"Break 4 Love" is a song written, produced and recorded by Vaughan Mason, the principal member of American

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

group Raze, the song's original credited performer. The song, the group's only significant US hit, featured vocals by Keith Thompson and Bobby Coleman, as well as sexual sound samples by Erique Dial. The single peaked at number 28 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and topped the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart in 1988. It is still considered a classic of the early house music genre. The song interpolates "Today, Tomorrow and Forever" (1987) by The Castle Beat.

Versions

Original 1988–1989 versions

* "Break 4 Love" (Drop the Panties) – a.k.a. Caught in the Act Mix – spoken vocals by Vaughan Mason * "Break 4 Love" (Radio Vocals) – a.k.a. English Mix, English Version, Vaughan Mason 12" Mix – sung vocals by Keith Thompson * "Break 4 Love" (Instrumental) * "Break 4 Love" (Spanish Fly) – spoken vocals by Jeanette Fraginals * "Break 4 Love" (Spanish Mix) – similar to Spanish Fly, but no break * "Break 4 Love" (French Mix) * "Break 4 Love" (Italian Mix) All of these versions run approximately 5:25 and feature sexual vocalization samples by Erique Dial. A 3:18 edit of the English Mix was used as the 7" single version.

Commercial performance and reissues

"Break 4 Love" reached number 28 on the

in 1988. It has since been remixed, re-recorded and reissued on several different independent dance music labels, the most significant of which, "All 4 Love (Break 4 Love 1990)" which featured Lady J and The Secretary of Entertainment and produced and co-written by Erique Dial climbed to number 30 in the UK in early 1990. Further releases of "Break 4 Love" remixes were released in the UK in 1994 and 2003. The 1994 release reached number 44 on the UK Singles Chart and number one on the

UK Dance Singles Chart The UK Dance Singles Chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, garage, synthpop) in record s ...

, and the 2003 release at number 64 on the singles chart.

Impact and legacy

British

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

DJ and producer

Fabio Fabio is a given name descended from Latin ''Fabius'' and very popular in Italy and Latin America (due to Italian migration). Its English equivalent is Fabian. The name is written without an accent in Italian and Spanish, but is usually accented ...

chose "Break 4 Love" as one of his top 10 tracks in 1996, saying, "This was one of the first

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK ...

tracks. It used the break to roll the track along. A really sexy track, it always gets people going mad—it's got energy." "Break 4 Love" can be heard in the

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

'' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', on the in-game radio station

SF-UR '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' is an open-world, action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. First released on 16 October 2004 for the PlayStation 2, ''San Andreas'' has an in-game radio that can t ...

, which also features other house music songs by different artists.

Track listing

*Original Groove Street 12-inch single #"Break 4 Love" (Drop the Panties) #"Break 4 Love" (Instrumental) #"Break 4 Love" (Spanish Fly) #"Break 4 Love" (Radio Vocals)

Charts

The Collaboration version

"Break 4 Love" was covered by

Peter Rauhofer Peter Rauhofer (29 April 1965 – 7 May 2013) was an Austrian-American disc jockey (DJ), remixer and producer who formerly worked under the moniker Club 69 as well as Size Queen. A native of Vienna, Austria, he was famous for a variety of his re ...

and

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...

, released under the name "Peter Rauhofer + Pet Shop Boys = The Collaboration". The single was not released in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and did not chart there. The song can be found on the US bonus disc of the Pet Shop Boys album ''

Release Release may refer to: * Art release, the public distribution of an artistic production, such as a film, album, or song * Legal release, a legal instrument * News release, a communication directed at the news media * Release (ISUP), a code to ident ...

'' and as a B-side to CD 2 of their single, " Home and Dry". The single did not chart on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, but it peaked at number one on the

chart, and peaked at number 51 on the US

Hot Singles Sales This is a compendium of the best-selling music singles. The criterion for inclusion is to sell at least ten million copies worldwide. The singles listed here were cited by reliable sources from various media, such as digital journalism, news ...

chart.

Track listings

*US 12-inch single: Star 69 # "Break 4 Love" (USA Club Mix) # "Break 4 Love" (Friburn and Urik Tribal Mix) # "Break 4 Love" (Mike Monday's Kit Kat Dub) # "Break 4 Love" (The Classic Mix) *US CD single part 1: Star 69 (CD12172) # "Break 4 Love" (UK Radio Mix) # "Break 4 Love" (US Radio Mix) # "Break 4 Love" (Classic Radio Mix) # "Break 4 Love" (Friburn and Urik Tribal Mix) # "Break 4 Love" (USA Club Mix) # "Break 4 Love" (Mike Monday Kit Kat Dub) # "Break 4 Love" (Classic Club Mix) # "Break 4 Love" (Ralphie's Dub for Love) *US CD single part 2: Star 69 (CD12192) # "Break 4 Love" (Laroz and Amdursky Mix) # "Break 4 Love" (Friburn and Urik Hi-Pass Mix) # "Break 4 Love" (Michael Moog Club Mix) # "Break 4 Love" (Richard Morel's Pink Noize Club Mix) # "Break 4 Love" (Sunshi Moriwaki's 2 Step Remix) # "Break 4 Love" (Michael Moog Dub)

Charts

References

{{authority control 1987 songs 1988 singles 2001 singles Champion Records singles Columbia Records singles Music Week number-one dance singles Pet Shop Boys songs Raze (group) songs