Breakdown (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song)

"Breakdown"
"Breakdown"
Single by Grace Jones
from the album Warm Leatherette
B-side	"Warm Leatherette"
Released	October 1980
Genre	Reggae
Length	5:30 (album and 12" version); 3:00 (single edit)
Label	Island
Songwriter(s)	Tom Petty
Producer(s)	Chris Blackwell, Alex Sadkin
Grace Jones singles chronology

"Breakdown"
"Breakdown"
Single by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
from the album Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
B-side	"The Wild One, Forever" (US, 1976); "Fooled Again (I Don't Like It)" (US, 1977); "Luna" (Germany); "Strangered in the Night" (Spain);
Released	November 1976
Recorded	1976
Studio	Shelter Studios (Hollywood)
Genre	Pop rock; heartland rock; soul;
Length	2:39
Label	Shelter
Songwriter(s)	Tom Petty
Producer(s)	Denny Cordell
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers singles chronology

"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]

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.

Background[]

"Breakdown" was a song written and recorded for the band's debut album. Initially, the song had lead guitarist Mike Campbell with a distinct guitar lick being played only near the end of the song. While playing it back one night, Tom Petty and Dwight Twilley, a friend of Phil Seymour, were in the studio, and Twilley enjoyed it. He suggested that the lick should be used throughout the song, and Petty obliged. At 2 AM, he gathered the Heartbreakers to join him in re-recording the song. Their final take was seven to eight minutes long, but it was pared down to 2 minutes and 39 seconds on the album.^[4] Guests on the song's recording include guitarist Jeff Jourard, a common collaborator with the band in their early days, and Phil Seymour, who sings backing vocals.

Track listing[]

7" Single (US, 1976)

A. "Breakdown" – 2:39

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^[5]	40
US Cash Box Top 100^[6]	33
Canada RPM Top Singles^[7]	40

Album appearances[]

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1976)
FM (1978)
Pack Up the Plantation: Live! (1985)
Greatest Hits (1993)
Playback (1995)
Anthology: Through the Years (2000)
Mojo Tour 2010 (2010)

Grace Jones version[]

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?"^[8] 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 did not 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

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Robbins, Ira A. (January 1983). The Trouser Press guide to new wave records. C. Scribner's Sons. p. 227. ISBN 978-0-684-17943-8.
^ Greenwald, Matthew. "Breakdown - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers | Song Info". AllMusic.
^ Joel Whitburn, Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles: 1955-2010, Record Research, 2011.
^ "Breakdown by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers". SongFacts.
^ "Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (Billboard Singles)". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
^ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, February 11, 1978^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada (Top Singles - Volume 28, No. 24, March 11, 1978)". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2012-01-17.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Michaels, Joey. "3349. "Breakdown" by Grace Jones". sadclownrep.com. Archived from the original on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2012-05-23.

External links[]

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

[Robbins1983-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b Robbins, Ira A. (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] "Breakdown by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers". SongFacts.

[5] "Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (Billboard Singles)". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-01-17.

[6] Cash Box Top 100 Singles, February 11, 1978^{[permanent dead link]}

[7] "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada (Top Singles - Volume 28, No. 24, March 11, 1978)". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2012-01-17.^{[permanent dead link]}

[8] Michaels, Joey. "3349. "Breakdown" by Grace Jones". sadclownrep.com. Archived from the original on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2012-05-23.

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show v t Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty Mike Campbell Benmont Tench Ron Blair Stan Lynch Howie Epstein Scott Thurston Steve Ferrone
Studio albums	Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers You're Gonna Get It! Damn the Torpedoes Hard Promises Long After Dark Southern Accents Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) Into the Great Wide Open Songs and Music from "She's the One" Echo The Last DJ Mojo Hypnotic Eye
Live albums	Official Live 'Leg Pack Up the Plantation: Live! The Live Anthology Mojo Tour 2010
Compilations	Greatest Hits Playback Anthology: Through the Years An American Treasure The Best of Everything
Videography	Pack Up the Plantation: Live! Hard to Handle w/ Bob Dylan Playback Live at the Olympic: The Last DJ Runnin' Down a Dream
Songs	"Breakdown" "American Girl" "Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll" "I Need to Know" "Listen to Her Heart" "Don't Do Me Like That" "Refugee" "Here Comes My Girl" "Even the Losers" "The Waiting" "A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)" "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" "You Got Lucky" "Change of Heart" "Don't Come Around Here No More" "Rebels" "Southern Accents" "Make It Better (Forget About Me)" "Jammin' Me" "Learning to Fly" "Into the Great Wide Open" "Mary Jane's Last Dance" "Walls (Circus)" "Room at the Top" "Free Girl Now" "Surrender" "The Last DJ"
Related articles	Discography Songs Awards Mudcrutch Blue Stingrays Unchained

show v t Grace Jones
Discography
Studio albums	Portfolio (1977) Fame (1978) Muse (1979) Warm Leatherette (1980) Nightclubbing (1981) Living My Life (1982) Slave to the Rhythm (1985) Inside Story (1986) Bulletproof Heart (1989) Hurricane (2008)
Compilations	Island Life (1985) The Ultimate (1993) Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions (1998) The Universal Masters Collection (2003) The Grace Jones Story (2006) The Ultimate Collection (2006) Disco (2015)
Singles	"I Need a Man" "Sorry" "La Vie en rose" "Do or Die" "On Your Knees" "A Rolling Stone" "Love Is the Drug" "Private Life" "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" "Breakdown" "Demolition Man" "I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)" "Pull Up to the Bumper" "Walking in the Rain" "Nipple to the Bottle" "The Apple Stretching" "My Jamaican Guy" "Cry Now, Laugh Later" "Living My Life" "Slave to the Rhythm" "Jones the Rhythm" "I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect for You)" "Party Girl" "Crush" "Victor Should Have Been a Jazz Musician" "Love on Top of Love" "Amado Mio" "7 Day Weekend" "Evilmainya" "Sex Drive" "Love Bites" "Hurricane (Cradle to the Grave)" "Corporate Cannibal" "Williams' Blood" "Love You to Life"
Other songs	"Charger"
Related	A One Man Show