"Break out" black and pms for prepress?

Help please?
I am working in Illustrator CS4, and finished a 2-sided mailer/postcard for a client in cmyk. After emailing the final PDF to the client, the client responded back to me with their print provider's request for— "native file, with black and PMS broken out". 
First—the file was set up as CMYK, so I am asuming it was partly a lazy reponse/request? (not realizing it was set up as CMYK).
Second—I typically I send files to commercial print providers as a PDF (Press Quality or PDF/X:1a)—is this not sufficient for them—and why?
I appreciate any insight on this for my own edification, and I'd like to know if they asked for this beacuse they don't have certain "break out" capabilities on their end? ...OR if it's because PDF's do not provide them with editability (which I thought they did)?
Lastly, I would specifically like to know what steps I should take to prepare CMYK colors "broken out".  (Step by step please?)
Thank you VERY much in advance.
Chemol

Jet,
Thanks for your feedback.
Given that this "separations request" came from the print sales rep—versus the prepress department, I am inclined to think it was "partly a lazy reponse/request (not realizing it was set up as CMYK)."  ....as I stated in my initial posting. Hence, this whole discussion could be moot.
That said, I do have the Adobe Print Publishing Guide, but not much insight on file separations/what to actually look for. Also, the book does not suggest "separations" for print vendor file prep procedure—just save as PDF/X-1 or PDF/x-3.
I have tried to research this topic and I am not finding much on "real world" reasoning or situational application—ie: why some print vendors ask for it, while others do not. When is it expected, what is good practice? Are separations for PMS only? Situationally speaking—would a designer actually send a file to a printer broken down/separated by colour—translating a 2 spot colour, 2 sided card (2 pages) into 4 pages—one page per colour? Is that done in the native program ie: illustrator, or is there a SAVE feature that breaks it out for you? questions, questions......
Yes I have Acrobat Pro and have viewed it already via that method, though I am not sure what I am supposed to gain by it, it or look for specifically?
Yes, I also have a colour laser printer—I printed the separations (Host Based) instead of Composite—all 4 sheets came out in various degrees of black (similar to viewing an image via individual Channels in Photoshop). Again, not sure what I need to look for here, beyond the cool effect of an infrared appearance. ??
Yes, I stated in my original message that I was using Ilustrator CS4.
2-sided postcard:
I know not to use a "multicolour black" for text, and as I mentioned in my first response to you colour question:
1 background black (C50, M40, Y40, K100)
black text ink (K100)
There are no spot colours, and the commerical printer is a highly reputable large printing company.
Good suggestion about uploading it for evaluation, and perhaps I will look for a site like that.
Thx.

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