Up until 1990, it seemed impossible for anyone to mention 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' without referring to the fact that it was Elton's only number one, as if there was some kind mystery to it. But never mind Elton, stranger fact to me is that it remains Kiki Dee's biggest claim to fame. Why she never enjoyed a higher profile ('Amoureuse' only a number 13!!!!!) I'll never understand, but I digress.So what about this? Well, though it's billed as a duet, it's an Elton John song through and through. And as an Elton John song, 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' flatters to deceive. From a slow building, cat creep of an introduction to an explosive opening call and response, the initial impression given is of something of substance quietly building up a good head of steam. But it doesn't last.
Like a blind date starting out with both parties on their best behaviour, eager to please and laughing at each other's jokes that ends in the predictable and sober realisation that there's no spark there after all and each can't wait to get away from the other, 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' falls into a rut of joyless repetition with John and Dee singing past rather than to each other. The cover says it all really.
There's a strain about it all, a forcedness that sits ill with the jovial bounce the tune tries to generate and it lets the air out of the ball with the hiss of a slow puncture. All surface, 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' is a fun song that forgot to add the fun and it bores long before it gets to the end. Elton would chance his arm again in similar style on 'Part Time Love' in 1978, but lightning didn't strike twice.
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