Tears on My Pillow
Encyclopedia
"Tears on My Pillow" is a doo-wop
song written by Sylvester Bradford and Al Lewis
in 1958
. The composition was first recorded by Little Anthony and the Imperials on End Records
and was that group's debut recording under that name. Their original recording of the song became a Billboard
Top 10 Pop smash, peaking at #4, and was The Imperials' first million-seller. It was also a two-sided hit, with its flip side, "Two People in the World," also becoming a major hit. Although it remains one of the Imperials' signature song
s, "Tears on My Pillow" has been extensively covered, including a #1 version by Kylie Minogue
in 1990
.
Alan Freed
gave the group's lead singer, Anthony Gourdine, top billing while introducing the single over the air and the moniker of "Little Anthony and the Imperials" stuck.
"Tears on My Pillow" was a #4 hit single in the United States
. Selling over a million copies, "Tears on My Pillow" was the most successful single of the Imperials' doo wop period. Its success would be matched only by the Imperials' 1964 single "Goin' Out of My Head
."
"Tears on My Pillow" has also been covered by Timi Yuro
, Chuck Jackson
, Bobby Vee
, Lou Christie
, Martha and the Vandellas
, Bobby Vinton
, Johnny Tillotson
, Neil Sedaka
, Reba McEntire
, Jodeci
, Lorrie Morgan
, Derrick Morgan
with Lyn Tait & The Jets, Neils Children
, and The Fleetwoods
.
The song was also used in the season one seventh episode of Sliders
entitled "The Weaker Sex," which originally aired as episode six. The character Rembrandt Brown
(played by Cleavant Derricks
) sings the song repeatedly on the street in an effort to raise money for a motel room.
when Australian singer Kylie Minogue released it as a single from her second album, Enjoy Yourself
. The single was released in November 1989 in Australia
and on January 8, 1990 in Europe
. Minogue's cover was also included on the soundtrack of the film The Delinquents, which she also starred in. The song was the #1 single on the UK Singles Chart
for one week in January 1990 and reached #35 in Canada
. The B-side, "We Know the Meaning of Love," reached #1 in its own right in Sweden
.
hairstyle singing the song. The video is intercut with clips from the 1989 film The Delinquents.
The song was also performed on the TV special "The Kylie Show
" (2007).
7" vinyl single
12" vinyl single
US & Canadian cassette
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
song written by Sylvester Bradford and Al Lewis
Al Lewis (lyricist)
Al Lewis is thought of mostly as a Tin Pan Alley era lyricist; however, he did write music on occasion as well. Professionally he was most active during the 1920s working into the 1950s. During this time, he most often collaborated with popular songwriters Al Sherman and Abner Silver...
in 1958
1958 in music
-Events:*February - 45,000 peoplein one week watch performances of "rokabirī" music by Japanese singers at the first Nichigeki Western Carnival....
. The composition was first recorded by Little Anthony and the Imperials on End Records
End Records
End Records was a record label founded in 1957 by George Goldner. In 1962 the label was acquired by Morris Levy and incorporated into Roulette Records. Among its more successful recording acts were The Flamingos, The Chantels, and Little Anthony and the Imperials...
and was that group's debut recording under that name. Their original recording of the song became a Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Top 10 Pop smash, peaking at #4, and was The Imperials' first million-seller. It was also a two-sided hit, with its flip side, "Two People in the World," also becoming a major hit. Although it remains one of the Imperials' signature song
Signature song
A signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with or best known for, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...
s, "Tears on My Pillow" has been extensively covered, including a #1 version by Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
in 1990
1990 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1990.-Events:*January 21 – MTV's Unplugged premieres on cable television with British band Squeeze...
.
Original version
Early copies of the single were credited simply to "The Imperials," a group which had previously been known as "The Duponts" and "The Chesters." Brooklyn, New York deejayDeejay
A deejay is a reggae or dancehall musician who sings and toasts to an instrumental riddim .Deejays are not to be confused with disc jockeys from other music genres like hip-hop, where they select and play music. Dancehall/reggae DJs who select riddims to play are called selectors...
Alan Freed
Alan Freed
Albert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
gave the group's lead singer, Anthony Gourdine, top billing while introducing the single over the air and the moniker of "Little Anthony and the Imperials" stuck.
"Tears on My Pillow" was a #4 hit single in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Selling over a million copies, "Tears on My Pillow" was the most successful single of the Imperials' doo wop period. Its success would be matched only by the Imperials' 1964 single "Goin' Out of My Head
Goin' Out Of My Head
"Goin' Out of My Head" is a song written by Teddy Randazzo and Bobby Weinstein, initially recorded by Little Anthony & the Imperials in 1964. Randazzo, a childhood friend of the group, wrote the song especially for them, having also supplied the group with their previous Top 20 Hit "I'm On The...
."
Covers
- A cover of "Tears on My Pillow" by Sha Na NaSha Na NaSha Na Na is an American rock and roll group. The name is taken from a part of the long series of nonsense syllables in the doo-wop hit song "Get a Job", originally recorded in 1957 by the Silhouettes....
was featured on the soundtrackSoundtrackA soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
to GreaseGrease (film)Grease is a 1978 American musical film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Warren Casey's and Jim Jacobs's 1971 musical of the same name about two lovers in a 1950s high school. The film stars John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, and Jeff Conaway...
. - In 1986, New EditionNew EditionNew Edition is an R&B group formed in Boston in 1978. The group reached its height of popularity during the 1980s. They were the progenitors of the boy band movement of the 1980s and 1990s and led the way for groups like New Kids on the Block, Boyz II Men, Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync...
released a Motown-covers album Under the Blue Moon that included a cover of "Tears on My Pillow." In the New Edition version, Little Anthony Gourdine himself appeared as a guest vocalist. - S Club 8S Club 8S Club 8, previously known as S Club Juniors, was a spin-off of the UK pop group S Club 7. The group's members, Jay Asforis, Daisy Evans, Calvin Goldspink, Stacey McClean, Aaron Renfree, Hannah Richings, Rochelle Wiseman and Frankie Sandford, were all in their early teens or younger when they were...
did a cover version as a B-Track on their second album, SundownSundown (S Club 8 album)Sundown is the second album by British pop group S Club 8. The album was released in 2003 and went to #13 on the UK album charts.Songwriters and producers who contributed to the album include Korpi & Blackcell, Jewels & Stone, Yak Bondy, Hannah Robinson and former Dead or Alive members Tim Lever...
. - Clem SnideClem SnideClem Snide is an alt-country band featuring Eef Barzelay , Brendan Fitzpatrick and Ben Martin .-History:"Clem Snide" is a character in several novels by William S. Burroughs, including Naked Lunch, The Ticket That Exploded, and Exterminator!...
recorded a cover for the Stubbs the Zombie soundtrack.
"Tears on My Pillow" has also been covered by Timi Yuro
Timi Yuro
Timi Yuro was an American soul and R&B singer. She is considered to be one of the first blue-eyed soul stylists of the rock era.-Early years:...
, Chuck Jackson
Chuck Jackson
Chuck Jackson is an R&B singer who was one of the first artists to record material by Burt Bacharach and Hal David successfully. He has performed with moderate success since 1961...
, Bobby Vee
Bobby Vee
Robert Thomas Velline , known as Bobby Vee, is an American pop music singer. According to Billboard magazine, Vee has had 38 Hot 100 chart hits, 10 of which hit the Top 20.-Career:...
, Lou Christie
Lou Christie
Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco , known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American singer-songwriter best known for three separate strings of pop hits in the 1960s , including his 1966 smash, "Lightnin' Strikes" and his incredible 3 octave vocal range.-Biography:Sacco was born in Glenwillard,...
, Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas were among the most successful groups of the Motown roster during the period 1963–1967...
, Bobby Vinton
Bobby Vinton
Bobby Vinton is an American pop music singer of Polish origin. In pop music circles, he became known as "The Polish Prince".-Early life:...
, Johnny Tillotson
Johnny Tillotson
Johnny Tillotson is an American singer and songwriter. He enjoyed his greatest success in the early 1960s, when he scored 9 top-ten hits on the pop, country and adult contemporary billboard charts including "Poetry In Motion" and the self-penned "It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'"...
, Neil Sedaka
Neil Sedaka
Neil Sedaka is an American pop/rock singer, pianist, and composer. His career has spanned nearly 55 years, during which time he has sold millions of records as an artist and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard...
, Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire
Reba Nell McEntire is an American country music artist and actress. She began her career in the music industry as a high school student singing in the Kiowa High School band , on local radio shows with her siblings, and at rodeos. As a solo act, she was invited to perform at a rodeo in Oklahoma...
, Jodeci
Jodeci
Jodeci is an American band, whose repertoire includes R&B, soul music, and new jack swing. The group consists of two pairs of brothers from Hampton, Virginia and Charlotte, North Carolina: Cedric & Joel Hailey and Donald & Dalvin DeGrate, all respectively known by their stage names: K-Ci & Jojo,...
, Lorrie Morgan
Lorrie Morgan
In 1996 Morgan married Jon Randall, a singer/songwriter now credited with writing the 2004 Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss hit "Whiskey Lullaby"; they divorced three years later in 1999....
, Derrick Morgan
Derrick Morgan
Derrick Morgan is a musical artist popular in the 1960s and 1970s. He worked with Desmond Dekker, Bob Marley, and Jimmy Cliff in the rhythm and blues and ska genres, and he also performed rocksteady and skinhead reggae.-Biography:In 1957 Morgan entered the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour, a talent...
with Lyn Tait & The Jets, Neils Children
Neils Children
Neils Children is an English post-punk band, founded by John Linger and Brandon Jacobs .-Career:Neils Children formed in 1999 at Harlow College in Essex, where John Linger and Brandon Jacobs were studying with Richard Hawkins...
, and The Fleetwoods
The Fleetwoods
The Fleetwoods were a singing trio from Olympia, Washington, United States; formed in the late 1950s. They were responsible for eleven hit songs, beginning with "Come Softly to Me"...
.
The song was also used in the season one seventh episode of Sliders
Sliders
Sliders is an American science fiction television series. It was broadcast for five seasons, beginning in 1995 and ending in 2000. The series follows a group of travelers as they use a wormhole to "slide" between different parallel universes. The show was created by Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Tormé...
entitled "The Weaker Sex," which originally aired as episode six. The character Rembrandt Brown
Rembrandt Brown
Rembrandt Lee Brown is a fictional character played by Cleavant Derricks on the science fiction television show Sliders. In 1994, Rembrandt was living in San Francisco. Rembrandt is a musician, whose stage name is The Crying Man because of his ability to "cry real tears" on stage...
(played by Cleavant Derricks
Cleavant Derricks (actor)
Cleavant Derricks, Jr. is an American actor and singer-songwriter, who is best known for his role of Rembrandt Brown on Sliders.-Biography:...
) sings the song repeatedly on the street in an effort to raise money for a motel room.
Kylie Minogue version
"Tears on My Pillow" reached #1 in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
when Australian singer Kylie Minogue released it as a single from her second album, Enjoy Yourself
Enjoy Yourself (Kylie Minogue album)
Enjoy Yourself is the second album by Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue. It was released by PWL on 9 October 1989. The album was mostly just produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, who had written and produced the whole album . The album was also mostly similar to its debut album as well.Minogue had...
. The single was released in November 1989 in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and on January 8, 1990 in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Minogue's cover was also included on the soundtrack of the film The Delinquents, which she also starred in. The song was the #1 single on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
for one week in January 1990 and reached #35 in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The B-side, "We Know the Meaning of Love," reached #1 in its own right in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
Music Video
The video shows Kylie in a black dress with a Brigitte BardotBrigitte Bardot
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot is a French former fashion model, actress, singer and animal rights activist. She was one of the best-known sex-symbols of the 1960s.In her early life, Bardot was an aspiring ballet dancer...
hairstyle singing the song. The video is intercut with clips from the 1989 film The Delinquents.
Live performances
Kylie performed the song on the following concert tours:- Disco in Dream/The Hitman Roadshow
- Enjoy Yourself TourEnjoy Yourself TourThe Enjoy Yourself Tour was Kylie Minogue's first world tour following the success of her second studio album, Enjoy Yourself. By the start of the European leg of the tour, Minogue had started to take control of her image and musical direction, demonstrated by the release of the career milestone...
(performed as an a capella) - Rhythm of Love TourRhythm of Love TourThe Rhythm of Love Tour was the second world tour undertaken by Kylie Minogue, in support of her hit album Rhythm of Love. Beginning on 10 February 1991, the tour visited Australia and Southern Asia....
- Let's Get to It TourLet's Get to It TourThe Let's Get to It Tour was a Kylie Minogue concert tour of the UK and Ireland in late 1991. The tour was a continuation of the previous Rhythm of Love Tour which had already visited Australia and Asia. Together with five dancers, Minogue staged the tour in support of the album Let's Get to It...
The song was also performed on the TV special "The Kylie Show
The Kylie Show
The Kylie Show is a one-off television special from Australian artist Kylie Minogue that aired on ITV on 10 November 2007 and was recorded at The London Studios...
" (2007).
Formats and track listings
CD single- "Tears on My Pillow" - 2:33
- "We Know the Meaning of Love" (Extended) - 5:50
- "Tears on My Pillow" (More Tears Mix) - 4:14
7" vinyl single
- "Tears on My Pillow" - 2:28
- "We Know the Meaning of Love" - 3:25
12" vinyl single
- "Tears on My Pillow" (More Tears Mix) - 4:14
- "We Know the Meaning of Love" (Extended) - 5:50
US & Canadian cassette
- "Tears on My Pillow" - 2:33
- "Nothing to Lose" - 3:20
Release history
| Country | Date |
|---|---|
| Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
November 12, 1989 |
| Europe Europe Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting... |
January 8, 1990 |
Charts
| Chart (1990) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 20 |
| Belgium Singles Chart | 9 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 35 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 20 |
| Eurochart Hot 100 | 2 |
| German Singles Chart | 31 |
| Ireland Singles Chart | 2 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 33 |
| Slovania Singles Chart | 1 |
| Sweden Singles Chart | 3 |
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
End of Year charts
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | UK Singles Chart | 34 |
See also
- List of number-one singles from the 1990s (UK)