Breaking Us in Two

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"Breaking Us in Two"
Breaking Us in Two - Joe Jackson.jpg
Single by Joe Jackson
from the album Night and Day
B-side "Target"
Released13 August 1982
Recorded1982
Studio Blue Rock, New York City
Genre Sophisti-pop [1]
Length4:35 (album version)
3:45 (single version)
Label A&M
Songwriter Joe Jackson
Producers Joe Jackson, David Kershenbaum
Joe Jackson singles chronology
"Steppin' Out"
(1982)		"Breaking Us in Two"
(1982)		"Another World"
(1982)
Music video
"Breaking Us in Two" on YouTube

"Breaking Us in Two" is a song by British musician Joe Jackson. It was the third of three charting singles from his 1982 LP, Night and Day .

Contents

The single was released in the UK on 13 August 1982, [2] backed with the Spanish version of "Target" renamed "El Blanco" (target in Spanish). In the US, the B-side was the regular English version of "Target". [3] The single began to get radio airplay in late 1982 and early 1983, especially in the US where the music video was in medium rotation on MTV in early February. [4] The single had become a hit in the US, reaching number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of March 19, 1983. [5] Later, it reached number 40 in Canada. It also charted in the UK and Australia. It was a bigger Adult Contemporary hit, reaching number eight in the U.S. and number 12 in Canada.

The music video was filmed on location in and around the Oakworth railway station in England.

Reception

Upon its release as a single, Charles Shaar Murray of the NME called "Breaking Us in Two" "one of those 'Let's sit down and have a serious talk about our relationship' songs for which Jackson is so justly famous". He added, "This one is pleasant rather than stirring, a medium-paced toe-tapper with suitably anguished lyrics and some fairly stylish piano playing." [6] Geoff Barton of Sounds was negative, describing the "miserable, depressing, mournful ballad" as an "ugly grey stain in the Dalmatians' colourful world". [7] Edwyn Collins, as a guest reviewer for Melody Maker , said, "This is another song that's just full of cliches. It's almost a pastiche. It's just so mediocre. If you heard it on the radio it would be some totally ambient background noise. Brian Eno would be proud of him." [8]

In the US, Billboard said it was "jazzy and precise [and] similar in tone to the top 10 'Steppin' Out'." [9]

Chart history

Cover Versions

Mandy Moore covered the song for her 2003 album, Coverage .

References

  1. ↑ "Volume 4 - Joe Jackson, Joe Jackson Band | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  2. ↑ "Record News". New Musical Express . 14 August 1982. p. 30. ISSN   0028-6362.
  3. ↑ Gimarc, George (1997). Post Punk Diary: 1980–1982. Macmillan. p. 300. ISBN   9780312169688.
  4. ↑ "MTV Adds & Rotation". Billboard . Vol. 95, no. 7. 19 February 1983. p. 41. ISSN   0006-2510.
  5. ↑ Billboard Hot 100, Week of March 19, 1983 – Billboard.com. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  6. ↑ Murray, Charles Shaar (14 August 1982). "Singles". New Musical Express . p. 21. ISSN   0028-6362.
  7. ↑ Barton, Geoff (21 August 1982). "Singles". Sounds . p. 21. ISSN   0144-5774.
  8. ↑ Edwyn Collins (17 March 1983). "Singles". Melody Maker . p. 25.
  9. ↑ "Top Single Picks". Billboard. January 15, 1983. p. 51. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  10. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1983-04-23. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
  11. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Breaking Us in Two". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  12. ↑ "charts.org.nz - Joe Jackson - Breaking Us In Two". Charts.nz. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  13. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN   0-89820-089-X
  14. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 117.
  15. ↑ "Talent Almanac 1984: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 95, no. 52. December 24, 1983. p. TA-18.



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