Break It Up (Foreigner song)

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"Break It Up"
Break It Up - Foreigner.jpg
Single by Foreigner
from the album 4
B-side "Head Games (Live)"
ReleasedApril 1982 (April 1982) [1]
RecordedEarly 1981
Genre Hard rock
Length4:11 (album version)
3:25 (single version)
Label Atlantic
Songwriter(s) Mick Jones
Producer(s)
Foreigner singles chronology
"Waiting for a Girl Like You"
(1981)		"Break It Up"
(1982)		"Luanne"
(1982)

"Break It Up" was the fourth single taken from the album 4 by the band Foreigner. The song was written by Mick Jones and the first to feature a B-side that was not available on one of their albums, a live version of their hit, "Head Games."

Contents

Background

The song has a more melodic, slightly ballad-oriented sound mixed with their traditional hard rock. Rolling Stone contributor Kurt Loder described the song as a "classic cruncher." [2]

Cash Box called it "another dose of bluster from the band that, along with Queen, virtually created pomp rock" but said that there is "nothing here that the band hasn’t done before," specifically comparing it to "Cold as Ice." [3] Billboard described it as a "melodramatic mid tempo rocker forceful enough for the band's earliest AOR allies and melodic enough for pop formats." [4] PopMatters critic Evan Sawdey said that it "tries so hard to recreate the ornate nature of 'Cold As Ice' but ends up turning into AM meat-rock." [5]

Producer "Mutt" Lange wanted to use a click track for timing the drum part. Foreigner drummer Dennis Elliott got fed up about that so eventually he and Jones recorded the basic track themselves with Elliott on drums and Jones on piano. According to Jones "Then we turned round to ‘Mutt’ and said, ‘Okay? Happy now?!’ We wanted to prove the point that this band could play and keep time, too." [6]

Chart performance

"Break it Up" reached number 26 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. [7] [8]

Cover versions

Related Research Articles

<i>4</i> (Foreigner album) 1981 studio album by Foreigner

4, also known as Foreigner 4, is the fourth studio album by the British-American rock band Foreigner, released on July 3, 1981, on Atlantic Records. Several singles from the album were hits, including "Urgent", "Waiting for a Girl Like You" and "Juke Box Hero".

<i>Foreigner</i> (Foreigner album) 1977 studio album by Foreigner

Foreigner is the debut studio album by British-American rock band Foreigner, released on 8 March 1977. It spun off three hit singles, "Feels Like the First Time", "Cold as Ice" and "Long, Long Way from Home". It also features album tracks such as "Headknocker" and "Starrider", the latter of which features a rare lead vocal from lead guitarist and co-founder Mick Jones.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cold as Ice (Foreigner song)</span> 1977 single by Foreigner

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feels Like the First Time</span> 1977 single by Foreigner

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Double Vision (Foreigner song)</span> 1978 single by Foreigner

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women (Foreigner song)</span> 1980 single by Foreigner

"Women" is the fourth single taken from the third album, Head Games by the band, Foreigner. It was written by Mick Jones, and released in February 1980. The song's B-side, "The Modern Day" is also sung by its writer, Jones.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luanne</span> 1982 single by Foreigner

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">That Was Yesterday (Foreigner song)</span> 1985 single by Foreigner

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Down on Love</span> 1985 single by Foreigner

"Down on Love" is the fourth single taken from the album Agent Provocateur by the band Foreigner, and released in August 1985.

References

  1. ↑ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. ISBN   9780862415419.
  2. ↑ Loder, Kurt (October 15, 1981). "Foreigner: Mass-Appeal Rock in a Post-Golden Age". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 2018-05-04.
  3. ↑ "Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. May 8, 1982. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
  4. ↑ "Top Single Picks". Billboard. May 8, 1985. p. 67. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  5. ↑ Sawday, Evan (November 26, 2014). "Foreigner: The Complete Atlantic Studio Albums 1977-1991". PopMatters. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
  6. ↑ Jeffries, Neil (July 2, 2016). "The Strange And True Story of Foreigner 4". Classic Rock. Louder Sound. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
  7. ↑ "Foreigner Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  8. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN   0-89820-089-X
  9. ↑ "Starfire". Allmusic. Retrieved 2022-06-17.



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