Nothing but a Heartache explained

"Nothing but a Heartache" is a Northern soul hit originally released on the Deram Records label in November 1968 by South Carolina trio The Flirtations. The song was produced by Wayne Bickerton and co-written by Bickerton and Tony Waddington, who were later responsible for the 1970s successes of The Rubettes.

Commercial performance

"Nothing But a Heartache" reached the Top 40 in both the Netherlands (No. 33) and in the US, where it spent two weeks at No. 34 in late May 1969 during what was then considered a lengthy 14-week run on Billboards Hot 100 – especially for a hit that did not reach the top 30.^[1] The single did, however, reach No. 31 on Cash Box^[2] and No. 25 on Record World.

In late April 1969, "Nothing but a Heartache" reached No. 3 in Boston on WRKO-AM.^[3] In Canada it reached No. 31^[4] and in Australia it charted at No. 97. Two promotional videos - one in color and one in black-and-white - were filmed for the song. The colour video was shot at Tintern Abbey in Wales.^[5]

Charts

Chart (1968-69)	Peak position
Australia	97
Canada RPM Top Singles^[6]	31
U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[7] ^[8]	34
U.S. Cash Box Top 100^[9]	31
U.S. Record World	25

Covers

• In October 2017, American punk rock/hip hop band the Transplants recorded it for their Take Cover EP.

Notes and References

1. ”Billboard Hot 100 Charts – The Sixties”, Record Research Inc, 1990
2. Web site: Cash Box Top 100 Singles, May 31, 1969 . December 10, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171211053631/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/19690531.html . December 11, 2017 . dead .
3. Web site: WRKO . WRKO.org.
4. https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.6006&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.6006.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.6006 RPM Top Singles, May 19, 1969
5. Web site: Nothing But A Heartache by The Flirtations Songfacts. www.songfacts.com. en. 2018-08-28.
6. https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.6006&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.6006.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.6006 RPM Top Singles, May 19, 1969
7. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 -
8. ”Billboard Hot 100 Charts – The Sixties”, Record Research Inc, 1990
9. Web site: Cash Box Top 100 Singles, May 31, 1969 . December 10, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171211053631/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/19690531.html . December 11, 2017 . dead .