"Love's About to Change My Heart" is the third single from ''

Another Place and Time ''Another Place and Time'' is the fourteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Donna Summer, released on March 20, 1989 by Atlantic Records and PWL. The album was produced by Stock Aitken Waterman and featured Summer's top-10 hit "This ...

'', the 1989 album by

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her mus ...

. The song was released on August 14, 1989 by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

and

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. It was written and produced by British production team

Stock Aitken & Waterman Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as SAW) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s. SAW is considered ...

. Released as the second single in the US, the song was a hit on the dance charts, but failed to repeat the Top 40 success it enjoyed in Europe. In contemporary interviews, Summer described the track as one of her favourite cuts; tying only with " Breakaway" as the best from the LP. The late singer's husband,

Bruce Sudano Bruce Charles Sudano (born September 26, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, noted for creating songs for artists such as Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire and his late wife, the Grammy Award-winning singer Donna Summer. Sudano is t ...

, said that both he and Summer were very enthusiastic about the track because of its quality, her powerful vocal performance, and the song's deference to her strongest work with

Giorgio Moroder Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance mu ...

, saying, "It's a full showcase on every level".

Critical reception

''Pop Rescue'' stated that "Love's About to Change My Heart" "opens sounding a bit like a

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

80s song, before absolutely roaring into a hi-NRG bass/keyboards/beats track", and added positively that "Donna's vocals sit confidently on top of this, and at times it gives a wonderful nod to her

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

era". In 2021, British magazine ''

Classic Pop Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

'' ranked the song number 24 in their list of 'Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs', calling it a "sumptuous" single from ''Another Place and Time'' and expressing sadness about its commercial failure in the United States. According to

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a music writer and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worked on air ...

, "Love's About to Change My Heart" is "a brooding mid-tempo track. Summer's vocals wound themselves subtly around the melody, reaching for a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

-inspired climax that in truth never quite arrived in the expected manner".

Chart performance

In US, "Love's About to Change My Heart" peaked at number 85 on

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

s Hot 100. Despite the lack of chart success in the US, it was a solid top 20 hit in the UK and it became a favorite among Donna Summer fans due to her strong vocal performance and the fact that it had a slow beginning, reminiscent of several of Summer's

hits of the 1970s, during which time she was the most successful female of that genre. The song was remixed from its original album version for release as a single. Notably the European single remix was different from the one found in the U.S. It reached number three on the U.S. Dance Chart and number 20 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 ...

. The video was directed by

Dieter Trattmann Dieter Trattmann (b. Switzerland) is a director/editor and producer who resides in California. Life and career Dieter Trattmann was born and raised in Switzerland. In the late 1970s, he became fascinated with music and film and moved to London ...

Cover versions

The song was covered by Spanish singer

Mónica Naranjo Mónica Naranjo Carrasco (born 23 May 1974) is a Spanish singer widely popular in Spain and Latin America and recognised as one of the most powerful voices of the Spanish and Latin American music scenes. She has performed with singers such as Luc ...

in her debut album. She made a Spanish-language version called "Fuego de pasión".

Track listings

; UK 7" single # "Love's About to Change My Heart (Edit)" - 3:47 # "Love's About to Change My Heart (Instrumental)" - 3:47 ; UK 12" single / UK CD # "Love's About to Change My Heart (Extended Remix)" – 6:23 # "Love's About to Change My Heart (Instrumental)" – 5:10 # "Jeremy" - 4:40 ; UK second 12" single # "Love's About to Change My Heart (Clivilles & Cole 12" Mix)" – 7:40 # "Love's About to Change My Heart (Dub 2)" – 7:10 # "Love's About to Change My Heart (Clivilles & Cole 7" Mix)" – 4:20 ;US 12" single (Atlantic 0-86309) # "Love's About to Change My Heart (PWL 12" Mix)" - 6:23 # "Love's About to Change My Heart (PWL 7" Mix)" - 3:45 # "Love's About to Change My Heart (Clivillés & Cole 12" Mix)" - 7:40 # "Love's About to Change My Heart (Dub)" - 7:10 # "Love's About to Change My Heart (Clivillés & Cole 7" Mix)" - 4:20

Charts

References

1989 singles Donna Summer songs Song recordings produced by Stock Aitken Waterman Songs written by Mike Stock (musician) Songs written by Matt Aitken Songs written by Pete Waterman 1989 songs Dance-pop songs Warner Records singles Atlantic Records singles {{1980s-pop-song-stub