B-side "Snow Queen" Recorded March 1976 Length 4:28 | Released 21 June 1976 Genre Pop Label Rocket (UK)
MCA (US) | |
"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" is a duet by Elton John and Kiki Dee. It was written by Elton John with Bernie Taupin under the pseudonyms "Ann Orson" and "Carte Blanche" (a pun on the expression "an horse and cart, blanche"), respectively, and intended as an affectionate pastiche of the Motown style, notably the various duets recorded by Marvin Gaye and singers such as Tammi Terrell and Kim Weston. It is not to be confused with the Burt Bacharach/Hal David song of the same title recorded in 1965 by Dionne Warwick for the album Here I Am.
Contents
John and Taupin originally intended to record the song with Dusty Springfield, but ultimately withdrew the offer; Dusty's partner Sue Cameron later said this was because she was too ill at the time.
Chart performance
Writers John and Taupin received the 1981 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.
Unlike many of John's singles from the 1970s, it was never included on an original album (although it was recorded during the Blue Moves sessions), but was subsequently released as the third single on the album Duets, in early 1994. This version of the song was recorded with RuPaul, and the album included another duet with Kiki Dee, Cole Porter's "True Love."
"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" was the first No. 1 single in the UK for both John and Kiki Dee, topping the chart for six weeks in mid 1976. John would not enjoy a solo British chart-topper until "Sacrifice" in 1990. It also became his sixth No. 1 single in the US, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and spent one week on the Easy Listening chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 2 song for 1976. In the U.S. it was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. After this duet with Dee, John failed to have another #1 single, without sharing the top song with other credited artists, until his 1997 smash "Candle in the Wind 1997". This 21-year "Kiki jinx" included two intervening #1 hits in America for John: "That's What Friends Are For" by Dionne & Friends in 1986; and, a 1992 re-make of John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" with George Michael credited as a duet.
The B-side, "Snow Queen", was supposedly inspired by Cher, with John's improvising of past Sonny & Cher hits "I Got You Babe" and "The Beat Goes On", as well as the solo Cher song "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" during the fadeout of the song.
In 1977, John guest starred on The Muppet Show and performed the track with Miss Piggy. In 1985, John and Dee performed the track to the crowd at Wembley Stadium during John's set at Live Aid (where Dee sang backup). In 1987, John appeared with Minnie Mouse on the NBC series Totally Minnie miming to the track. He performed the track with Alan Partridge (Steve Coogan) at the 2001 British Comedy awards. He also performed it with the Spice Girls on his ITV tribute programme An Audience with... Elton John.
In June 2013, 37 years after its original release, the single reached one million sales in the UK.
Availability
The song can be found on Elton John's Greatest Hits Volume II (1977) and Greatest Hits 1976–1986; the 1995 UK CD of Rock of the Westies includes it as a bonus track (the US edition did not, however). In 2002, it also appeared on John's 2-disc greatest hits album, Elton John's Greatest Hits 1970-2002. A demo version of the song was recorded by John as a solo artist. This version has not been released commercially. The B-side, "Snow Queen," has not seen any re-release since being issued on the single.