"Break It Up" is a song by German

hard dance Hardcore (also known as hardcore techno or hardcore house) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany in the early 1990s. It is distinguished by faster tempos and a distorte ...

band Scooter, released on 21 November 1996 as the second single from their third album, '' Wicked!'' (1996). Written by

Nosie Katzmann Nosie Katzmann (born Jürgen Katzmann in 1959) is a German dance music songwriter and producer. He is known for writing songs for several European electronic dance acts like Culture Beat and Captain Hollywood Project, for whom he contributed var ...

, it was a top-20 hit in several countries, like Austria, Finland and Germany. On the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

, it peaked at number 65 in February 1997.

Critical reception

British magazine ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated "Break It Up" four out of five, adding, "Shock of the week – the German trio press pause on their noisy

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

and unleash a simple but stunning

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

instead. If radio bites, this could be huge." In a second review two months later, they gave it five out of five, writing, "This epic ballad, a massive hit on the continent, has been around for two or three months and, with greater familiarity, sounds even more anthemic. It could be massive."

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

for "Break it Up" was directed by Rainer Thieding and features the band performing on a train.

Track listing

* 12" # "Break It Up" – 3:38 # "Scooter Del Mar" – 4:58 # "Wednesday" (Kontor Mix) – 6:52 * CD single, France # "Break It Up" – 3:38 # "Wednesday" (Kontor Mix) – 6:52 * CD maxi # "Break It Up" – 3:38 # "Break It Up" (Unplugged) – 3:36 # "Wednesday" (Kontor Mix) – 6:52

Charts

References

{{authority control Scooter (band) songs 1996 singles Songs written by Nosie Katzmann 1996 songs Music videos directed by Rainer Thieding Pop ballads