From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Single by Belinda Carlisle | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| from the album Heaven on Earth | |||
| B-side | “We Can Change” | ||
| Released | September 14, 1987 | ||
| Recorded | 1987 | ||
| Studio | Ocean Way, Los Angeles, California | ||
| Genre | |||
| Length |
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| Label | MCA | ||
| Songwriter(s) | |||
| Producer(s) | Rick Nowels | ||
| Belinda Carlisle singles chronology | |||
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“Heaven Is a Place on Earth” is a song by American singer Belinda Carlisle from her second studio album, Heaven on Earth (1987). Written by Rick Nowels and Ellen Shipley, the song was released as the lead single from the Heaven on Earth album on September 14, 1987, and it reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 on December 5, 1987, becoming Carlisle’s only US chart-topper to date. A month later it peaked at number one in the United Kingdom, where it held the top spot of the UK Singles Chart for two weeks.
The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1988, but lost out to Whitney Houston‘s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)“. In 2017, ShortList‘s Dave Fawbert listed the song as containing “one of the greatest key changes in music history”.
In 2015, Carlisle re-recorded the song as an acoustic ballad. This version appeared on her album Wilder Shores (2017), which combines acoustic tracks with world beats and traditional Sikh chants.
Composition
The song is performed in the key of E major, with a tempo of 123 beats per minute in common time. Carlisle’s vocals span from E3 to D♯5. In the final chorus of the song, the key is transposed to F♯ major.
Production
Carlisle’s backup vocalists on the song include songwriters Nowels and Shipley as well as Michelle Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas and songwriter Diane Warren. It also features Thomas Dolby on keyboards.
Chart performance
“Heaven Is a Place on Earth” reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number seven on the Adult Contemporary chart. It was also a number-one hit in the United Kingdom, topping the UK Singles Chart for two weeks.
The single also reached number one in many other countries, among them Switzerland, Ireland, Sweden, South Africa and Norway. It also reached number three in Germany and Canada, number two in Australia, and number six in Italy. It reached Gold status in Canada and the United Kingdom.
The promotional music video for the song was directed by actress Diane Keaton and includes an appearance by Carlisle’s husband Morgan Mason. It features children wearing black masks and capes, and holding illuminated plastic globes. Carlisle appears wearing a strapless dress and later changes to a black off-the-shoulder blouse. The video was partially filmed at Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park in Valencia, California (now Santa Clarita, California), on the now-defunct Spin Out ride.
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