“Break Away” by Big Pig

Big Pig took an old Chuck Jackson number, "I Can't Break Away", and stripped it for parts: their "Breakaway" runs on drums and percussion with not a guitar in earshot, the Australian band's usual trick. It first came out in Britain in November 1987 and landed at home in February 1988, the third single pulled from Bonk, their debut album, on Mushroom. Mitchell Bottler and Gary Zekley's song is about freedom and fighting back against fate, and Big Pig pound it out like a rallying cry.

It became their biggest single, topping the New Zealand chart in May 1988 and reaching number eight in Australia, 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 10 in Canada. A year later it found a second life in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, playing over the opening credits.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.