Harden My Heart

"Harden My Heart" is a song by rock group Quarterflash, written by their guitarist Marv Ross. It is a million-selling Gold-certified single and was featured on the band's Platinum-selling Quarterflash album, released in 1981.

"Harden My Heart"
Single by Quarterflash
from the album Quarterflash
B-side	"Don't Be Lonely"
Released	September 1981
Recorded	1981
Genre	Rock^[1]
Length	3:51^[2]
Label	Geffen Records
Songwriter(s)	Marv Ross
Producer(s)	John Boylan
Quarterflash singles chronology
"Harden My Heart" (1981) "Find Another Fool" (1982)

The song was originally released as a single in early 1980 by Seafood Mama, Quarterflash's predecessor band. It featured more sparse instrumentation but a more dramatic vocal arrangement than the hit version and was a regional success on radio stations in Portland, Oregon. The record's video features theatrics in and around an office trailer with dark corridors and swinging Metal Halide light bulbs from the ceiling before it was bulldozed and torched.

After changing their name, Quarterflash released their self-titled debut album in 1981 which contained the new version of "Harden My Heart". This power ballad^[3] version was released as the album's first single. In early 1982, it reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100^[4] and also hit #1 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.^[5] The song also charted in Germany, New Zealand, Australia and the UK. It was the group's only top-ten pop single in the United States, although the follow-up single from the album, "Find Another Fool", and the 1983 hit "Take Me to Heart" both entered the top 20.^[4] It reached No. 41 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart.^[6]

This song is included in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, on radio station Emotion 98.3 and was played twice in the pilot episode of Knight Rider. The song is used in the 2001 film Wet Hot American Summer, which is set in 1981.

Julianne Hough and Mary J. Blige sing this song in the film Rock of Ages.^[7]

An excerpt of this song is also heard in the opening scene of the pilot episode of The Americans, a 2013 television series aired on the FX cable channel. The series is set in United States in 1981.

Background

Guitarist and songwriter Marv Ross said,

A friend of mine gave me the title. I came up with the lyrics very quickly. The title came first and I don’t really remember how the rest came about. I usually write the music and words simultaneously. It wasn’t a personal story – just made it up. The chords are simple but voiced so as to make it sound more complex than it is. The whole song is really the groove which we called a shuffle in those days. Rindy came up with the sax line. The whole thing was written in less than a week and recorded in our basement for the Seafood Mama version. It sold 10,000 copies in Portland and Seattle and was the key to us getting signed to Geffen records.^[8]

The first version was recorded by Seafood Mama in the band members' basement in Portland in 1980. After changing their name to Quarterflash and getting signed to Geffen, they re-recorded the song at the Record Plant in Los Angeles. Ross said the re-recording had a better guitar solo, as well as better sound quality in general.^[8]

Personnel

• Rindy Ross: Vocals, Saxophone
• Marv Ross: Guitars
• Jack Charles: Guitars, vocals
• Rick DiGiallonardo: Keyboards
• Rich Gooch: Bass
• Brian David Willis: Drums, percussion

Chart performance

Weekly charts Chart (1982) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)^[9] 6 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)^[10] 15 Germany (GfK Entertainment Charts)^[11] 51 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)^[12] 12 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)^[13] 5 UK Singles (OCC)^[14] 49 US Billboard Hot 100^[4] 3 US Billboard Adult Contemporary^[15] 41

Year-end charts Chart (1982) Rank Australia (Kent Music Report)^[16] 38 US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)^[17] 13 All-time charts Chart (1958-2018) Position US Billboard Hot 100^[18] 433

See also

• List of Billboard Mainstream Rock number-one songs of the 1980s

References

1. Horvat, Robert (November 4, 2019). "Songs about overcoming adversity: 'Harden My Heart' by Quarterflash". Rearview Mirror. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
2. "iTunes - Music - Harden My Heart - The Best of Quarterflash by Quarterflash". iTunes. January 1997.
3. "The 40 Greatest Power Ballads". February 14, 2015.
4. "Billboard > Chart History > Quarterflash > Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
5. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 513.
6. Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 194.
7. "Mary J. Blige Talks 'Rock Of Ages' & 'The Help'". Screen Rant. July 12, 2011. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
8. "Interview with Marv Ross of Quarterflash". Kickin' it Old School. May 13, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
9. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 242. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
10. "Quarterflash – Harden My Heart" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
11. "Quarter Flash – Harden My Heart (song)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
12. "Quarterflash – Harden My Heart". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
13. "Quarterflash – Harden My Heart". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
14. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
15. "Billboard > Chart History > Quarterflash > Adult Contemporary". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
16. "Kent Music Report No 445 – 3 January 1983 > National Top 100 Singles for 1982". Kent Music Report. Retrieved January 1, 2020 – via Imgur.com.
17. "Talent in Action : Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 94, no. 51. December 25, 1982. p. TIA-20.
18. "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved December 10, 2018.