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

I don’t think I could embark on any project like 31 Songs and not include the song which has accompanied me for the longest, so Don’t Go Breaking My Heart was an obvious choice for the first day.

My earliest memory is from when I was three or four. The girl who lived next door and I are listening… dancing… singing… whilst Elton and Kiki serenade each other on the radiogram in next-door’s dining room. This was quite a regular occurence at the time; apparently it was quite a favourite of ours, and we would oft ask for someone to put the record onto that very 70s, sideboard-sized record-player. I’ve often wondered whether that was an early indicator of my fascination with music, and more worryingly dancing and singing…

And so it continued, one of the first albums I bought on CD in the early 90s was The Very Best of Elton John, basically for this and Rocket Man although I do like quite a few of the other tracks on it. Earlier is better as far as I’m concerned with Elton John, which explains why the only thing he’s done recently that I like is Are You Ready For Love. It’s good to see it bringing other fans out of the closet though :-)

Bringing this right up to the here and now, Don’t Go Breaking My Heart is the only song that I’ve sung in public. It’s become a signature tune for Emily and I to perform at karaoke, something we’ve done a couple of times in pubs in Cambridge, and it was the first track that I sang at my recent party. I wouldn’t mind, but it’s all a bit high for me really, so I usually end up missing the odd note here and there. Still, I’ve been told that it’s a good idea to put the tunes you know you’ll get wrong at the start of your set, because you’ll get them wrong anyway whilst your voice is warming up… maybe that makes it the perfect karaoke opener for me.