"A Good Heart" is a 1985 single by Feargal Sharkey

Feargal Sharkey

Feargal Sharkey is a singer from Northern Ireland who first found fame as the lead vocalist of pop punk band The Undertones...

, from his self-titled album

Feargal Sharkey (album)

Feargal Sharkey is the first solo album of former Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey. The album was released in 1985, peaking at #12 in the UK and contains Sharkey's best known single "A Good Heart".-Track listing:#"A Good Heart"...

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Written by Maria McKee

Maria McKee

Maria Luisa McKee is an American singer and songwriter. She is best known for her work with Lone Justice and her 1990 UK solo chart-topping hit, "Show Me Heaven".-Music:...

 about her relationship with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers are an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. They were formed in 1976 by Tom Petty , Mike Campbell , Benmont Tench , , Ron Blair and Stan Lynch...

 keyboard player Benmont Tench

Benmont Tench

Benjamin Montmorency Tench, III is an American keyboardist best known as a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.-Early years:...

 and produced by the Eurythmics

Eurythmics

Eurythmics were a British pop rock duo, formed in 1980, currently disbanded, but known to reunite from time to time. Consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A...

' David A. Stewart

David A. Stewart

David Allan Stewart , often known as Dave Stewart, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Eurythmics. He is usually credited as David A. Stewart, to avoid confusion with other musicians named "Dave Stewart".-Early life:Stewart was born in Sunderland,...

, this was former Undertones

The Undertones

The Undertones are a punk rock/new wave band formed in Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1975.The original line-up of the Undertones released thirteen singles and four studio albums — The Undertones , Hypnotised , Positive Touch and The Sin of Pride — before disbanding in July 1983.Music guide Allmusic...

 singer Feargal Sharkey's third solo single. A UK Number One single for two weeks in November 1985, it fared less well in the US, peaking at #74 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

. Background vocals on the song's choruses were sung by Boy George

Boy George

Boy George is a British singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He helped give androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by...

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Sharkey followed up the single with Tench-written "You Little Thief

You Little Thief

"You Little Thief" is pop vocalist Feargal Sharkey's first single of 1986 and follow-up to previous hit A Good Heart. The single had a music video created for promotion...

", this time about Tench's relationship with McKee. Sharkey placed them next to each other on his debut album.

A version of the song, performance credited to Kris McKay, appeared on the 1989 album of the soundtrack of the Patrick Swayze

Patrick Swayze

Patrick Wayne Swayze was an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter. He was best known for his tough-guy roles, as romantic leading men in the hit films Dirty Dancing and Ghost, and as Orry Main in the North and South television miniseries. He was named by People magazine as its "Sexiest...

 movie Road House

Road House (1989 film)

Road House is a 1989 American action film partially based on the life of Norman "Storm" Cantwell, directed by Rowdy Herrington and starring Patrick Swayze as a bouncer at a newly-refurbished roadside bar who protects a small town in Missouri from a corrupt businessman. Sam Elliot also plays a...

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In 2007, McKee released her own recording of the track on her album Late December

Late December

Late December released on April 24, 2007, is Maria McKee's sixth solo album. The album contains the single "A Good Heart", a song McKee had written over twenty years earlier but had never released...

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Chart performance

Chart (1985/1986)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	1
Austrian Singles Chart	13
Belgian Singles Chart	2
Canadian Singles Chart	4
Dutch Singles Chart	2
French Singles Chart	37
German Singles Chart	4
Irish Singles Chart	1
Italian Singles Chart	17
New Zealand Singles Chart	3
Norwegian Singles Chart	6
South African Singles Chart	3
Swiss Singles Chart	3
UK Singles Chart	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	74