"Heartbeat" is a song written by

Colin Newman Colin John Newman (born 16 September 1954) is an English musician, record producer and record label owner. He is best known as the primary vocalist and songwriter for the post-punk band Wire. Early life Newman was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire ...

and originally recorded and released in 1978 by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is c ...

on their second album ''

Chairs Missing ''Chairs Missing'' is the second studio album by English rock band Wire. It was released on 8 September 1978 by Harvest Records. The album peaked at number 48 in the UK Albums Chart. Although it features some of the minimalist punk rock of th ...

''. Guest Kate Lukas played flute on the track.The Making of Wire's Chairs Missing - Mike Thorne, June 2000, revised November 2008
/ref> The song was not uncommon as either an opener or a closer of Wire's live sets at the time. Producer

Mike Thorne Mike Thorne (born 25 January 1948) is an English record producer, arranger, composer, engineer, and musician. He started playing the piano at the age of 10. After studying physics at Hertford College, Oxford, in the late 1960s he worked as a ta ...

has called it the band's "first overt love song".

Big Black version

"Heartbeat" was covered and released as a single in 1987 by

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

post-hardcore band Big Black. Apart from the Wire cover, the other two tracks on the record are originals. This 7" record was sold together with the '' Headache'' EP or used for promotional give-aways. The three tracks were eventually reissued on ''

The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape ''The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape'' is an album by American punk rock band Big Black. It was released in 1987 by Touch and Go Records. The album is a CD compilation of Big Black's '' Atomizer'' album (minus the song "Strange Things"), "Heartbe ...

'' compilation.

Track listing

#"Heartbeat" - 3:48 #"Things to Do Today" - 1:44 #"I Can't Believe" - 1:04

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heartbeat (Wire Song) Wire (band) songs 1978 songs Big Black songs 1987 singles