Cold Hearted

"Cold Hearted" is a song by American singer Paula Abdul, released in June 1989 as the fifth single from her debut album, Forever Your Girl (1988). It was written and co-produced by Elliot Wolff and reached 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 2, 1989 (1989-06-02)
Genre
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.[3]

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."[4]

Chart performance

"Cold Hearted" topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in September 1989, giving Abdul her third US number-one single.[5] "Cold Hearted" was ranked sixth on Billboard's Year-End Hot 100 ranking of 1989.[6] It spent a total of 21 weeks within the Billboard Hot 100.[5] In Canada, "Cold Hearted" peaked at number one according to The Record magazine and number two according to RPM magazine, while in Finland, in entered the top 20.[7][8][9]

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.[10] 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.

Track listings

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

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[36] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[37] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history
Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United States June 2, 1989
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • cassette
 Virgin [37]
Japan September 21, 1989 CD
[38]
United Kingdom September 17, 1990
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 Virgin America [39]

References
  1. Smith, Troy L. (May 13, 2021). "Every No. 1 song of the 1980s ranked from worst to best". Cleveland.com. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
  2. Breihan, Tom (August 9, 2021). "The Number Ones: Paula Abdul's "Cold Hearted"". Stereogum. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  3. Wolff, Elliot. "Cold-Hearted". www.musicnotes.com. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  4. Lester, Paul (September 22, 1990). "Singles". Melody Maker. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  5. "Paula Abdul Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  6. "Billboard Top 100 – 1989". Billboardtop100of.com. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  7. Lwin, Nanda (2000). Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide. Music Data Canada. p. 18. ISBN 1-896594-13-1.
  8. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 4567." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  9. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  10. "All That Jazz (1979) [The Criterion Collection] - Dual-Format Edition". Film Freak Central. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
  11. Cold Hearted (US 7-inch single vinyl disc). Paula Abdul. Virgin Records. 1989. 7-99196.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. Cold Hearted (US cassette single sleeve). Paula Abdul. Virgin Records. 1989. 4-99196.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  13. Cold Hearted (US 12-inch single sleeve). Paula Abdul. Virgin Records. 1989. 0-96535.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. Cold Hearted (Canadian 12-inch single sleeve). Paula Abdul. Virgin Records. 1989. VSX 1499.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. Cold Hearted (European 12-inch single sleeve). Paula Abdul. Virgin Records. 1989. 612 549.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. Cold Hearted (Australian 12-inch single sleeve). Paula Abdul. Virgin Records. 1989. 96546.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  17. Cold Hearted (Japanese maxi-CD single liner notes). Paula Abdul. Virgin Japan, Siren Records. 1989. VJD-15556.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  18. Cold Hearted (Japanese mini-CD single liner notes). Paula Abdul. Virgin Japan, Siren Records. 1989. VJD-10012.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  19. Cold Hearted (UK 7-inch single sleeve). Paula Abdul. Virgin America. 1990. VUS 27.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. Cold Hearted (US cassette single sleeve). Paula Abdul. Virgin America. 1989. VUSC 27.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  21. Cold Hearted (UK 12-inch single sleeve). Paula Abdul. Virgin America. 1990. VUST 27.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  22. Cold Hearted (UK 12-inch picture disc sleeve). Paula Abdul. Virgin America. 1990. VUSTX 27.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  23. Cold Hearted (UK CD single). Paula Abdul. Virgin America. 1990. VUSCD 27.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  24. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 14 January 1990 (61–100)". Retrieved April 21, 2016 – via Imgur.
  25. "Top RPM Dance/Urban: Issue 8150." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  26. "Top RPM Retail Singles: Issue 9596". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  27. "Paula Abdul – Cold Hearted" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  28. "Paula Abdul – Cold Hearted" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  29. "Paula Abdul – Cold Hearted". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  30. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  31. "Paula Abdul Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  32. "Paula Abdul Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  33. "Offiziellecharts.de – Paula Abdul – Cold Hearted" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  34. "Top 100 Singles of '89". RPM. Retrieved December 5, 2019 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  35. "Top 25 Dance Singles of '89". RPM. Retrieved December 5, 2019 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  36. "Canadian single certifications – Paula Abdul – Cold Hearted". Music Canada. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  37. "American single certifications – Paula Abdul – Cold Hearted". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  38. "冷たいハート〈エクステンデッド・バージョン〉| ポーラ・アブドル" [Cold Hearted (Extended Version) | Paula Abdul] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  39. "New Singles". Music Week. September 15, 1990. p. 31.
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