Heartbreaker_(Dionne_Warwick_song)

Heartbreaker (Dionne Warwick song)

Heartbreaker (Dionne Warwick song)

1982 single by Dionne Warwick


"Heartbreaker" is a song performed by American singer Dionne Warwick. It was written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees for her 1982 studio album of the same name, while production was helmed by Barry Gibb, Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson under their production moniker Gibb-Galuten-Richardson. Barry Gibb's backing vocal is heard on the chorus.

Quick Facts Single by Dionne Warwick, from the album ...

The song reached the top ten in over a dozen countries and stands as one of Warwick's biggest career hits, selling an estimated 4 million singles worldwide. In the U.S., it peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1983. The track was Warwick's eighth number one Adult Contemporary hit and reached number 14 on the Hot Black Singles chart.[1] It was ranked as Billboard magazine's 80th-biggest US hit of 1983. On the UK Singles Chart, the track reached number 2 in November 1982.

Background

"Heartbreaker" was written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees for singer Dionne Warwick's same-titled album. The song blended the Gibb brothers' two schools of songwriting: it has the clear verse and chorus structure favored by Robin and Maurice, yet also has the longer spun-out verses Barry now preferred, both well balanced. The melody is reminiscent of "Living Eyes", but the song has a much stronger forward motion. Maurice said later that he wished they had saved it for themselves.[2] The Bee Gees' demo version, sung by Barry, was not released until 2006 when it appeared on The Heartbreaker Demos (2006), the group's demo album of Warwick's album.[3]

Warwick admitted in The Billboard Book of Number One Adult Contemporary Hits by Wesley Hyatt that she was not fond of "Heartbreaker" (regarding the song's international popularity, she quipped, "I cried all the way to the bank"), but recorded it because she trusted the Bee Gees' judgment that it would be a hit.[4] Maurice Gibb, who co-wrote the song, commented, "I cried my eyes out after we wrote it. I drove home and thought, 'We should be doing this one', and when she did it, it was brilliant. We sang on it, and it still became like a duet between the Bee Gees and Dionne Warwick".[5]

Cover versions

The Bee Gees' own version, with Barry Gibb on lead vocals, was recorded in 1994. It was originally planned for an album called Love Songs to be released in 1995, but was eventually released in 2001 on Their Greatest Hits: The Record.[6] "Heartbreaker" was originally recorded as a single released on the Yep Roc label in 2019. Later it was released on a full length (Walkabout) originally released in Australia to commemorate their tour of the continent. Eventually it was released for the rest of the world as well.

Track listings

All tracks produced by Gibb-Galuten-Richardson.

More information No., Title ...

Charts

More information Chart (1982–1983), Peak position ...

See also


References

  1. Whitburn, Joel (2007). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2006. Record Research. p. 254.
  2. "Gibb Songs : 1982". Columbia.edu. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  3. Wesley Hyatt, The Billboard Book of Number One Adult Contemporary Hits (NY: Billboard Books, 1997); ISBN 9780823076932
  4. Hughes, Andrew (2009). The Bee Gees - Tales of the Brothers Gibb. ISBN 9780857120045. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  5. "Gibb Songs : 1994". Columbia.edu. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  6. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  7. "Danish Chart Archive - Singles 1979 - ____ (B.T./IFPI DK)". www.ukmix.org. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  8. Racca, Guido (2019). M&D Borsa Singoli 1960–2019 (in Italian). ISBN 9781093264906.
  9. "TOP 20 TMP Portugal - number one in the 80's airplay charts". www.laurentpons.com. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
  10. "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  11. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  12. Chartsventes (2016-10-01). "World singles charts and sales TOP 50 in 58 countries: DIONNE WARWICK". World singles charts and sales TOP 50 in 58 countries. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
  13. "Jaaroverzichten 1982". Ultratop. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  14. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1982". www.top40.nl. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  15. "Jaaroverzichten - Single 1982". www.dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  16. Rees, Dafydd; Lazell, Barry; Jones, Alan (1983). "The Top 100 UK Singles". Chart File Volume 2. London, England: Virgin Books. pp. 80–81. ISBN 0-907080-73-1.
  17. Steffen Hung. "Forum - Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts - 1980s (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  18. "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 31 December 2020.

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