Bringin' On the Heartbreak

Infobox Single
Name = Bringin' On the Heartbreak


Artist = Def Leppard
from Album = High 'n' Dry
Released = November 13 1981 (U.S. – original)
1984 (remix)
Format = Vinyl single
Recorded = Battery Studios, North London; 1981
Genre = Hard rock
Heavy metal
Length = 4:34
Label = Mercury
Writer = Joe Elliott, Pete Willis, Steve Clark
Producer = Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Last single = "Let It Go"
(1981)
This single = "Bringin' On the Heartbreak"
(1981)
Next single = "Photograph"
(1983)
Misc = Extra chronology
Artist = Def Leppard
Type = singles
Last single = "Too Late For Love"
(1983)
This single = "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" (remix)
(1984)
Next single = "Women"
(1987)Extra album cover
Upper caption = Remix U.S. cover
Background = khaki


Lower caption = "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" is a song originally recorded by British hard rock band Def Leppard. It was the second single from their 1981 album "High 'n' Dry". The song was written by three of the band's members: Steve Clark, Pete Willis, and Joe Elliott. In 2002, it was covered by American pop/R&B singer Mariah Carey for her album "Charmbracelet". Many reviews of the R&B cover were positive, as was the reaction from Def Leppard's Joe Elliott.

Def Leppard version

Def Leppard recorded the song for their second album, "High 'n' Dry". Its working title had been "A Certain Heartache", and the track (along with the others on the album) was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. Lange said he thought the band was intending to make the song's verse "jangley" and "a kind of 'Stairway to Heaven' thing; Steve [Clark] likes that long wrangled guitar jangle". Cliff Bernstein, the manager of Def Leppard and an A&R representative for Mercury Records, later said that Peter Willis was embarrassed to play the song for him because it was a ballad. Bernstein originally thought it only had potential to be a hit single if it was recorded by an artist such as Bonnie Tyler.

"High 'n' Dry" was released in the U.S. in summer 1981. Though its lead single, "Let It Go", had become a minor top forty hit on "Billboard"'s Mainstream Rock Chart, the album itself had not been commercially successful. "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" was commercially released in the U.S. on November 13 (see 1981 in music), with "Me and My Wine" (a non-album track) and "You Got Me Runnin'" included as B-sides. It did not appear on the U.S. charts, but its music video was picked up by the recently launched television channel MTV and received heavy rotation. The popularity of the video and the exposure the band received caused a resurgence in sales of "High 'n' Dry", which subsequently sold over two million copies. It was released in Mexico as "Llevarlo en la Desilusión" with "Yo y mi Vino" ("Me and My Wine") featuring the cover art from the single of "Too Late for Love".

"High 'n' Dry" was re-issued in May 1984 with two new tracks, one of which was a synthesizer-heavy remix of "Bringin' On the Heartbreak". Featuring Phil Collen on guitar, the remix was released as a single with a newly filmed video (see 1984 in music) and peaked at sixty-one on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100. The original version of the song is considered one of Def Leppard's signature power ballads and was later included on three of their compilation albums: ' (1995) "Best of Def Leppard" (2004) and ' (2005). The latter compilation ends with the instrumental "Switch 625," as it does in "High 'n' Dry". Steve Huey of Allmusic has characterised the song as an "unabashedly dramatic rock ballad". [cite web|url=http://wc04.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:aifrxqr5ldke~T1|title=High 'N' Dry review|publisher=allmusic|accessdate=2007-09-15]

Music video

The first music video was directed by Doug Smith, and is a live recording of Def Leppard performing the song at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool, England on July 22 1981. It was originally filmed (along with clips for "Let It Go" and "High 'n' Dry") as part of Don Kirshner's "Rock Concert" television series on the U.S. network ABC. [cite web|url=http://www.deflepparduk.com/defvideo1.html|title=Def Video 1 - High 'N' Dirty 1981 Era|publisher=Def Leppard UK.com|accessdate=2007-09-15] The second music video, directed by David Mallet, was shot on February 1984 in Jacob's Biscuit Factory in Lake, Dublin, Ireland. [cite web|url=http://www.deflepparduk.com/defvideo2.html|title=Def Video 2 - Pyromania 1983/High 'N' Dirty 1984 Era|publisher=Def Leppard UK.com|accessdate=2007-09-15]

Track listing

;7" Mercury / 818 779-7 (U.S.)
# "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" (remix)
# "Me & My Wine" (remix)

Credits

Def Leppard version

*Lead vocals by Joe Elliott
*Background vocals by Steve Clark, Rick Savage, Pete Willis
*Lead guitars by Steve Clark, Pete Willis
*Bass by Rick Savage
*Drums by Rick Allen

Charts

Def Leppard version

¹ Remix.

Notes

References

* [http://www.sleazeroxx.com/bands/defleppard/high.shtml "Def Leppard: "High 'N' Dry"] . "Sleaze Roxx". Retrieved January 26 2006.
*Rao, Sunil. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A425828 "Def Leppard - the Band"] . bbc.co.uk. September 18 2000. Retrieved January 26 2006.
* [http://www.defleppard.com/biography/index.html "Biography"] . DefLeppard.com — official website. Retrieved January 26 2006.
*Huey, Steve. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:vx7ibkd96akv "High 'N' Dry" — Review"] . "Allmusic". Retrieved January 26 2006.
* [http://www.defleppardfrequency.com/TimelineHighnDry.html "Timeline Part 2"] . "The Def Leppard Frequency". September 18 2004. Retrieved January 26 2006.
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:tg8e4jo70waq~T51 "Def Leppard — "Billboard" Singles"] . "Allmusic". Retrieved January 26 2006.
* [http://www.mariahdaily.com/fancenter/rumoriah.shtml "Rumoriah: The Mariah Rumor Mill"] . "Mariah Daily". Retrieved January 26 2006.
*Gibson, Darren. [http://www.deflepparduk.com/defvideo1.html "Def Video 1 — "High 'N' Dry" Era"] . "Def Leppard UK". Retrieved January 26 2006.