Who Did It Better? Broken Hearted Me

Who Did It Better? 

Broken Hearted Me

 

For today's edition of Who Did It Better?, we take a look at a song by a man who's managed to have written songs which went to #1 in four of the past decades. As master of his craft, at one time he was the go-to songwriter if you wanted to hit the Top 40.

Broken Hearted Me is a song written by Randy Goodrum, who has written #1 songs in each of the past four decades, his first being Anne Murray's 1978 hit, You Needed Me. It also won Song of the Year at the Academy of Country Music awards and earned Murray the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 21st Grammy Awards.

In addition he has written hits for Toto (I'll Be Over You), Michael Johnson (Bluer Than Blue), England Dan & John Ford Coley (It's Sad To Belong), Gene Cotton (Before My Heart Finds Out), Dottie West (A Lesson In Leavin') Dottie West & Kenny Rogers (What Are We Doin' In Love), along with songs with and for Michael McDonald, Chicago, Debarge, Patti Austin, George Benson, Steve Perry, America, Sylvia, Michael Bolton, Kansas, Ronnie Milsap, Al Jarreau, Natalie Cole, Olivia Newton-John, Chet Atkins & Mark Knopfler, Vince Gill, Dave Loggins, Tammy Wynette, Rita Coolidge, Dave Grusin & Phoebe Snow, and Garth Brooks.

Broken Hearted Me was first recorded by England Dan & John Ford Coley for their 1979 album Dr. Heckle and Mr. Jive, but it was not released as a single. This would mark the end of the duo's relationship with their longtime label, Big Tree Records, for whom they had a number of hits, and an end to their musical partnership. 

 

It was later covered by Anne Murray, as part of her 1979 I'll Always Love You album. Released in September of 1979 as the lead single from the album, the song reached #1 on the Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart that December, her fourth #1 on that chart. In addition it peaked at #12 on the Hot 100 and held the #1 spot on the Adult Contemporary chart for five straight weeks; her fifth #1 on that chart. 

In Canada, Broken Hearted Me snagged the #15 slot on the pop chart and #1 on their Adult Contemporary chart - Murray's twelfth #1 on that chart. She would also record a version of the song in Spanish which was then released as a single in Spanish-speaking markets.

And that's the whole story.

Now? On to the competition.

The Song: Broken Hearted Me

The Competitors: England Dan & John Ford Coley vs. Murray

Broken Hearted Me - England Dan & John Ford Coley

Broken Hearted Me - Anne Murray

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England Dan & John Ford Coley

If this feels a bit like Déjà vu, you're absolutely right. We've visited this exact pairing for What's Forever For?

That is some absolutely pristine production work on display. If that sound was any cleaner birds would be flying into it. Rather upbeat in feeling. And those synths? Too funny. But the keyboard is spot on.

Wow, England Dan sounds great. I am loving this mix. You see, I am a child of this time. I adored all this schmaltzy goodness. It still does it for me. 

I like the steel guitar sound as we dip into the chorus... not wasting time with this one. They know the big hook is in the chorus. And their harmonies dovetail together so sweetly. I can't believe they didn't release this as a single and beat Anne to the punch. This is a perfect slice of MOR pop and would have sounded great on the radio. 

This thing simply sparkles. I like the energy. England Dan sounds amazing. The arrangement is nicely balanced, keeping the strings in check. 

Maybe it was the cheesy synth fill - that trickle down icicle sound - which tanked this one and prevented it from being released. It is a bit much. 

And I love the Player's-like rhythm section. You hear it really well at the top of verse too... Baby Come Back, indeed. And the string arrangement is so flattering. The vocals absolutely shine. 

This sounds great... until that guitar solo. I have issues with it, but it, in itself is fine. When the vocals get added on top of it? Too much competition. And England Dan chooses to go falsetto at that point, which is another reason it gets messy. He has a voice that cuts through, but his falsetto is not strong. It's too bad he didn't sing it in his upper range with full voice. 

Still, it's not a big enough part of the song to sink this. 

I love the energy. I love the brightness. Cheesy? You bet. 

But it's got a ton of charm and there's a lot of pop smarts on display here.

Anne Murray

Anne was riding a wave at this time. America could not get enough of her latex, vanilla pudding sound. I remember I was in a college swing choir and the director was in love with her music. Every time he handed us a new one of hers I would roll my eyes and complain - but deep inside I, too, loved her gelatinous, mellow sounds. 

Her opening is way more treacly than the boys' version. Still, it's homestyle goodness cannot be denied. Those strings are heavy and the keyboards are music box cheese.

But the strings get pulled and Anne simply dominates. Wow. Nice move. Like the rug being pulled out from under our ears. She sounds amazing. So comforting and comfortable. 

She sort of lingers over every word, and yes, this is a lot slower tempo - some might say deadly-so. But Murray's butter-melt vocals reassure us and seem to fill in all the possible pitfalls of such a choice. 

As we move into the chorus, Anne sort of becomes one with the mix, a move that surprises me. All that competing sound simply brings to attention how laboriously slow that tempo is. A lovely string line enters... that's a nice touch. 

And as we continue with the second half of the chorus, I must say, things just get worse for Anne. Not only does she not pop off that top note, she also remains mired in an arrangement and mix in which there is no air. 

Seriously, this is so slow, I would be checking my turntable to see if there's something wrong with it. Oh, and those strings just take on a life of their own, huh. And we're only a third through this. 

The steel guitar is a nice accent touch.

Oh, Murray comes a bit more alive on verse two. And I like that we've dropped a lot of the instrumentation. This song doesn't need it. She can obviously carry this. She sounds great on this part. But she's soon swamped by a bank of strings. 

Oooo... those backing vocals. NO. Too much. 

"Put all the pieces together again..." there is no drive, here. I feel like this is going to stall out on us at any moment. And again, fails to pop that top note. The strings are too much. 

And we still have a third to go. 

Ugh. It's too much. It's like the producers are trying to bury her. I would say, bury her alive, but there's not a lot of life there, now is there?

Jim Ed Norman has not done Murray any favors here. Nor did he have any respect for this song.

The Verdict

I am surprised. I thought this would be a win for Murray. Nope. 

I loved the energy and cleanliness of England Dan's vocals. That falsetto nonsense at the end? Forgiven. The rest of the vocals, including those tight harmonies, absolutely sparkle and shine. 

Murray is mummified by an unsympathetic arrangement. Thing is... they do get it right on the verses... that's clean. That's homey and comforting, if a tad slow. Things really start to drag as the arrangement gets more complicated on the choruses. It's a no win situation for the vocalist - not that she helps herself any by sort of moving through it minus spark. Murray has sharper pop chops than this. This? Not her best moment. 

So, I will go with England Dan & John Ford Coley's version. They got 90% of it right. Their version is a gem, which could have been a hit. 

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And that's enough of me.

Okay, your turn. You know what to do: leave your thoughts and choice in the comments section.

That's all for now. 

Until next time...

Thanks for reading... and listening.

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Broken Hearted Me - Randy Goodrum