(Cynthia Weil - Barry Mann )
Australia
#8 Melbourne
Colin Cook
with THE STRANGERS
Single on W&G September 1963. The writing credit on the label somehow omits co-writer Cynthia Weil.
Melbourne singer-saxophonist Colin Cook had been in The Sapphires and The Thunderbirds before going solo.
Colin Cook was on the Melbourne charts seven times 1963-66, notably with It’s Up To You (#9 1963, the Ricky Nelson song), Heart (#8 1964), Blue Ribbon Baby (#15 1965) and Well, Don’t You Know (#10 1965), all on W&G. He recorded with The Strangers at W&G, including on the LP Colin Cook and the Strangers (1964). His last single on the Melbourne charts was Pocketful Of Rainbows on Clarion in 1967.
From the late 60s until the early 80s Colin Cook worked variously in the UK, including time in the London casts of Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar and in The Jealous Guys, a band largely made up of Australian expats.
Reference: Ian McFarlane, Encyclopedia of Australian Rock & Pop (199), p136 [digitised copy].
(Cynthia Weil - Barry Mann )
UK
#27 UK
Single on RCA Victor recorded in UK by Italian singer and actor Rita Pavone (b. 1945) long resident in Switzerland, also popular in North America and Britain.
Produced by Norman Newell with Charles Blackwell and his Orchestra.
Rita Pavone recorded Heart in Italian as Cuore (1963, lyrics by Carlo Rossi). ♫ YouTube
Further reading: 1. Rita Pavone discography, brief biography and links at Discogs.com. 2. Italian and English Wikipedia articles.
(Barry Mann - Cynthia Weil)
USA
#82 USA
Some pressings carried the simpler title Heart: see the 45cat listing of the single.
Single on Capitol February 1963 by Las Vegas entertainer and celebrity Wayne Newton with his elder brother Jerry. The brothers started out in hillbilly music as The Newton Rascals and as Jerry & Wayne before Wayne followed a successful solo career.
Wayne’s biggest hits were Danke Schoen (1963 #13 USA) and Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast (1972 #3).
Further reading: Concise Wayne Newton biography by John Bush at All Music.
(Cynthia Weil - Barry Mann ) USA
Original version
#64 USA
Arranged & conducted by Glen Stuart.
Single on Laurie February 1963 by Kenny Chandler (b. 1940), singer from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, real surname Bolognese.
As Gary E. Myers relates, when Kenny Chandler recorded Heart, he and his associates at Laurie Records knew that Wayne Newton was already recording the song. However, the copyright situation looked fine so they went ahead and the two records came out within a couple of weeks of each other.* Neither was a big hit but Chandler charted somewhat better.
Chandler had first recorded in Kenny, Frank And Ray with two high school friends, and solo as Kenny Beau. He later toured in The Tree Swingers but after they had recorded the original of Kooky Little Paradise. As Kenny Chandler he recorded for several labels and toured with some big stars.
The writers
Songwriters Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil were amongst the most prolific and successful of the 1960s. To get an idea of their output, browse Hiroto Yanagida’s Barry Mann discography at his Magic Town site.
* Discographical site 45cat.com narrows release dates down to Kenny Chandler 4 February 1963, Wayne Newton 18 February.
Essential reading: Kenny Chandler by Gary E. Myers at TopShelf Oldies.com.
Kenny Chandler also recorded another song called Heart on Epic, in 1966. That Heart was written by Petula Clark, Georges Aber and Tony Hatch. It was recorded by Petula Clark and, in Australia, by Lynne Randell.
(Petula Clark - Georges Aber - Tony Hatch) Australia
Red herring
#15 Melbourne #24 Brisbane #39 Perth
Same title but not the same song as “Heart” by Colin Cook.
See Lynne Randell – Heart for song history.
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Website by Lyn Nuttall. © Lyn Nuttall 2004-2026. Chart positions courtesy of Gavin Ryan’s Australian Chart Books and Dean Scapolo’s Complete NZ Music Charts. Special thanks to Terry Stacey for information, corrections and suggestions. Thanks also to Tony Watson, Philippe Edouard, Dave Overett.., More…