"Too Many Walls" is the title of a pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 ballad by the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 Cathy Dennis

Cathy Dennis

Cathy Dennis is a British dance-oriented pop singer-songwriter, record producer and actress...

.

Released as a single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 from her album Move to This

Move to This

Move to This is the debut album by English dance artist Cathy Dennis. It was released in 1990.- Track listing :# "Just Another Dream" – 4:03# "All Night Long " – 4:00...

in September 1991, "Too Many Walls" became Dennis' fourth Top 10 hit on the U.S. pop chart

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

, where it peaked at #8. Her other American Top 10 singles were: "C'mon and Get My Love

C'mon and Get My Love

"C'mon and Get My Love" is a song by British dance producer D Mob, from his album A Little Bit of This, a Little Bit of That. It featured British singer Cathy Dennis, credited as "introducing" her...

" (officially credited to 'D Mob

D Mob

D Mob is one of the stage names used by British house music producer Dancin' Danny D .The 1988 UK hit "We Call It Acieed" hit #3 in the UK Singles Chart, and was one of a wave of acid house singles to enjoy success that year. The video was directed by Marek Budzynski...

 introducing Cathy Dennis'), #10 in 1990; "Just Another Dream", #9, also from 1990; and "Touch Me (All Night Long)

Touch Me (All Night Long)

"Touch Me " is the title of a 1991 hit single by British dance-pop singer-songwriter Cathy Dennis. The song is included on her debut album, Move to This, where it is listed as either "All Night Long " or just "All Night Long"....

", #2 from earlier in 1991. "Too Many Walls" also spent two weeks atop the U.S. adult contemporary chart

Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks

The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...

. In the U.K., the song was released in October reached #17 on the British pop chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

. In Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, the song reached #57 on the Australian pop chart

ARIA Charts

The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

.

"Too Many Walls" was co-written by Dennis and Anne Dudley

Anne Dudley

Anne Dudley is an English composer and pop musician, and was the first BBC Concert Orchestra's Composer in Association in 2001. She has worked in both the classical and pop genres. She is perhaps best known, however, as one of the core members of the synthpop band Art of Noise and also as a film...

, member of the avant-garde synth-pop musical group The Art of Noise. The song was originally a composition of Dudley's with strings but no lyrics, until Dennis adapted the song and added words before it appeared on her debut album. The song was then remix

Remix

A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....

ed into a more radio-friendly version before being released as a single.

In an interview with Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

magazine, Dennis stated that she thinks the ballad is "the best song on the album, especially in terms of lyrics. The other songs are fun, but they can be quite vacant." She said the song is "about when you want to be together with someone, but other people's opinions and prejudices get in the way."

"Too Many Walls" was Dennis' final Top 10 hit in the U.S. as a featured singer; she has, however, written other hit songs, notably Kylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue

Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...

's worldwide hit "Can't Get You Out of My Head

Can't Get You out of My Head

"Can't Get You Out of My Head" is a song by Australian recording artist and songwriter Kylie Minogue, which was released from her eighth studio album Fever . The song was released worldwide as the lead single from the album, which was released on 8 September, 2001. The song was written and produced...

".

The video was filmed at the newly opened standard airport. The video was directed by Rocky Morton

Rocky Morton

Rocky Morton is a British director. He was one of the co-creators of Max Headroom and co-director on Super Mario Bros.. Various music videos by Rush, Tom Tom Club, Talking Heads, Led Zeppelin, Orgy and Miles Davis are credited to Morton. He also directed the 1995 UK launch commercial of Sega...

 and Annabel Jankel

Annabel Jankel

Annabel Jankel is an award-winning British film and TV director who first came to prominence as a music video director and the co-creator and director of the pioneering cyber-character Max Headroom...

.

Ashley Tisdale

Ashley Tisdale

Ashley Michelle Tisdale is an American actress and singer who rose to prominence portraying the candy-counter girl Maddie Fitzpatrick in Disney Channel's The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and the female antagonist Sharpay Evans in the High School Musical film series...

 covered the song for her promotional deal with deodorant mark Degree.

Track listings

UK CD single

1. Too Many Walls
2. Too Many Walls (l'autre mix)
3. Too Many Walls (acappella)

US cassette single

1. Too Many Walls (radio mix)
2. Too Many Walls (acappella)

Charts

End of year chart (1991)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	74