"Take Me To Your Heart" is a

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

song recorded by

Rick Astley Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer, songwriter and radio personality, who has been active in music for several decades. He gained worldwide fame in the 1980s, having multiple hits including his signature song "Ne ...

. Written and produced by

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 ...

, the song was released the same year as the second

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from the album, '' Hold Me in Your Arms''. It was a success 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 ...

where it peaked at number 8 and charted for eleven weeks. It was also a top 10 hit in Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland and Spain. Unlike most of Astley's previous singles, it was never released in the U.S. Celebrating the announcement of the " Hold Me in Your Arms" remastered edition studio album, the music video has been upgraded to 4k as of 14 April 2023. To coincide with the music video to be upgraded to 4k and the 2023 remaster of " Hold Me in Your Arms", the single was also reissued as an EP on the same day as the 4k music video remaster.

Plot track controversy

A small amount of controversy was raised around the synthesiser programming similarities of " Big Fun", the hit single recorded by American band

Inner City The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

, and Astley's "Take Me to Your Heart". Writer and producer

Matt Aitken Matthew James Aitken (born 25 August 1956) is an English songwriter and record producer, brought up in Astley, Greater Manchester, best known as the creative force behind the 1980s and early 1990s songwriting/production trio Stock Aitken Waterman ...

has confirmed the Astley track was inspired by the Inner City song, but added that "you can't copyright a synth pattern," and claimed, "we wrote a better song han Inner Citydid".

Track listings

;7" single # "Take Me to Your Heart" – 3:27 # "I'll Be Fine" – 3:44 ;12" maxi # "Take Me to Your Heart" (Autumn Leaves Mix) – 6:38 # "I'll Be Fine" – 3:44 # "Take Me to Your Heart" (Instrumental) – 3:27 ;CD maxi – Germany # "Take Me to Your Heart" (The Dick Dastardly Mix) – 6:55 # "I'll Be Fine" – 3:44 # "Rick's Hit Mix" – 5:48 ; Take Me to Your Heart - EP # "Take Me to Your Heart" (2023 Remaster) – 3:30 # "Take Me to Your Heart" (Autumn Leaves Mix) – 6:40 # "Take Me to Your Heart" (The Dick Dastardly Mix) – 6:59 # "Take Me to Your Heart" (Instrumental) – 3:30

Personnel

* Rick Astley – lead and backing vocals *

– keyboards, guitars * Mike Stock – keyboards, backing vocals * George De Angelis – additional keyboards * A. Linn – drums * Shirley Lewis – backing vocals * Mae McKenna – backing vocals * Leroy Osborne – backing vocals

Versions

#"Take Me to Your Heart" (7" Version) – 3:27 #"Take Me to Your Heart" (Autumn Leaves Mix) – 6:38 #"Take Me to Your Heart" (The Dick Dastardly Mix) – 6:55 #"Take Me to Your Heart" (Instrumental) – 3:27

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

1988 singles Rick Astley songs Dance-pop songs Song recordings produced by Stock Aitken Waterman Songs written by Mike Stock (musician) Songs written by Matt Aitken Songs written by Pete Waterman 1988 songs RCA Records singles {{1980s-single-stub