After a very weighty number one, a seven-minute treatise on political violence in Ireland, we arrive at something a little lighter…
Too Many Broken Hearts, by Jason Donovan (his 2nd of four #1s)
2 weeks, from 5th – 19th March 1989
I do like the way we get teased at the start, as hard-edged guitars chime out – does anyone else hear the intro to ‘Welcome to the Jungle’?? But before we even have time to check that, yes, this is a Jason Donovan record, in comes the oh-so-familiar Stock Aitken Waterman beat. Of course.
Has there ever been a mashup of all the famous SAW hits…? They are all the same basic beat and tempo. Well in fact, yes, YouTube is your friend. There’s an eight minute mash-up of Kylie, Rick Astley, Bananarama, Sinitta and Sonia which I have to admit I enjoyed. (There’s a near twenty-minute long Part II, which I haven’t braved yet!)
What to make of Jason Donovan not making the cut for this mix? Was he not A-grade material? I can’t see a reason why this is any worse than the earlier SAW #1s, apart perhaps for SAW Fatigue (I think that ‘SAW Fatigue’ will be the catchphrase of our journey through 1989…) It’s perky, it’s catchy, the chorus is cheesy but it stays with you. The bridge is the best bit: You give me one good reason to leave me, I’ll give you ten good reasons to stay… Although, Pete Waterman claimed that he wrote it in ten minutes while on the toilet, so there’s that mental image…
The video is equally cheap and cheerful. Jason stares out from his log cabin, chops some wood, then strolls along a cliff top while strumming his guitar. His electric guitar. Maybe Slash took notes before filming the ‘November Rain’ video? (I was not expecting to make two Guns N Roses references in this post!)
The only thing I find that grates is Jason’s voice itself… He sounds a little strained, a little rushed. I think I said the same thing about Kylie’s ‘I Should Be So Lucky’, so perhaps it’s the production not getting the best out of its singers? Anyway, I can never get too exercised, in one way or the other, about disposable pop. The charts’ bread and butter. It’s a pop song. It’s catchy. It provides a reasonably pleasant diversion for three minutes of our largely humdrum existences. Next!
The UK Number Ones Blog 
I can’t believe there has been many lately that I never heard of before and this is one of them. The beginning had promise but yea…it turns into a run of the mill 80s pop song. Catchy yes….
Yeah I think the US and Uk charts were going in very different directions in the late 80s-early 90s (at least in terms of their number ones).
I couldn’t agree more.
You’re right, it is disposable pop. Pleasant, so much so that you feel rather churlish saying anything negative about it. I suppose it’s the latter-day equivalent of early 70s assembly-line hits from people like Edison Lighthouse and White Plains which us old codgers enjoyed at the time – although I think E.L.’s ‘Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)’ still puts a contented smile on our faces when it comes on the radio. At least these records don’t grate like some of the excruciating novelty 45s that have come under your scrutiny in the last few months.
I think ‘Love Grows’ is a brilliant pop tune, in a league above ‘Too Many Broken Hearts’! But I get what you mean. The pop charts need stuff like this to keep it ticking along
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