"Breakdance" is a song written by
Giorgio Moroder,
Bunny Hull
Jeri Keever "Bunny" Hull is an American songwriter, musician, and author. Her catalog includes music, film and television projects. She is a recipient of 20 Gold and Platinum Certifications, a Grammy Award and two nominations, an Emmy nomination ...
, and the song's performer,
Irene Cara
Irene Cara Escalera (March 18, 1959 – November 25, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and actress of Black, Puerto Rican and Cuban descent. Cara rose to prominence for her role as Coco Hernandez in the 1980 musical film '' Fame'', and f ...
. Moroder's obsession with the dance hit "
Rockit" by
Herbie Hancock fueled his composition of the music, and Cara was inspired by the street performers she saw growing up in the
South Bronx to write lyrics about what was then called
breakdancing
Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...
. Released in March 1984, it was the third single that originated on her ''
What a Feelin'
''What a Feelin is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Irene Cara. Released on November 2, 1983, this album is a continuation of the work that Cara began with producer Giorgio Moroder on the soundtrack to the 1983 film ''Flashdan ...
''
LP and her first to make the top ten in the US since the album's
title track
A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title.
Title track may a ...
went to number one almost a year earlier. "Breakdance" also charted in several other countries and had a dance remix that was also well received.
Background
In the spring of 1983, "
Flashdance... What a Feeling" spent six weeks at number one on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and became Irene Cara's highest charting single.
[.] She continued working with the song's producer-composer, Giorgio Moroder, on her next album ''
What a Feelin'
''What a Feelin is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Irene Cara. Released on November 2, 1983, this album is a continuation of the work that Cara began with producer Giorgio Moroder on the soundtrack to the 1983 film ''Flashdan ...
'', which was released on November 2 of that year. Moroder wrote the music for most of the songs on the album, including "Breakdance", which Cara said was inspired by
Herbie Hancock's recent number one dance hit, "
Rockit". "Hancock is a legendary jazz artist, and all of a sudden he comes out with this
hip hop track that was phenomenal. Giorgio was obsessed with it, so he based 'Breakdance' after 'Rockit'."
Cara then had the assignment of putting words to Moroder's composition. "I had to find a way to make it into a song because Herbie's song (and Giorgio's track) was an instrumental."
[ She described how her childhood and adolescence in the South Bronx gave her the subject to write about. "I grew up in neighborhoods where the kids basically pioneered hip hop dancing and ]breakdancing
Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...
. I lived in neighborhoods where kids were spinning on their heads on cardboard boards right in front of my building."[ Although the term "breakdancing" has since been derided by its participants as an attempt by the mainstream media to capitalize on a marginalized subculture, Cara explains that "it wasn't just me writing about something that was a fad... it was me writing about something that I lived through. So I just used what I had experienced growing up in the city and drew on that for the lyric and the melody."][
]
Release
"Breakdance" debuted on '' Billboard'' magazine's Hot 100 in the issue of the magazine dated March 24, 1984, and stayed on the chart for 19 weeks, during which time it peaked at number 8.[ On other pop singles charts, the song hit number 4 in South Africa,] 10 in Canada, 19 in Australia,[ 20 in Sweden][ and Switzerland,][ 25 in New Zealand,][ 53 in West Germany,][ and 88 in the UK.][ In ''Billboard''s April 7 issue, the song made its first appearance on the magazine's Black Singles chart, where it reached number 23 over the course of 12 weeks.][.] That issue also marked the first of 10 weeks for the 12-inch single on the magazine's Dance/Disco Top 80
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, where it got as high as number 13.[.]
Critical reception
When Cara's ''What a Feelin'
''What a Feelin is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Irene Cara. Released on November 2, 1983, this album is a continuation of the work that Cara began with producer Giorgio Moroder on the soundtrack to the 1983 film ''Flashdan ...
'' album first came out at the end of 1983, ''Billboard'' Dance Trax columnist Brian Chin heralded "Breakdance" as one of the songs that was clearly meant to have a dance remix. Upon the release of the single and remixes the following March, '' Cashbox''s Skip Harris described the Extended Dubb as "a killer".
Track listing and formats
*US 7" single
#"Breakdance" – 3:02
#"Cue Me Up" – 3:25
*US 12" maxi single
#"Breakdance" (Extended Remix) – 5:24
#"Breakdance" (Extended Dubb) – 4:24
*Brazil 7" single
#"Breakdance" – 3:26
#"You Were Made for Me" – 4:20
*Germany 7" single
#"Breakdance" – 3:26
#"Breakdance" (Instrumental Version) – 4:25
*Netherlands 12" maxi single
#"Breakdance" (Long Version) – 6:01
#"Breakdance" (Instrumental) – 4:25
*UK 12" single
#"Breakdance" (Extended Remix) – 5:24
#"Breakdance" (Dub Mix) – 4:24
#"Cue Me Up" – 3:25
Credits and personnel
From the liner notes for ''What a Feelin'
''What a Feelin is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Irene Cara. Released on November 2, 1983, this album is a continuation of the work that Cara began with producer Giorgio Moroder on the soundtrack to the 1983 film ''Flashdan ...
'':
*Irene Cara – lead vocals, background vocals
*Arthur Barrow
Arthur Barrow (born February 28, 1952) is a multi-instrumental musician, best known for his stint as a bass guitar player for Frank Zappa in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Early life
Barrow was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1952 and grew up in ...
– bass guitar, keyboards
*Richie Zito
Richie Zito (born August 21, 1952) is an American songwriter, composer and record producer from Los Angeles. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Zito has experienced success as a prolific session musician, being featured on a wide array of ...
– arranger; guitar, Linn drums, Simmons drums, keyboards
*Bunny Hull
Jeri Keever "Bunny" Hull is an American songwriter, musician, and author. Her catalog includes music, film and television projects. She is a recipient of 20 Gold and Platinum Certifications, a Grammy Award and two nominations, an Emmy nomination ...
– background vocals
* Giorgio Moroder – producer; background vocals
*Brian Reeves – engineer
*Mike Frondelli – engineer
*Dave Concors – engineer
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{authority control
1983 songs
1984 singles
Irene Cara songs
Songs written by Giorgio Moroder
Songs written by Irene Cara
Songs written by Bunny Hull
Song recordings produced by Giorgio Moroder
Geffen Records singles
Epic Records singles