Breakdown (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song)

"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.[3]

"Breakdown"
Single by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
from the album Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
B-side"The Wild One, Forever"
ReleasedNovember 1976 (1976-11)
Recorded1976
StudioShelter Studios (Hollywood)
Genre
Length2:39
LabelShelter
Songwriter(s)Tom Petty
Producer(s)Denny Cordell
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers singles chronology
"Breakdown"
(1976)
"Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll"
(1977)

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

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers original

Track listings

  • 7" Single (US, 1976)
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
  • 7" Single (US, 1977)
A. "Breakdown" – 2:39
B. "Fooled Again (I Don't Like It)" – 3:54
  • 7" Single (Germany, 1977)
A. "Breakdown" – 2:42
B. "Luna" – 3:59
  • 7" Single (Spain, 1978)
A. "Breakdown" – 2:42
B. "Strangered in the Night" – 3:32

Chart performance

Chart (1977-78) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100 [4] 40
US Cash Box Top 100[5] 33
Canada RPM Top Singles[6] 40

Album appearances

Grace Jones version

"Breakdown"
Single by Grace Jones
from the album Warm Leatherette
B-side"Warm Leatherette"
ReleasedOctober 1980
GenreReggae
Length5:30 (album and 12" version)
3:00 (single edit)
LabelIsland
Songwriter(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. Petty wrote a third verse of the song specifically for Jones to record; "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?"[7] 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

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

Other cover versions

gollark: I wonder what they'll look like as adults...
gollark: I think the first wave will have hit the tradehub by now. The release was five hours ago, I think.
gollark: More like in five hours or never, but whatever.
gollark: Can I probably get a CB Copper? I've always dreamed of having unreasonable amounts of those.
gollark: I'm wondering just how much I can trade my pygmy and notpygmy for.

References

  1. 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. Greenwald, Matthew. "Breakdown - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers | Song Info". AllMusic.
  3. Joel Whitburn, Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles: 1955-2010, Record Research, 2011.
  4. "Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (Billboard Singles)". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  5. Cash Box Top 100 Singles, February 11, 1978
  6. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada (Top Singles - Volume 28, No. 24, March 11, 1978)". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  7. Joey Michaels. "3349. "Breakdown" by Grace Jones". sadclownrep.com. Archived from the original on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2012-05-23.
  8. "MISSY'S NEW EP "MORE THAN THIS" by Missy Higgins on Myspace". Myspace.com. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  9. "FLAW @ TREES DALLAS 5/20/10". YouTube. 2010-06-07. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  10. "Under The Covers CD | Rustblade – Label and Distribution". Rustblade. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
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