| "Breakin' in a Brand New Broken Heart" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Connie Francis | ||||
| A-side | Breakin' in a Brand New Broken Heart | |||
| B-side | Someone Else's Boy | |||
| Released | April 1961 | |||
| Format | 7" single | |||
| Recorded | 8 October 1960 | |||
| Genre | country pop | |||
| Length | 2:35 | |||
| Label | MGM Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Howard Greenfield, Jack Keller | |||
| Connie Francis singles chronology | ||||
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"Breakin' in a Brand New Broken Heart" is a popular song written by Howard Greenfield and Jack Keller recorded by Connie Francis in a 18 October 1960 New York City session conducted and arranged by Stan Applebaum; the same session produced "Where the Boys Are" to which "Breakin' in a Brand New Broken Heart" was released as the follow-up single in April 1961 reaching the Top Ten that May with a Billboard Hot 100 peak of #7 (#5 on the Cash Box Pop 100).[1]
Although "Breakin' in a Brand New Broken Heart" was Francis' seventh consecutive A-side to reach the Top Ten - and her eleventh Top Ten overall - the single did mark a dip in her popularity as, while Francis' previous eight singles had had both A- and B-sides chart, "Breakin' in a Brand New Broken Heart"'s B-side "Someone Else's Boy" was overlooked in the US despite becoming an international success for Francis via her recording versions in eight languages.
In the UK, "Breakin' in a Brand New Broken Heart" reached #12 in June 1961; the track reached the Top Ten in Australia (#8) and New Zealand (#2) that July and in September 1961 reached #7 in the Netherlands with a Top Ten ranking in India that December. Also in 1961 Francis' rendering in Italian as "La Valle Senzo Eco" ("The valley without echo") was a Top Ten hit in Italy - #9 that October - and the same year while a version in soumi: "Äsken särkyi sydämeni", was cut by Marjatta Leppänen for release in Finland.
Like Francis' previous Greenfield/Keller-penned hit "Everybody's Somebody's Fool", "Breakin' in a Brand New Broken Heart" exemplified the country pop sound and while unlike "Everybody's Somebody's Fool", "Breakin' in a Brand New Broken Heart" was not a C&W crossover for Francis herself the song early entered the C&W canon via a cover by the Wilburn Brothers on their 1962 album City Limits. 1 In 1978 Margo Smith remade the song for her Don't Break the Heart That Loves You whose title cut, a remake of Francis' 1961 #1 hit, had been a #1 C&W hit. "Breakin' in a Brand New Broken Heart" was a #25 C&W single in 1979 for Debby Boone whose precedent single had also been a remake of a Connie Francis hit, specifically "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own" (#11 C&W); both tracks were featured on the Debby Boone album. In 1980 Boone would attempt a third Connie Francis hit remake with her version of "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" which would fall short of the C&W Top 40 at #48.
A German rendering of the song: "Das kommt davon...", was recorded in 1961 by Gitte.