIP International label.

Magnet Records Magnet Records was a British record label, started in 1973 by Michael Levy and Peter Shelley. It was acquired by Warner Bros. Records in 1988 for an estimated £10m. Artists on the label included Alvin Stardust, Stevenson's Rocket, Matchbox, ...

picked up the single and it went on to reach the top 5 of 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 ...

, with Cadogan flying to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to promote the single, including a television appearance on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...

''.

Charts

Jimmy Somerville version

Former Bronski Beat lead singer

covered the song in 1995, titled on single as "Hurt So Good", while "Hurts So Good" on the respective album. It charted at #15 on the

Charts

Other versions

* Luminites, contestants on the seventh series of ''Britain's Got Talent''.

References

{{authority control 1971 songs 1973 singles 1995 singles Millie Jackson songs Jimmy Somerville songs London Records singles Song recordings produced by Richard Stannard (songwriter) American reggae songs