Dan Hartman - "It Hurts to Be in Love"

(Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted June 27, 1981, Peaked #72, 5 Weeks on the Chart)

Nostalgia from the 1960s was quite popular in the summer of '81. The week before this song debuted, the "Stars on 45" medley of Beatles songs was the #1 song. A medley of Beach Boys songs was coming out, and even Elvis was back on the chart with his 1968 song "Guitar Man." It makes sense, considering that many of the era's musicians were kids during the early to mid 1960s and likely held fond memories of the music. One of those kids was Dan Hartman, who was 13 when "It Hurts To Be in Love" was running up the chart.

"It Hurts to Be in Love" was a remake of a 1964 Gene Pitney song, and Hartman stays true to Pitney's rendition. The song was originally written for Neil Sedaka (whose style is defintely evident in the performance), but Sedaka was unable to record it by the terms of his record contract. While Hartman's version seems to have the drums and bass mixed louder and keeping his vocals from standing out as well as Pitney did, it's worth mentioning that the rhythm instruments were given lesser stature in the early 1960s pop music. So this version is a 1960s tune with 1980s production.