Too Many Broken Hearts

"Too Many Broken Hearts" is a song by Australian singer and actor Jason Donovan, released on 20 February 1989 as the third single from his debut album, Ten Good Reasons (1989), and 1991's Greatest Hits album and again on a later collection in 2006. The song reached number-one in the United Kingdom and Ireland in March 1989. The song additionally peaked within the top 10 in Australia, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain. British magazine Classic Pop ranked "Too Many Broken Hearts" number 19 in their list of "Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs" in 2021.[2]

"Too Many Broken Hearts"
Single by Jason Donovan
from the album Ten Good Reasons
B-side"Wrap My Arms Around You"
Released20 February 1989 (1989-02-20)[1]
StudioPWL 1 and 4 (London, England)
Length3:30
LabelMushroom, PWL
Songwriter(s)Stock Aitken Waterman
Producer(s)Stock Aitken Waterman
Jason Donovan singles chronology
"Especially for You"
(1988)		 "Too Many Broken Hearts"
(1989)		 "Sealed with a Kiss"
(1989)
Music video
"Too Many Broken Hearts" on YouTube

Background

Written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW), the song attracted some media controversy after producer Pete Waterman outrageously claimed he "wrote the song on the toilet in ten minutes".[3] The claim has been dismissed by the song's actual composer, Mike Stock, who says Waterman only supplied a rough title idea for the song.[3]

Donovan said he recorded sections of the song on different days, describing the process as "pop singing by numbers".[3] He initially had no idea the track would go on to be so successful, and thought it might just be an album track. However, he now regards it as one of SAW's best songs, as well as being his defining hit.[3]

Critical reception

Richard Lowe from Smash Hits wrote, "This is something of a landmark in the history of pop. Blow me down if it isn't the first ever single written and produced by Stock, Aitken & Waterman, to open up not with the familiar boom boom dommph fli-di-di-dum-dum roll but with what can only be described as a "guitar lick". It soon falls into familiar territory though. It's a great pop tune, Jason sings it perfectly adequately and it's bound to be a really big hit."[4] Retrospectively, in 2021, British magazine Classic Pop ranked the song number 19 in their list of 'Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs', adding that "few could resist the dreamy good looks of Jason strumming his red Gibson atop the hill in the video".[5]

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Too Many Broken Hearts" was filmed in Beechworth, Victoria, and featured Donovan strumming an unpowered electric guitar in the outdoors, while interacting with an apparent love interest. The guitar scenes generated some media scorn—including a parody on TV show Hey Hey It's Saturday—and were also slammed by singer Boy George, who accused Donovan of trying to look like a rock star.[3]

The singer's romantic interest in the video was a local woman known to the director, Chris Langman, who had never acted or modelled before. He insists she was not cast due to her widely perceived resemblance to Kylie Minogue.[3] The mountain shack featured in the video belonged to Langman at the time, and he chose both the shooting location and the actress out of convenience.[3]

Donovan stated he was initially underwhelmed by the video, and was surprised by the ecstatic response it earned from his UK label.[6] The video proved highly popular with fans, with Waterman saying its emotionally uplifting scenes and sunny landscapes represented "hope" to young people in Britain.[3]

Track listings

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the UK CD single liner notes.[13]

Studio

  • Recorded at PWL Studios 1 and 4 (London, England)

Personnel

  • Stock Aitken Waterman – writing, production, arrangement
    • Mike Stock – backing vocals, keyboards
    • Matt Aitken – guitars, keyboards
  • Mae McKenna – backing vocals
  • Miriam Stockley – backing vocals
  • George De Angelis – additional keyboards
  • A. Linn – drums
  • Mixmaster Pete Hammond – mixing
  • Karen Hewitt – engineering
  • Yoyo – engineering
  • David Howells – design
  • Lawrence Lawry – photography

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[32] Gold 35,000^
France (SNEP)[38] Silver 200,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[39] Gold 400,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "New Singles". Music Week. 18 February 1989. p. 31.
  2. "Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs". Classic Pop. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  3. "A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman: Ep 46: Too Many Broken Hearts to I Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  4. Lowe, Richard (22 February 1989). "Singles". Smash Hits. p. 41. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  5. "Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs". Classic Pop. 18 August 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  6. "A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman: Ep 56: Hang On To Your Love (and the journey so far) with Jason Donovan on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  7. Too Many Broken Hearts (Australian & New Zealand 7-inch single vinyl disc). Jason Donovan. Mushroom Records. 1989. K803.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. Too Many Broken Hearts (UK 7-inch single sleeve). Jason Donovan. PWL Records. 1989. PWL 32.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. Too Many Broken Hearts (Australian cassette single sleeve). Jason Donovan. Mushroom Records. 1989. C803.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. Too Many Broken Hearts (Australian & New Zealand 12-inch single sleeve). Jason Donovan. Mushroom Records. 1989. X 13381.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  11. Too Many Broken Hearts (UK 12-inch single sleeve). Jason Donovan. PWL Records. 1989. PWLT 32.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. Too Many Broken Hearts (UK 12-inch remix single sleeve). Jason Donovan. PWL Records. 1989. PWLT 32R.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  13. Too Many Broken Hearts (UK CD single liner notes). Jason Donovan. PWL Records. 1989. PWCD 32.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. Too Many Broken Hearts (US 12-inch single vinyl disc). Jason Donovan. Atlantic Records. 1989. 0-86324.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. "Jason Donovan – Too Many Broken Hearts". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  16. "Jason Donovan – Too Many Broken Hearts" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  17. Danish Singles Chart. 2 June 1989.
  18. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 6, no. 11. 18 March 1989. p. 18. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  19. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  20. "Jason Donovan – Too Many Broken Hearts" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  21. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Too Many Broken Hearts". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  22. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 17, 1989" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  23. "Jason Donovan – Too Many Broken Hearts" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  24. "Jason Donovan – Too Many Broken Hearts". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  25. "Jason Donovan – Too Many Broken Hearts". VG-lista. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  26. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  27. "Jason Donovan – Too Many Broken Hearts". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  28. "Jason Donovan – Too Many Broken Hearts". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  29. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  30. "Dance Singles Sales". Billboard. 16 September 1989. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  31. "Offiziellecharts.de – Jason Donovan – Too Many Broken Hearts" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  32. "The ARIA Top 100 Singles Chart – 1989 (61–100) (from The ARIA Report Issue No. 1)". ARIA. Retrieved 26 May 2016 – via Imgur. N.B. The circle symbol indicates gold certification.
  33. "Jaaroverzichten 1989" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  34. "Eurochart Hot 100 of 1989" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 6, no. 51. 23 December 1989. p. 6. Retrieved 17 January 2020 – via World Radio History.
  35. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1989" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  36. "Year-End Charts '89 – Top 100 Singles". Music Week. London, England: Spotlight Publications. 3 March 1990. p. 16.
  37. "Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1989" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  38. "Certifications des albums et des singles de Jason Donovan". Archived from the original on 29 December 2008. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
  39. "British single certifications – Jason Donovan – Too Many Broken Hearts". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
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