french had made her first dance version recording of "total eclipse of the heart" in 1994: she had purchased the bonnie tyler original as a teenager in 1983 and reacted negatively to the original suggestion that she (i.e. french) remake the song as dance track — "i thought, no, it's too strong a song to go down the dance route. you know, it demeans it almost. but then i thought well, i'll give it a go. and as soon as i heard the track, i thought it actually does work." the singer had been performing in london bands since the age of 12 and was given the chance to record a version when she received a phone call from a fellow british musician. french's first recording of "total eclipse of the heart", made with john springate of the glitter band producing, came to the attention of mike stock and matt aitken who produced their own recording of the song by french and it was this version which appeared on the uk chart dated 15 october 1994 at no. 54. french would recall: "i just thought oh well that was great...i've [worked with] mike stock and matt aitken and it was a dream come true...we tried and i had a great time...and then about two months later i had a call out of the blue from mike saying the buzz will not die down on this track so we're going to re-record the beginning...and we're going to re-release it at the beginning of 1995."