I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper

"I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper"
Single by Sarah Brightman and Hot Gossip
B-side	"Do, Do, Do"
Released	1978
Recorded	1978
Genre	Pop, disco, space disco
Length	3:42 4:19 (long version)
Label	Ariola Hansa
Songwriter(s)	Jeff Calvert, Geraint Hughes
Producer(s)	Steve Rowland

"I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper", sometimes cited as "(I Lost My Heart to A) Starship Trooper", is a 1978 single written by Jeff Calvert and Max West^[1] of Typically Tropical and performed by Sarah Brightman and the dance troupe Hot Gossip. It was the debut of the 18-year-old Brightman, and reached number six on the UK Singles Chart.^[2]

Background

The song is a space disco track, released amidst the popularity of the original Star Wars film. The lyrics include the lines "And evil Darth Vader he's been banished to Mars" and "Or are you like a droid, devoid of emotion". Other science fiction references include: "I lost my heart to a starship trooper", "Flash Gordon's left me, he's gone to the stars", "What my body needs is close encounter three", "Static on the comm – it's Starfleet Command" and "Fighting for the Federation".^{[citation needed]}

The song uses musical themes from Star Wars, Thus Spoke Zarathustra (from 2001: A Space Odyssey), and the "spaceship communication" melody from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.^{[citation needed]}

The song was performed on The Kenny Everett Video Show by its regular dance troupe Hot Gossip. Its lead, Sarah Brightman, was dressed in a silver catsuit and black thigh-high boots.^[3]

In 1997, Brightman rerecorded the song, with producer Frank Peterson, and released it as a single to coincide with the film Starship Troopers. Although the single carried artwork from the film, the song itself was not in the film.^[4]

Weekly charts

Chart (1978)	Peak Position
Ireland (IRMA)[5]	5
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[6]	50
UK Singles (OCC)[7]	6
West Germany (GfK)[8]	26

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[9]	Gold	500,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Discogs". Discogs. 1978. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
2. "Sarah's Early Years: 1960 – 1981". Sarah Brightman Official Website. Archived from the original on 24 December 2007. Retrieved 2 December 2007.
3. Craig, Olga (29 November 2008), Sarah Brightman's hot gossip days are over, London: The Daily Telegraph, archived from the original on 3 December 2008, retrieved 4 May 2010
4. "Starship Troopers".
5. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
6. "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper – I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
7. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
8. "Offiziellecharts.de – Sarah Brightman & Hot Gossip – I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
9. "British single certifications – Sarah Brightman & Hot Gossip – I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper". British Phonographic Industry.

External links

• A video of a live dance performance of the song
• Song lyrics Archived 24 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine