January 2, 2009

Bedtime Music: Elton John & Kiki Dee - Don't Go Breaking My Heart

This is a favorite song from my teenage years, Don't Go Breaking My Heart, a duet by Elton John and Kiki Dee (Pauline Matthews). I was fourteen when it was released in the summer of '76 (you can do the math to figure out my age ;) ). The song was written by Elton John (and not by Bernie Taupin, although this was before the break-up between the two men in '77-'79), with the song being done in an imitative Tamla Motown style. (Dee had signed with the Tamla Motown label some time around 1970; however, she moved to John's label, Rocket Records, in 1973.) The song was an immense hit for both singers, reaching #1 in both the US (four weeks) and the UK (six weeks); ironically, this was the last Elton John single to reach #1 in the UK until 1990. What's not as well known is that John and Dee have recorded two other duets, a cover of the Four Tops' Loving You is Sweeter than Ever in 1981 and a cover of Cole Porter's True Love in 1993 (which reached #2 in the UK).

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