Song written by Kim Wilde and Steve Byrd. First track of the album Close. After the successful collaboration on the song Another Step (Closer to You), Kim teamed up with Junior Giscombe once more for this song.
It was released on single in Europe, with the exception of France, where the first single would be its follow-up, You Came.
Versions
There are six versions of 'Hey Mister heartache': the album version, the 7" version, an extended version, the Kilowatt remix, a bonus beats version and an acapella with percussion version. All versions have been released on CD, but the 7" version originally only appeared on the compilation album Das Sommer Hits Album. The bonus beats and acapella with percussion versions were only released in 2013, when Close was re-released by Universal as a 2CD set.
A remix by Art Maharg was released by Razormaid.
Formats
The single was released on 7" single and two different 12" singles, and for the first time on the new CD-single format.
See also this page in the discography.
Music video
A music video was filmed to promote the single. It was directed by Greg Masuak. Junior did not appear in the accompanying video, and he was also absent during live appearances in TV shows. The video did feature actor Jesse Birdsall.
Go to this page for more information.
Live performances
'Hey Mister heartache' was performed live during the Bad tour in 1988 and during Dutch tours in October 2015 and October 2016.
Cover versions
'Hey Mister heartache' has been covered by Lynn Sweet.
Kim about 'Hey Mister Heartache'
Basically all songs are based on my own experiences, and turned into something musical. I mean, one can only write songs honestly when the feeling is there. We have all once experienced a love gone sour. One of such experiences is described in 'Hey Mister Heartache'. (1)
I wrote this song with my then guitarist Steve Byrd. Together we had already penned a number of songs from my previous album 'Another step (Closer to you)', a duet with Junior Giscombe. This dance-inspired groove was one of the first songs written for the album, motivated (as so often) by one of my several broken hearts! Growing up in public had its pros and cons, but at least I could pour my emotion into songwriting, which has become a sort of therapy. (2)
Steve Byrd about 'Hey Mister heartache'
When Kim and I wrote this, we just said we wanted to do something funky, soully, we looked at the Motown Book of Hits, and saw a Stevie Wonder song, with Hey, in the title. Kim said Hey!!! Let's write a song that starts with Hey!?... So we did, and here it is. (3)
Credits
Keyboards & programming: Ricky Wilde, Tony Swain
Guitars: Steve Byrd, Ricky Wilde
Backing vocals: Junior Giscombe
Produced by Ricky Wilde and Tony Swain
Engineered by James Richards.
Mix engineered by Richard Lengyel
Highest chart positions
Australia: 96
Denmark: 14
Germany: 13 (14 weeks)
Ireland: 22 (2 weeks)
Italy: 7 (15 weeks)
Netherlands: 37 (3 weeks)
Norway: 3
Sweden: 6
Switzerland: 12 (12 weeks)
United Kingdom: 31 (5 weeks)
Interview source
(1) Kim Wilde: 'I keep busy with dream explanations a lot' In: Bravo (Germany), June 9, 1988
(2) Facebook Track by Track commentary, published September 3, 2013
(3) Steve Byrd's Facebook page, February 20, 2016