"Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" is a song recorded by

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

, co-written by Sedaka and

Howard Greenfield Howard Greenfield (March 15, 1936 – March 4, 1986) was an American lyricist and songwriter, who for several years in the 1960s worked out of the famous Brill Building. He is best known for his successful songwriting collaborations, including o ...

. Sedaka recorded this song twice, in 1962 and 1975, in two significantly different arrangements, and it is considered to be his

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a ...

. Breaking Up Is Hard To Do Song ReviewNovember 29, 2011 Between 1970 and 1975, it was a top-40 hit three separate times for three separate artists:

Lenny Welch Leon "Lenny" Welch (born May 31, 1938) is an American MOR and pop singer. Early years He was born in New York City, United States, and raised in Asbury Park, New Jersey, by his godparents, Eva and Robert Richardson. He attended Asbury Park Hi ...

The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a music career. It ran from S ...

and Sedaka's second version.

Original version

In his daily mini-concert on June 12, 2020, Sedaka recalled that the song's iconic scat intro was a result of him and Greenfield being unable to come up with a lyric for that section of the song and Sedaka improvising a

vocalise A vocal warm-up is a series of exercises meant to prepare the voice for singing, acting, or other use. There is very little scientific data about the benefits of vocal warm-ups. Relatively few studies have researched the effects of thesexercis ...

, which they liked so much that they kept it in the finished product. Described by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

as "two minutes and sixteen seconds of pure pop magic," "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" hit number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on August 11, 1962, and peaked at number twelve on the Hot R&B Sides chart. The single was a solid hit all over the world, reaching number 7 in the UK, sometimes with the text translated into foreign languages. For example, the Italian version was called "Tu non lo sai" ("You Don't Know") and was recorded by Sedaka himself. On this version, background vocals on the song are performed by the female group

The Cookies ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

. The personnel on the original recording session included: Al Casamenti,

Art Ryerson Arthur Ryerson (May 22, 1913 – October 27, 2004) was a jazz guitarist who emerged in the 1930s, playing acoustic and electric guitar, as well as the banjo. He played with jazz orchestras and bands in the 1930s and the 1940s. In the early 1 ...

, and Charles Macy on guitar; Ernie Hayes on piano;

George Duvivier George Duvivier (August 17, 1920 – July 11, 1985) was an American jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in ...

on bass; Gary Chester on drums;

Artie Kaplan Artie Kaplan is an American recording artist, songwriter and a session musician. He has also been a music contractor where he was hired to musicians for sessions. In the 1960s, he was casting musicians for sessions for Aldon Music. When musicia ...

on saxophone; George Devens and Phil Kraus on percussion; Seymour Barab and Morris Stonzek on cellos; and David Gulliet, Joseph H. Haber, Harry Kohon, David Sackson, and Louis Stone on violins.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Lenny Welch version

Though it was originally an uptempo song,

re-recorded the song, reimagined as a torch ballad. Welch had approached Sedaka to see if he had any songs in his repertoire that fit Welch's style; as most of the songs Sedaka had written with his usual partner

were upbeat pop songs, he did not, but playing around on the piano, he discovered "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" worked well as a slow ballad, so he wrote a new introduction and offered it to Welch. It peaked at #34 on the US ''Billboard'' charts and #8 on the

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

chart in January 1970. It was Welch's third and final top-40 pop hit, and his first since 1964.

Sedaka's 1975 version

Five years after Welch's successful cover, Sedaka, in the midst of a comeback in his native United States after several years in career decline and a detour through the United Kingdom, re-recorded his signature song in the same style that Welch used. Sedaka's slow version peaked at #8 in February 1976 and went to number one on the

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

chart. It was only the second time that an artist made the ''Billboard'' Top Ten with two different versions of the same song. Sedaka has credited Welch's song "

Since I Fell for You "Since I Fell for You" is a blues ballad composed by Buddy Johnson in 1945 that was first popularized by his sister, Ella Johnson, with Buddy Johnson and His Orchestra. A version by Annie Laurie with Paul Gayten and His Trio in 1947 led to its ...

" as well as The Showmen and

Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s songs". Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performe ...

as his inspiration for the new rendition.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

The Partridge Family version

Apart from Sedaka's own reworking of the song, by far the most successful cover of "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" was done by

the Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a music career. It ran from S ...

in 1972. While only a medium hit in North America, their version reached number 3 in both the UK and Australia. Their version was never released in stereo until the 2013 Bell/Legacy release, "Playlist: The Very Best of the Partridge Family".

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Notable cover versions

"Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" has been covered by numerous other artists over the years, including a version by

The Happenings The Happenings are a pop music group that originated in the 1960s. Members of the original group, created in the spring of 1961 and initially called "The Four Graduates" because all had just graduated from high school in Paterson, New Jersey, we ...

, whose version charted at number 67 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1968.

References

External links

* (1962) * (1975) * {{Authority control 1962 songs 1962 singles 1972 singles 1975 singles Doo-wop songs Songs with lyrics by Howard Greenfield Songs written by Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka songs Paul Anka songs The Carpenters songs The Four Seasons (band) songs Tom Jones (singer) songs Carole King songs The Partridge Family songs Shelley Fabares songs The Marbles (duo) songs Andy Williams songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Number-one singles in Canada Number-one singles in New Zealand RPM Top Singles number-one singles The Rocket Record Company singles Polydor Records singles RCA Victor singles

Original version

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Lenny Welch version

Sedaka's 1975 version

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

The Partridge Family version

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Notable cover versions

See also

References

External links