Breakdance (song)
"Breakdance" | ||||
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Single by Irene Cara | ||||
from the album What a Feelin' | ||||
B-side | "Cue Me Up" | |||
Released | March 1984 | |||
Recorded | 1983 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:02 (single edit) 3:26 (album version) 4:24 (dub/instrumental) 5:24 (extended remix) 6:01 (long version) | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Giorgio Moroder | |||
Irene Cara singles chronology | ||||
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"Breakdance" is a song written by
Background
In the spring of 1983, "
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."[4] 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. I lived in neighborhoods where kids were spinning on their heads on cardboard boards right in front of my building."[4] Although the term "breakdancing" has since been derided by its participants as an attempt by the mainstream media to capitalize on a marginalized subculture,[5] 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."[4]
Release
"Breakdance" debuted on
Critical reception
When Cara's What a Feelin' 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.[16] Upon the release of the single and remixes the following March, Cashbox's Skip Harris described the Extended Dubb as "a killer".[17]
Track listing and formats
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Credits and personnel
From the liner notes for What a Feelin':[24]
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Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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References
- ^ a b Whitburn 2009, p. 158.
- ^ "Hot Album Release Schedule: Nov". Billboard. November 5, 1983. p. 4.
- ^ Whitburn 2004b, p. 114.
- ^ a b c d Kawashima, Dale (May 24, 2018). "Special Interview With Pop Legend Irene Cara, Co-Writer & Singer Of The #1 Hit 'Flashdance…What a Feeling' And Star Of The Movie Fame". songwriteruniverse.com. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
- ^ Fogarty, Mary (2008). 'What ever happened to breakdancing?': Transnational b-boy/b-girl networks, underground video magazines and imagined affinities (PDF) (MA). Brock University. p. 60.
- ^ a b "South African Rock Lists Website - SA Charts 1965 - 1989 Songs (A-B)". www.rock.co.za.
- ^ a b "RPM 50 Singles". RPM. June 2, 1984. p. 6.
- ^ ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ a b "Irene Cara – Breakdance". Singles Top 100. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
- ^ a b "Irene Cara – Breakdance". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
- ^ a b "Irene Cara – Breakdance". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
- ^ a b "Offiziellecharts.de – Irene Cara – Breakdance" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
- ^ a b "Irene Cara: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
- ^ a b Whitburn 2004a, p. 102.
- ^ a b Whitburn 2004b, p. 50.
- ^ Chin, Brian (December 3, 1983). "Dance Trax". Billboard. p. 49.
- ^ Harris, Skip (March 24, 1984). "The Rhythm Section". Cashbox. p. 32.
- ^ Breakdance (US 7-inch Single liner notes). Irene Cara. Geffen Records. 1983. 7-29328.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Breakdance (US 12-inch Single liner notes). Irene Cara. Geffen Records. 1983. 0-20196.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Breakdance (Brazil 7-inch Single liner notes). Irene Cara. Discos CBS. 1984. 46610.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Breakdance (German 7-inch Single liner notes). Irene Cara. Epic Records. 1983. EPCA 4105.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Breakdance (Netherlands 12-inch Single liner notes). Irene Cara. Epic Records. 1983. EPCA 12.4105.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Breakdance (UK 12-inch Single liner notes). Irene Cara. Epic Records. 1983. TA 4427.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ What a Feelin' (record sleeve). Irene Cara. Santa Monica: Geffen Records. 1983. GHS 4021.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ "Irene Cara Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
- ^ Cash Box 1984 worldradiohistory.com
- ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 9638." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
- ^ "Talent Almanac 1985: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 96, no. 51. December 22, 1984. p. TA-19. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
- ^ "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1984". Cash Box magazine. Archived from the original on September 30, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
Bibliography
- Whitburn, Joel (2004a), Joel Whitburn Presents Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles, 1942-2004, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0898201608
- Whitburn, Joel (2004b), Joel Whitburn's Hot Dance/Disco, 1974-2003, Record Research Inc., ISBN 089820156X
- Whitburn, Joel (2009), Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 1955-2008, Record Research Inc., ISBN 978-0898201802
External links
- Breakdance (album version – 3:26) on YouTube