(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)
Elton John & Kiki Dee - "Don't Go Breaking My Heart"
Hit Number 1: August 7, 1976
Stay at Number 1: 4 Weeks
I could go on and on all day about how great '60s Motown music was. People back then were treated to some great music by the Supremes, the Temptations and Marvin Gaye, with Gaye singing in some duets with other female Motown singers. Gaye never knew it at the time, but these duets would help spark one of the biggest hits of 1976. Elton John, who by this point was an all-world musical superstar, was a huge fan of Gaye's music in the late '60s, particularly his duets with Tammi Terrell. But those duets screeched to a halt after Terrell died in 1970 of a brain tumor, and ever since then Motown never released any more duets with Gaye. Honestly, Gaye probably didn't care to record with anyone else, as he was obviously crushed by Terrell's death. But John figured since it had been a few years since then, why not try to recreate one of those beloved duets? He was all for it, it was just a matter of trying to find the right person to record with.
John and his usual songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin, wrote "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with a fun duet in mind. And at first, they pictured Dusty Springfield being the perfect partner to pair up with John on the song, but she was reportedly very ill at the time, so was ruled out. Now try as I might, I can't seem to find where Kiki Dee entered the picture. Dee was not some superstar in the music world like John was, and if it wasn't for "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," I probably wouldn't even know who she is. But her and John were both fellow English singers, so maybe John and her were good friends, and that's what led to the song. Everything I just said is a wild guess, and I'm not sure I'll ever truly know what led to Dee recording with John, but it ended up being a great pairing. It's hard to imagine "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" working with anyone else.
One thing I find pretty interesting about this song is that John and Dee weren't in the same room when they recorded the song. They weren't even in the same country. Elton John was a very busy dude in 1976, and he was often traveling around the world for tours and such, and he happened to be in Toronto when he recorded his part of the song. The tape with John's recording on it was then sent to London for Dee to record her part. Dee would say in an interview years later that John recorded his parts normally, but then sang Dee's parts in a higher-pitched voice for her to be able to know what parts he wanted her to sing. That whole backstory is pretty fun to think about. Almost as fun as the actual song itself.
No, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" is not some groundbreaking, amazing piece of songcraft, and it's nothing like what Gaye and Terrell did. However, it's still a fun song, and one that could maybe best be described as just being cute. John and Dee take turns singing lead, almost passing the song back and forth between each other. They sound in sync with each other, and seem to be having a really fun time with the song. That's appropriate because the song in and of itself is really upbeat. It's a lively song with John and Dee helping to give it its energy. But we can't forget about the backing vocalists either, they supply a great amount of fun too in support of both John and Dee. It's one of those songs that I could see being a big hit at karaoke nights with couples singing together. Not much else to say here except "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" is a fun little song. Nothing more than that.
John would actually go on a bit of a drought after "Don't Go Breaking My Heart." He wouldn't hit #1 again until 1986, which is a bit of a stretch because he's really not even credited in that particular song. If you don't include that, it wouldn't be until the '90s that he made it back to #1, and that was in a duet. However, I imagine he'd still be lingering around the top ten every now and then as I continue to roll on in this blog. Kiki Dee didn't do much of note at all after this song, but I figure she's okay with that. She's tied to a musical legend forever, as well as a decent little song about not breaking someone's heart. The money she made from it I bet is astronomical.
GRADE: 7/10
IN POP CULTURE:
Elton John was in a Snickers commercial in 2018 when he played the part of a rapper who "wasn't himself when he was hungry." John sang a little bit of "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" in that, so I figured I'd put that here. So here it is:
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