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"Under Pressure" is a 1981 song recorded by Queen and David Bowie. It marked Bowie's first released collaboration with another recording artist as a performer, and is featured on Queen's 1982 album Hot Space. The song reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart. It was also number 31 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s.
Collaboration
Bowie had originally come to the studios in order to sing backing vocals on another Queen song, "Cool Cat," which would end up being edited out since he wasn't satisfied with them. Once he got there, they worked together for a while and wrote the song.[citation needed]
Creation
Queen had been working on the song under the title "Feel Like" but were not yet satisfied with the result.[citation needed] The final version that became "Under Pressure" evolved from a jam session the band had with Bowie at his studio in Montreux, Switzerland, therefore it was credited as co-written by the five musicians.[citation needed] According to Queen bassist John Deacon (as quoted in a French magazine in 1984), however, the song's primary musical songwriter was Freddie Mercury — though all contributed to the arrangement. The earlier, embryonic version of the song without Bowie "Feel Like" is widely available in bootleg form.[citation needed]
There has been some confusion about who created the song's famous bassline. John Deacon said (in Japanese magazine Musiclife in 1982, and in the previously mentioned French magazine) that David Bowie had created it. In more recent interviews, Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor have credited the bass riff to Deacon; Bowie also said on his website that the bassline was already written before he became involved. The September 2005 edition of online music magazine Stylus singled out the bassline as the best in popular music history.
Taylor's involvement
Roger Taylor was frequently rumored to be the song's chief writer. However, it appears that he served more as an intermediary for Mercury and Bowie, being friends with both men. Taylor was involved in the production of the track and did some preliminary mixes with Bowie in New York, but Bowie was dissatisfied with these results and wanted to re-record everything (as claimed by May on a November 1982 interview for IM&RW magazine). In the end, the final mix was done with the involvement of Mercury and recording engineer Mack, "under pressure" from Bowie and Taylor (according to Brian May in the same 1982 interview).
Track listing
1981 single
- "Under Pressure" (Mercury, Taylor, Deacon, May, Bowie) – 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
Live performances
Although very much a joint project, only Queen incorporated the song into their live shows at the time. Bowie chose not to perform the song before an audience 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 Mercury's death and the Outside tour in 1995, Bowie has performed the song at virtually every one of his live shows, with bassist Gail Ann Dorsey taking Mercury's vocal part. The song also appeared in setlists from A Reality Tour mounted by Bowie in 2004, when he frequently would dedicate it to Freddie Mercury. Queen + Paul Rodgers have recently performed the song as well. While Bowie was never present for a live performance of the song with Mercury, Roger Taylor instead filled for back-up vocals usually in unison with Mercury as Mercury would take over most of Bowie's parts.
Live recordings
- Queen first recorded a live version of the song at The Montreal Forum in Canada on November 24, 1981. This was included in the concert film We Will Rock You. Incidentally it is one of the few times in concert where Mercury used falsetto in the song on the line "these are the days it never rains but it pours".
- A second live version of the song was recorded at Milton Keynes, England, in 1982. This was released in 2004 on the live album/DVD Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl. Prior to the concert, rumours circulated that Bowie would appear with Queen to sing his parts onstage, but it is probable that he did not even attend the concert.
- Later, Queen recorded a third live version of the song at Wembley Stadium, London, in 1986. This was released on the live album/DVD Live at Wembley Stadium. Again, rumours circulated that Bowie would arrive onstage for the one song, but it is even debatable if there were even rumours, let alone a promise from Bowie. Another rendition from this same tour (from Queen's concert in Budapest) appeared in edited form on the album Live Magic in 1986.
- A version recorded by David Bowie's live band in 1995 was released on the bonus disc included with some versions of Outside - Version 2. This live version was also released on the single "Hallo Spaceboy" in 1996.
- David Bowie's DVD A Reality Tour (2003) includes a live version with Bowie's bassist Gail Ann Dorsey singing Mercury's parts.
Other releases
Rah Mix
A remixed version (called "Rah Mix") was issued in December 1999 to promote Queen's Greatest Hits III compilation, reaching #14 in the UK singles chart. Includes fresh recording work by Brian May and Roger Taylor.
Track listing
Two CD singles (one multimedia enhanced) released 6th December, 1999 and 7" picture disk released 13th December, 1999. As Bohemian Rhapsody wins The Song of The Millennium award, this released as b-side under the title "The Song of The Millenium/Bohemian Rhapsody"[1]
- CDS #1
- Under Pressure (Rah Mix)
- The Song Of The Millennium / Bohemian Rhapsody
- Thank God It's Christmas
- CDS #2
- Under Pressure (Rah Mix - Radio Edit)
- Under Pressure (Mike Spencer Mix)
- Under Pressure (Knebworth Mix)
- Enhanced section
- Was initially released in US on the Elektra Records US and Canadian versions of Queen's Greatest Hits as a new track.
- The song was released as a bonus track on the Virgin Records reissue of Bowie's Let's Dance in 1995.
- Hollywood Records remixed the song for their 1992 release, Classic Queen. This version features improved sound quality, but removes Mercury's interjection "that's okay!" at about 0:53.
- It also appeared on some Bowie compilations, most of which used the Hollywood Records remix:
- The original single version appears on disc three of Bowie's The Platinum Collection (2005), marking the first appearance of this version on a Bowie compilation.[2]. This disc was later released separately as The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987 (2007).
- An instrumental version appears in the DVD menu for the Hot Space section of Greatest Video Hits 2, and on the Greatest Karaoke Hits release.
- Was released in UK on Queen's Greatest Hits II (which would later be included in The Platinum Collection (2003)) removing the second time David Bowie sings, "This is our last dance."
- Has also been performed, but without the lyrics, by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.[3]
Chart positions
Under Pressure (1981):
Under Pressure – Rah Mix (1999):
| Country |
Peak position |
Certification |
| UK |
14 |
|
In popular culture
"Under Pressure" has often been licensed for use in films, television, video games and advertisements. It featured in the video game Guitar Hero 5, and is ranked in the game as the most difficult song to play on vocals, as it is the only song to have a 10/10 intensity level with that instrument. This is likely due to Freddie Mercury's high-pitched vocal parts in the song. It is on the Ashes to Ashes TV show soundtrack, probably due to the fact that the song for which the show was named is also a Bowie song.
Cover versions
The Used and My Chemical Romance version
The song was covered in 2005 by The Used and My Chemical Romance for tsunami relief. The cover was originally released as an Internet download track but has subsequently been featured as a bonus track on the 2005 re-issue of The Used's album In Love and Death, and received wide airplay in 2005.
On the Billboard charts, the single reached number 28 on Modern Rock and Pop 100 charts and number 41 on the Hot 100.[5]
Other cover versions
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