The song, “Eternal Flame”, was originally recorded by The Bangles in 1988
“Eternal Flame” was written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly and Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles and recorded for their 1988 album, “Everything”. The song was released as the second single in America in Janaury 1989 and into the Spring of that year internationally. It would peak at number one in fifteen countries becoming their second chart topper at home and their first in the UK, where it spent four weeks becoming the fourth biggest seller of the year there.
“Eternal Flame” has been recorded a number of times since but two particular versions stand out from the rest. The first came from Australian boy band, Human Nature, who featured the song on their third studio album, “Counting Down”, in 1998. They released it as the fourth single in late 1999 and took it to No.8 (The Bangles original had been a number one there).
The second significant version came from British girl group, Atomic Kitten, who recorded their version for their debut album, “Right Now”, in 2000. The group released the track as the sixth single from the album in July 2001 and took it into the top ten across Europe and to No.1 on home soil, New Zealand and in Belgium. Their version has been certified Gold in the UK for sales of 400,000 copies, The Bangles, to date, have sold nearly 600,000 copies.
But which version is the best? THE BANGLES’ original, HUMAN NATURE’s 1999 cover or ATOMIC KITTEN’s 2001 hit?
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