Heartbeat started in the early 80s as a music ministry extension of Youth for Christ in the United Kingdom. They initially began as a back-up band for solo performers (like Sheila Walsh), but they also performed as their own band, often appearing in schools, colleges, and even serving as a worship band for Christian events and festivals. As such, they paved the way for later, similarly-minded music ministries like World Wide Message Tribe (except that WWMT were dedicated to the Birmingham area, specifically).
Heartbeat’s sound was a distinctly European form of synth-pop: sugary sweet and intensely melodic, not at all resembling the post-punk or new wave fusions of some of their synth peers (New Order, Depeche Mode, etc.) Instead, their take on synth-pop was much closer to the poppy sounds of Pet Shop Boys and Erasure.
Lyrically, however, the band basically wrote contemporary praise songs set to synthesizer-led dance beats. “The Winner” is a song about the supremacy of Jesus Christ, and is the title track from their 5th album, the first to have U.S. distribution. I’m including the radio single (7″ version) as well as the extended 12″ mix.
