Breakdown (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song)

"Breakdown"
Single by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
from the album Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
B-side "The Wild One, Forever"
Released January 1977 (1977-01)
Format 7-inch single
Recorded
Genre
Length 2:39
Label Shelter
Writer(s) Tom Petty
Producer(s) Denny Cordell
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers singles chronology
"Breakdown"
(1976)
"American Girl"
(1977)

"Breakdown" is the first single from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' self-titled debut album. It became a Top 40 hit in the United States and Canada.[2]

Played live, Petty sometimes incorporated "Breakdown" with Ray Charles' "Hit the Road Jack". A live recording of this variation appears on The Live Anthology.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers original

Track listings

A. "Breakdown" – 2:39 = background vocals were sung by fellow Shelter Records artist Phil Seymour who also sang on American Girl.
B. "The Wild One, Forever" – 3:01
A. "Breakdown" – 2:39
B. "Fooled Again (I Don't Like It)" – 3:54
A. "Breakdown" – 2:42
B. "Luna" – 3:59
A. "Breakdown" – 2:42
B. "Strangered in the Night" – 3:32

Chart performance

Chart (1978) Peak
position
United States[3] 40
Canada[4] 40

Album appearances

Grace Jones version

"Breakdown"
Single by Grace Jones
from the album Warm Leatherette
B-side "Warm Leatherette"
Released October 1980
Format 7", 12"
Genre Reggae, new wave
Length 5:30 (album and 12" version)
3:00 (single edit)
Label Island
Writer(s) Tom Petty
Producer(s) Chris Blackwell, Alex Sadkin
Grace Jones singles chronology
"The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game"
(1980)
"Breakdown"
(1980)
"Demolition Man"
(1981)

Jamaican singer Grace Jones recorded a reggae re-imagining of the song on her 1980 album Warm Leatherette. For Grace Jones' recording, Petty wrote a third verse: "It's OK if you must go / I'll understand if you don't / You say goodbye right now / I'll still survive somehow / Why should we let this drag on?"[5] The song was edited from its full, 5:30 album version to a 3-minute-long track on single release. It was released as a US-only single in July 1980 but didn't chart.

Track listing

A. "Breakdown" – 3:00
B. "Warm Leatherette" – 4:24
A. "Breakdown" – 5:30
B1. "Breakdown" (edit) – 3:10
B2. "Warm Leatherette" – 4:24
A. "Breakdown" (stereo edit) – 3:00
B. "Breakdown" (mono edit) – 3:00

Other cover versions

References

  1. 1 2 Ira A. Robbins (January 1983). The Trouser Press guide to new wave records. C. Scribner's Sons. p. 227. ISBN 978-0-684-17943-8.
  2. Joel Whitburn, Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles: 1955-2010, Record Research, 2011.
  3. "Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (Billboard Singles)". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  4. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada (Top Singles - Volume 28, No. 24, March 11, 1978)". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  5. Joey Michaels. "3349. "Breakdown" by Grace Jones". sadclownrep.com. Retrieved 2012-05-23.
  6. "MISSY'S NEW EP "MORE THAN THIS" by Missy Higgins on Myspace". Myspace.com. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  7. "FLAW @ TREES DALLAS 5/20/10". YouTube. 2010-06-07. Retrieved 2016-10-12.

External links

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