Quarterfish found themselves with a hit in the 1980’s, but the band found success with the previous track once changing it to a power ballad under a new band name.
No one expected “Harden My Heart” to climb the charts to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 when Quarterfish re-released it as a power ballad on their self-titled debut album in 1981. This was because the track had already made the rounds at the start of the ’80s under Quarterfish’s predecessor band, Seafood Mama.
Seafood Mama broke up at the start of 1980, with married couple Marvin “Marv” Ross and Sue “Rindy” Ross moving ahead with working on a new album with no band or band name. The album took over a year to record as the couple found new band members and came up with Quarterfish thanks to a book of Australian slang words. Their band name was in reference to how newcomers were called “one quarter flash and three parts stupid”.
“Harden My Heart” was written by Marv with no real backstory or truth behind the story told in its lyrics. Rindy sings about finding the strength and courage to leave her partner, becoming determined not to become “squishy” about it.
According to an interview with Rediscovery the ’80s, the song’s story was completely made up, and a friend gave him the title.
“A friend of mine gave me the title. I came up with the lyrics very quickly. The title came first, and I don’t really remember how the rest came about. I usually write the music and words simultaneously. It wasn’t a personal story – just made it up,” he explained.
The original track was recorded in a basement in Portland and sold thousands of copies. It also became a big reason why they were signed to Geffen Records.
“The chords are simple but voiced so as to make it sound more complex than it is. The whole song is really the groove which we called a shuffle in those days. Rindy came up with the sax line. The whole thing was written in less than a week and recorded in our basement for the Seafood Mama version,” said Marv.
The power ballad version of “Harden My Heart” was re-recorded at Record Plant in Los Angeles, with Marv once commenting that it had a better guitar solo and sound quality. Rindy’s saxophone solo also contributed to its star power and popularity, as well as her being one of the rare few female lead singers at the time.
“The sax parts usually come last. Sometimes I have a vague idea of a melody that Rindy refines, but usually it’s her creation, her melody. She has a gift for coming up with hooky, powerful sax lines,” said the songwriter.
When it comes to power ballads, Louder Sound included “Harden My Heart” on its list of greats that were the “most heart-stirring” and “most life-affirming” of all time.
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