"I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass" is a song written by

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and New wave music, new wave,Andrew Bodnar Andrew Bodnar is an English bass player who grew up in Clapham, South London. He and drummer Steve Goulding (The Rumour, The Mekons, etc) met and began playing together as a rhythm section while still at school. They spent their teenage years au ...

, and

Steve Goulding Steve Goulding (born 1954) is an English drummer, who has played as a member of Graham Parker and The Rumour, The Associates, Poi Dog Pondering, The Waco Brothers, Sally Timms and the Drifting Cowgirls and The Mekons. He also played the drums ...

and performed by Lowe. It reached number 7 on the

UK Singles 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 ...

in 1978. The song was featured on his 1978 album, ''

Jesus of Cool ''Jesus of Cool'' is the solo debut album by British singer-songwriter Nick Lowe. Produced by Lowe, it was released in March 1978 by Radar Records in the UK. In the United States, the album was reconfigured by Columbia Records and retitled ''P ...

''. The song was produced by Lowe. It shared a title with the

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

song " Breaking Glass"; Lowe commented, "This sounds so unlike me, but I wasn't aware he had a song called 'Breaking Glass.' ... But Bowie was the guy who had that title first of all. I think the music on my 'Breaking Glass' has something to do with him. I think I pinched something off of him in the music." Lowe reflected on the song in an interview with '' GQ'' in 2011, saying that he did not perform the song live as it could not be effectively performed solo. He explained, "There's one song of mine called 'I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass,' which was a fairly big hit in Europe, and people ask me for that sometimes, and I just don't do it. It's a really good record, but there's not actually any song there. It was a half-baked idea I had when I went to the studio, and the bass player and drummer sort of put a little sauce in it. But if I played it with just an acoustic guitar, the audience would probably give me a little clap in recognition, but by verse two, they'd be looking at their fingernails, waiting for the next one. There really isn't anything to it." When Lowe filmed a performance of "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass" for ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...

'' in 1978, he brought his future wife

Carlene Carter Carlene Carter (born Rebecca Carlene Smith; September 26, 1955) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter Cash and her first husband, Carl Smith. As of 2020, since 1978, Carter has recorded 12 alb ...

to the set as part of their first date. Carter recalled, "I went to see him at ''Top of the Pops''. He was doing 'I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass' in his Riddler suit, covered with question marks. We had chemistry."

Cover versions

Luke Haines Luke Michael Haines (born 7 October 1967) is an English musician, songwriter and author. He has recorded music under various names and with various bands, including The Auteurs, Baader Meinhof and Black Box Recorder. Career ''New Wave'' Haine ...

released a version of the song on his 2001 album, ''

Christie Malry's Own Double Entry OST ''Christie Malry's Own Double Entry'' by Luke Haines is the soundtrack to the film of the same name, based on a novel by B. S. Johnson and directed by Paul Tickell. The album includes a cover of the Nick Lowe song " I Love the Sound of Breaking G ...

''.

References

1978 songs 1978 singles Songs written by Nick Lowe Nick Lowe songs Song recordings produced by Nick Lowe Radar Records singles {{1970s-single-stub