Under Pressure
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- Under Pressure is also an alternative title for the Frank Herbert novel The Dragon in the Sea.
| Under Pressure | ||
|---|---|---|
| Image:QueenBowie UnderPressure.jpg | ||
| Single by Queen and David Bowie | ||
| From the album Hot Space | ||
| B-side | Soul Brother | |
| Single Released | 26 October 1981 | |
| Single Format | 7" single | |
| Recorded | Mountain Studios, Montreux, July 1981 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Song Length | 4:02 | |
| Record label | EMI | |
| Producer | Queen, David Bowie | |
| Chart positions | #1 (UK) #29 (USA) | |
| Queen single chronology | ||
| "Flash" 1980 | "Under Pressure" 1981 | "Body Language" 1982 |
| David Bowie single chronology | ||
| "Up the Hill Backwards" 1981 | "Under Pressure" 1981 | "Wild Is the Wind" 1981 |
Under Pressure is the title of a song from 1981 by Queen and David Bowie. It marked Queen's first released collaboration with another recording artist. The song was a hit at the time, reaching #1 in the UK singles chart.
"Under Pressure" evolved from a jam session the band had with Bowie at its studio in Montreux, Switzerland, therefore it was credited as co-written by the five musicians. Nevertheless, according to Queen bassist John Deacon as quoted in a French magazine in 1984, the (main) musical songwriter was pianist/singer Freddie Mercury, although all contributed in the arrangement.
There has been some confusion about who created the song's famous bass-line. John Deacon said in Japanese magazine Musiclife in 1982, and in the previously mentioned French magazine, that David Bowie had created and taught it to him. In more recent interviews Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor have credited the bass-riff to Deacon; Bowie said in his website that the bass-line was already there before he became involved. In any case, in September 2005, the online music magazine Stylus singled out the bass-line as the best in popular music history.
Although very much a joint project, only Queen incorporated the song into their live shows at the time, with Bowie choosing not to perform the song again until the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, when he and Annie Lennox sang it as a duet, backed by the surviving Queen members. However, since 1995's 1.OUTSIDE tour, Bowie has performed the song at virtually every live performance, with bassist Gail Ann Dorsey taking over Mercury's vocal. Also in Bowie's 2004 "A Reality Tour", he frequently had the song in the setlist and would dedicate it to Freddie Mercury.
The opening lines are: "Um boom ba bay Um boom ba bay Um Um boom ba bay bay"
Contents |
Track listing
- "Under Pressure" (Bowie, Mercury, Taylor, Deacon, May) - 4:02
- "Soul Brother" (Mercury, Taylor, Deacon, May) - 3:38
EMI released a 3-inch CD version of the single in 1988 with "Body Language" as an additional B-side.
Production credits
- Producers:
- Musicians:
- Freddie Mercury: Vocals, piano, organ
- David Bowie: Vocals, synth
- Brian May: Guitar
- John Deacon: Bass
- Roger Taylor: Drums
Live versions
- Queen first recorded a version of the song at The Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec, Canada on November 24, 1981. This was released on the concert film We Will Rock You.
- Queen recorded a second live version of the song at Milton Keynes, London, 1982. This was released in 2004 on the live album/DVD Queen On Fire Live at the Bowl.
- Then Queen recorded a third live version of the song at Wembley, London, 1986. This was released on the live album/DVD Live at Wembley Stadium.
- A live version recorded by David Bowie in 1995 was released on the bonus disc that followed some of the versions of Outside - Version 2. This live version was also released on the single "Hallo Spaceboy" in 1996.
Other releases
- It was released as a bonus track on the Virgin Records reissue of Bowie's Let's Dance in 1995.
- A remixed version ("Rah Mix") was issued in December 1999 to promote Queen's Greatest Hits III compilation, reaching UK #14.
- It also appeared on some Bowie compilations:
- Bowie: The Singles 1969-1993 (1993)
- The Singles Collection (1993)
- The Best of Bowie (2002)
In the media
- Played in the very first episode of Judging Amy.
- Played in an episode of Ally McBeal
- Played in an episode of Rescue Me.
- Played in an episode of Scrubs.
- Played in an episode of Eyes.
- Played in an episode of the second season of Cold Case.
- Played in the 2002 movie 40 Days and 40 Nights.
- Played in the 2004 movie The Girl Next Door.
- Played in the 1997 movie Grosse Pointe Blank.
- Played in the 1988 movie A New Life.
- Played in the 1998 movie The Players Club.
- Played in the 1998 movie Stepmom.
- Played in the trailer of Adaptation..
- Played in a commercial for Zales Jewelry.
- Played for a PGA promo.
- Played in the 2006 movie Cheaper by the Dozen 2.
Cover versions
- Rapper Vanilla Ice sampled this song without permission for his biggest hit, the commercially successful Ice Ice Baby. His response to criticism relied upon the addition of one grace note not present in the original. No lawsuit was filed, but it is likely that Vanilla Ice settled out of court with Queen and Bowie.
- The song was covered in 2005 by My Chemical Romance and The Used for tsunami relief. The cover was originally released as an internet download track but has subsequently featured as a bonus track on all new reprints of The Used's In Love and Death, and received wide airplay in 2005.
- The song was also covered by Small Brown Bike and The Casket Lottery on a split EP as well as Crooked Fingers on the Reservoir Songs EP.
- Culture Beat - Queen Dance Traxx I (1996)
- The Flaming Lips - Live recording
- Fobia - Presionando - Tributo a Queen, Los Grandes del Rock en Español (1997)
- Kween - Rhapsody from Heaven (1996)
- London Symphony Orchestra - Plays the Music of Queen (1994)
- Pennywise
- Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - The Queen Collection (1982)
- The Blood Brothers - Live recordingno:Under Pressure