Which '80s Song Was A Cover Song? Heart's 'Alone' or Bonnie Tyler's 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'

In a recent episode of the 80its podcast, they did a segment where they played two songs, Heart’s ‘Alone’, and Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’, and asked which ’80s hit song was a cover? This was a great question because we didn’t think either song was a cover, but the answer was actually ‘Alone’ from Heart.

The song was actually written in 1983 by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, who recorded it themselves under the name i-Ten for their ’83 album called ‘Taking a Cold Look’. Needless to say, their version didn’t become a hit. And, before Heart took the song to number one on the Hot 100 charts in 1987, actor John Stamos and actress Valerie Stevenson recorded it for the original soundtrack of the CBS sitcom ‘Dreams’ in 1984.

‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ was written by Jim Steinman in 1983, and Bonnie Tyler recorded it the same year and took the song to number in the U.S. where it stayed for four weeks. If you thought you remember someone else singing this song in the past, you are correct though. Most notable, Nicki French released a dance remake of the song in 1995, and it became a worldwide hit reaching number two on the Hot 100 charts. Several other bands have covered the song since then as well, but Tyler was the first to record it.

Here are the videos for the songs in question as well as the two other versions of ‘Alone’ and Nicki French’s version as well for comparison. Enjoy!