"Too Many Broken Hearts" is a song by Australian singer and actorJason Donovan, released on 20 February 1989 as the third single from his debut album,Ten Good Reasons (1989), and 1991'sGreatest 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.
Written and produced byStock Aitken Waterman (SAW), the song attracted some media controversy after producerPete Waterman claimed he "wrote the song on the toilet in ten minutes".[2] 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.[2]
Donovan said he recorded sections of the song on different days, describing the process as "pop singing by numbers".[2] 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.[2]
The accompanyingmusic video for "Too Many Broken Hearts" was filmed inFalls Creek, Victoria,[3] 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[4] — including a parody on TV showHey Hey It's Saturday — and were also slammed by singerBoy George, who accused Donovan of trying to look like a rock star.[2]
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 toKylie Minogue.[2] 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.[2]
Donovan stated he was initially underwhelmed by the video, and was surprised by the ecstatic response it earned from his UK label.[5] The video proved highly popular with fans, with Waterman saying its emotionally uplifting scenes and sunny landscapes represented "hope" to young people in Britain.[2]
Richard Lowe fromSmash 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 byStock, Aitken & Waterman, to open up not with the familiarboom 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."[6]
Retrospectively, in 2014, Matt Dunn ofWhatCulture ranked the song at number 7 in his "15 unforgettable Stock Aitken Waterman singles" list.[7] In 2019,James Masterton described it "one of the most appealing, immediately infectious and masterful pop singles of the Stock-Aitken-Waterman production team had put together to date".[4] In 2021, British magazineClassic 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 redGibson atop the hill in the video".[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)
^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)
^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)
^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)
^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)
^abToo 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)
^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)
