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"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 Billboard's Hot 100 – especially for a hit that did not reach the top 30. The single did, however, reach No. 31 on Cash Box and No. 25 on Record World.

In late April 1969, "Nothing but a Heartache" reached No. 3 in Boston on WRKO-AM. In Canada it reached No. 31 and in Australia it charted at No. 97. Two promotional videos—one on location and one in a studio; were filmed for the song. The location video was shot at Tintern Abbey in Wales.

Charts

Covers

• In 1988, Canadian singer/songwriter Carole Pope covered the song and released it as a single.
• In October 2017, American punk rock/hip hop band the Transplants recorded it for their Take Cover EP.

References

1. ^ ”Billboard Hot 100 Charts – The Sixties”, Record Research Inc, 1990
2. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, May 31, 1969". Archived from the original on December 11, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
3. "WRKO". WRKO.org.
4. RPM Top Singles, May 19, 1969
5. "Nothing But A Heartache by The Flirtations Songfacts". www.songfacts.com. Retrieved 2018-08-28.
6. RPM Top Singles, May 19, 1969
7. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Flirtations-the" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
8. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
9. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, May 31, 1969". Archived from the original on December 11, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2017.

External links

• The Flirtations – Nothing but a Heartache on YouTube

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• 1968 singles
• Songs written by Wayne Bickerton
• Deram Records singles
• 1968 songs
• Songs written by Tony Waddington (songwriter)
• Northern soul songs
• 1960s single stubs