Every Little Bit Hurts Explained

"Every Little Bit Hurts" was originally a 1964 hit single for Motown soul singer Brenda Holloway, written by Ed Cobb.^[2]

Background

Though she was against recording the song again (she recorded it a couple of years before signing with Motown), she reluctantly recorded the song and the label released it in the summer of the year. "Every Little Bit Hurts" was a big hit peaking at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100,^[3] and became one of Holloway's trademark singles.

Covers

• The Spencer Davis Group version reached No. 41 in the UK in early 1965. and No. 9 in Canada in 1967.
• In 1968, Small Faces recorded the song and included on "The BBC Sessions" LP.
• Released in October 1976, it was covered by Graeme "Shirley" Strachan (lead singer of Skyhooks) as his debut solo release and peaked at No. 3 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Charts.^[4]
• British band The Clash recorded a cover of the song in 1980 for Sandinista!, but the track didn't make it onto the album. It was instead released in 1991 on the box set Clash on Broadway.

Chart history

Brenda Holloway

Chart (1964)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[5]	13
U.S. Cash Box Top 100[6]	18

Spencer Davis Group

Graeme "Shirley" Strachan

Year-end charts

Chart (1976)	Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[7]	37
Chart (1977)	Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[8]	74

Alicia Keys version

"Every Little Bit Hurts" was included by American recording artist Alicia Keys on her live album, Unplugged (2005). It was released as the album's second and last single in 2006. It failed to enter the US and international charts.

Critical reception

Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine felt that Keys treated the song "like [a] vocal audition[...] and not the blank canvas[...] of an interpretive artist".^[9]

Music video

Directed by Justin Francis, the video premiered on January 17, 2006 on BET's 106 & Park.

Track listing

• US promotional CD single^[10]

1. "Every Little Bit Hurts" (Radio Edit) – 3:58
2. "Every Little Bit Hurts" (Call Out Hook) – 0:10
3. "Every Little Bit Hurts" (Radio Edit) (MP3 format) – 3:58

Notes and References

1. Book: Marsh, Dave. The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. 1989. Plume. 0-452-26305-0. 599.
2. The Complete Motown Singles Vol 4: 1964 [CD liner notes]. New York: Hip-O Select/Motown/Universal Records.
3. [Joel Whitburn|Whitburn, Joel]
4. Book: Kent, David. Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book Ltd. St Ives, NSW. 1993. 0-646-11917-6.
5. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 -
6. Web site: Cash Box Top 100 Singles, June 20, 1964 . February 4, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190207020336/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/19640620.html . February 7, 2019 . dead .
7. Web site: National Top 100 Singles for 1976. . 131 . . 27 December 1976 . 15 January 2022 .
8. Web site: Kent Music Report No 183 – 26 December 1977 > National Top 100 Singles for 1977. Kent Music Report. Imgur.com. 13 June 2021.
9. Web site: Cinquemani . Sal . Alicia Keys: Unplugged . . 2005-10-13 . 2015-10-24.
10. Every Little Bit Hurts. Alicia Keys. 2005. US promotional CD single liner notes. J Records. 82876-75977-2.