Breakaway (Big Pig song)

1973 song by Chuck Jackson

"I Can't Break Away"

Song by Chuck Jackson
from the album  Through All Times
B-side| "Just a Little Tear"
Released| 1973
Length| 3:36
Label|

* Probe
* ABC

Songwriter(s)|

* Mitchell Bottler
* Gary Zekley

Producer(s)| Steve Barri
Chuck Jackson singles chronology
| "I Only Get This Feeling"
(1973)  | "I Can't Break Away"
(1973)  | "Maybe This Will Be the Morning"
(1974)

|
|

"Breakaway"

Single by Big Pig
from the album  Bonk
B-side|

* "Hellbent Heaven"
* "The Bald Dwarf"

Released| November 2, 1987 (1987-11-02)
Length| 3:38
Label|

* White Label, Mushroom (Australia)
* A&M (int'l)

Songwriter(s)|

* Mitchell Bottler
* Gary Zekley

Producer(s)| Nick Launay[1]
Big Pig singles chronology
| "Boy Wonder"
(1987)  | "Breakaway"
(1987)  | "Big Hotel"
(1988)

|
|

Audio
"Breakaway" on YouTube

"Breakaway", by Australian band Big Pig, is a cover of American R&B singer Chuck Jackson's song "I Can't Break Away". Originally released on November 2, 1987, in the United Kingdom, it was released on February 15, 1988, in Australia as the third single from their debut album Bonk. The song, written by Mitchell Bottler and Gary Zekley, is about freedom and fighting against destiny.[2] Like many other Big Pig songs, "Breakaway" features plentiful drums and percussion but no guitars.

The song became the band's most successful single, reaching number one in New Zealand in May 1988. It also reached number eight in their native Australia and managed to chart in North America, reaching number 60 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 10 on Canada's RPM Top Singles chart. Its earlier UK release saw the song peak at number 89 on the UK Singles Chart.

In 1989, the song appeared on the soundtrack to the science-fiction comedy film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure,[3] also appearing in the film's opening credits.

## Reception

[edit]

In 2004, Clem Bastow of Stylus Magazine wrote that while Big Pig's "Breakaway" is likely "the least 'rock' of all the songs from Excellent Adventure," it incites a sense of excitement. He added that the song is "a dodgy, quasi-deep (see: made up language) throwaway hit" from an otherwise obscure band clad in matching dresses, "yet doesn't that line, 'All my life I’ve wanted to fly/Like the birds that you see way up in the sky', set to that pulsating proto-industrial clang, tap into that universal wish for freedom, for super-human powers, for that which we cannot have? The answer is, of course, yes."[4]

## Track listings

[edit]

White Label Records 7-inch single[5]

1. "Breakaway" – 3:45
2. "Hellbent Heaven" – 3:33

White Label Records 12-inch maxi-single[5]

1. "Breakaway" (Popper Mix) – 6:02
2. "The Bald Dwarf"
3. "Breakaway" – 3:30

## Charts

[edit]

### Chuck Jackson version

[edit]

Chart (1973)  | Peak
position

|

US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[6] | 62

### Big Pig version

[edit]

#### Weekly charts

[edit]

| Chart (1987–1988)  | Peak
position

|

Australia (Australian Music Report)[7] | 8
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[8] | 10
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[5] | 1
UK Singles (OCC)[9] | 89
US Billboard Hot 100[10] | 60
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[11] | 7

#### Year-end charts

[edit]

| Chart (1988)  | Position

|

Australia (ARIA)[12] | 37
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[13] | 12

## Release history

[edit]

Region  | Date  | Format(s)  | Label(s)  | Ref.

|
|
|
|

United Kingdom  | November 2, 1987 (1987-11-02) |

* 7-inch vinyl
* 12-inch vinyl

| A&M | [14]
Australia  | February 15, 1988 (1988-02-15) |

* 7-inch vinyl
* cassette

* White Label
* Mushroom

| [15]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "I Can't Break Away". Archived from the original on June 25, 2011. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
2. ^ Kerr, Jack (December 2014). "Breakaway by Big Pig – fighting fate and longing for freedom". The Guardian. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
3. ^ "Original Soundtrack – Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure". AllMusic. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
4. ^ Bastow, Clem (February 11, 2004). "Top Ten Musical Moments From the Bill & Ted Movies". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
5. ^ a b c "Big Pig – Breakaway". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
6. ^ "Chuck Jackson Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
7. ^ "Australian ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart – Week Ending 29th May, 1988". ARIA. Retrieved April 13, 2018 - via Imgur. N.B. The top 50 portion of the Kent Music Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid-1983 and June 12, 1988. "Breakaway" peaked on the chart before the commencement of the ARIA-produced chart in June 1988.
8. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 8714." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
9. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
10. ^ "Big Pig Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
11. ^ "Big Pig Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
12. ^ "ARIA Top 50 Singles for 1988". ARIA. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
13. ^ "End of Year Charts 1988". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
14. ^ "New Singles" (PDF). Music Week. October 31, 1987. p. 35. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
15. ^ "Australian Music Report No 707 – 15 February 1988 > Singles: New Releases". Australian Music Report. Retrieved April 13, 2018 - via Imgur.

## External links

[edit]

* "Breakaway" at Discogs (list of releases)

*[int'l]: international
*[Ref.]: Reference