Cold Hearted

"Cold Hearted" is a song by American singer Paula Abdul, released in 1989 from her debut album, Forever Your Girl (1988). It was written and co-produced by Elliot Wolff, and hit number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming the album's third song to top the US chart.

For the Seven Lions and Kill the Noise song, see Cold Hearted (Seven Lions and Kill the Noise song).
"Cold Hearted"
Single by Paula Abdul
from the album Forever Your Girl
B-side"One or the Other"
ReleasedJune 15, 1989 (1989-06-15) (US)
GenreNew jack swing[1]
Length3:51
LabelVirgin
Songwriter(s)Elliot Wolff
Producer(s)Elliot Wolff
Paula Abdul singles chronology
"Forever Your Girl"
(1989)		 "Cold Hearted"
(1989)		 "Opposites Attract"
(1989)
Music video
"Cold Hearted" on YouTube

Composition

"Cold Hearted" is written in the key of G minor and follows a tempo of 122 beats per minute. The song follows a chord progression of Gm – E♭maj7 – Dm7, and Abdul's vocals span one-and-a-half octaves, from F3 to B♭4.[2]

Chart performance

"Cold Hearted" topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in September 1989, ending Richard Marx's three-week run at the summit with "Right Here Waiting". "Cold Hearted" ranked sixth in Billboard's Year-End Hot 100 of 1989. It spent a total of eight weeks within the Billboard top ten. "Cold Hearted" was the final UK release from Forever Your Girl in 1990.

Critical reception

Paul Lester from Melody Maker wrote, "'Cold Hearted' has been fabulously cluttered up and fleshed out by Chad Jackson, weighed down with details yet buoyed up by a deliciously light, slippery beat. Simply irresistible."[3]

Music video

The official music video for "Cold Hearted" was directed by David Fincher and spent more than three weeks on top of MTV's video rotation list. The inspiration for the video came from Bob Fosse's choreography of the "Take Off with Us" scene in the movie All That Jazz.[4] Abdul dances for music executives with a group of semi-nude dancers. Abdul was wearing a black fishnet dress which exposed her belly button and was sporting a German police hat. The dance floor included scaffolding where Abdul and her dancers hang and dance suggestively.

Personnel
  • Paula Abdul: Vocals
  • Dann Huff: Guitars
  • Elliot Wolff: Keyboards, synthesizers, drum programming

Production
  • Arranged and produced by Elliot Wolff; co-produced by Keith "KC" Cohen
  • Recorded and mixed by Keith "KC" Cohen

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (1989–1990) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[5] 68
Canada Retail Singles (The Record)[6] 1
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[7] 2
Canada Dance/Urban (RPM)[8] 1
Canada Retail Singles (RPM)[9] 7
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[10] 17
France (SNEP)[11] 33
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[12] 63
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[13] 25
UK Singles (OCC)[14] 46
US Billboard Hot 100[15] 1
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[16] 19
US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)[17] 6
West Germany (Official German Charts)[18] 38

Year-end charts
Chart (1989) Position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[19] 13
Canada Dance/Urban (RPM)[20] 15
US Billboard Hot 100[21] 6

References
  1. Smith, Troy L. (13 May 2021). "Every No. 1 song of the 1980s ranked from worst to best". Cleveland.com. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  2. Wolff, Elliot. "Cold-Hearted". www.musicnotes.com. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  3. Lester, Paul (1990-09-22). "Singles". Melody Maker. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  4. "All That Jazz (1979) [The Criterion Collection] - Dual-Format Edition". Film Freak Central. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  5. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 14 January 1990 (61–100)". Retrieved April 21, 2016 – via Imgur.
  6. Lwin, Nanda (2000). Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide. Music Data Canada. p. 18. ISBN 1-896594-13-1.
  7. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 4567." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  8. "Top RPM Dance/Urban: Issue 8150." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  9. "Top RPM Retail Singles: Issue 9596". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  10. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  11. "Paula Abdul – Cold Hearted" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  12. "Paula Abdul – Cold Hearted" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  13. "Paula Abdul – Cold Hearted". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  14. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  15. "Paula Abdul Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  16. "Paula Abdul Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  17. "Paula Abdul Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  18. "Offiziellecharts.de – Paula Abdul – Cold Hearted". GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  19. "Top 100 Singles of '89". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  20. "Top 25 Dance Singles of '89". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  21. "Billboard Top 100 – 1989". Billboardtop100of.com. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
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