| "Big Time" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Peter Gabriel | ||||
| from the album So | ||||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released | November 1986 (US) [1] March 1987 (UK) [1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:26 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | Peter Gabriel | |||
| Producer(s) |
| |||
| Peter Gabriel singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Big Time" on YouTube | ||||
"Big Time" is a song by English rock musician Peter Gabriel from his fifth studio album So (1986). It was his second top-ten single on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at no. 8. [5]
The song underwent many permutations before being finalized: Jerry Marotta remembers an early version of "Big Time", which he described as more intense and so far out from the released version that it "would not have been a hit." [6]
The song's bass guitar part is unique in that backing bassist Tony Levin and drummer Marotta teamed up to record it. Levin handled the fingerings while Marotta hit the strings with his drumsticks, resulting in a percussive sound; it was inspired by a technique developed by Gene Krupa in the 1940s or early 1950s. [7] Inspired by this sound, Levin later invented funk fingers, small drumstick ends that could be attached to the fingertips in order to reproduce it during live performances. [8]
The drum parts were a considerable challenge to record, with Marotta, Manu Katché and Stewart Copeland each playing a take over a click track from the LinnDrum. [6] Marotta originally recorded a drum part with a harder rock feel, but Gabriel instead opted for Copeland's "lighter, poppier approach". [8] Gabriel liked Copeland's drum take but felt that it did not quite lock in rhythmically. [6] He said, "I love Stewart's playing. He's not the world's best timekeeper, as he would be first to admit, but he can drive a track like very few others; it's always ahead of the beat, sits right up and forward, and his kit always sounds very alive." [9]
To get around the problem, engineer Kevin Killen mixed down Copeland's drum parts to mono, sampling sections of his playing that lined up best with the click track and flew them in a few bars at a time. Gabriel additionally wanted to bring in the drum fills, which were also meticulously sampled, and adjustments were done to the speed to get them to line up with the track. [6]
Cash Box said that the song "features Gabriel in a characteristic lyrical goldmine delivering a passionate, believable vocal." [10] Billboard called it a "dynamic, big-room funk-rocker" that recreates the old Memphis sound. [11]
The visual style was very similar to the "Sledgehammer" video, using stop motion claymation by David Daniels and strata-cut animation. The larger video was supervised by director Stephen R. Johnson and produced by Prudence Fenton. It was shot at Peter Wallach Studios. Artist Wayne White contributed to the creation of the video.
7" UK
12" UK
Cassette single UK
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Big Time (extended version)" | 6:14 |
| 2. | "Curtains" | 3:28 |
| 3. | "No Self Control" | 3:54 |
| 4. | "Across the River" | 7:12 |
| 5. | "Big Time (seven-inch version)" | 4:26 |
| Total length: | 25:14 | |
7" US
12" US
Along with the two mixes found on different versions of the single, "Big Time" has been officially remixed by Electrokingdom in various mixes, including the version by Frenk DJ & Niky D. Although reputed to be more numerous, four mixes (Main Mix – Club Mix – Dub Mix – Acoustic Mix) can be downloaded on legal platforms.
Credits adapted from the album So : [12]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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"Big Time" was used in 2006 by WWE as the main theme for WrestleMania 22. [27] It is featured in the intro of the documentary film Inside Job (2010). [28]
The B-Side, "Curtains," was not released in digital format until 2004, when the 'Broad Mix' of the song was featured in the videogame Myst IV: Revelation , to which Peter Gabriel also lent his voice as an actor. [29]
"Every Breath You Take" is a song by British rock band the Police from their album Synchronicity (1983). Written by Sting, the single was the biggest US and Canadian hit of 1983, topping the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for eight weeks, and the Canadian RPM chart for four weeks. Their fifth UK No. 1, it topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks. The song also reached the top 10 in numerous other countries.
So is the fifth studio album by English singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel, released on 19 May 1986 by Charisma Records and Virgin Records. After working on the soundtrack to the film Birdy (1984), producer Daniel Lanois was invited to remain at Gabriel's Somerset home during 1985 to work on his next solo project. Initial sessions for So consisted of Gabriel, Lanois and guitarist David Rhodes, although these grew to include a number of percussionists.
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Peter Gabriel is the third solo studio album by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel, released on 30 May 1980 by Charisma Records. The album, produced by Steve Lillywhite, has been acclaimed as Gabriel's artistic breakthrough as a solo artist. AllMusic wrote that it established him as "one of rock's most ambitious, innovative musicians".
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"Red Rain" is the first track on English rock musician Peter Gabriel's fifth solo studio album So (1986). In the United States, it was the second single from the album and reached number three on Billboard magazine's Mainstream Rock chart in 1986, where it stayed for three weeks between July and August. In the rest of the world it was not released until 1987 and received less airplay and fewer sales, peaking at 46 in the UK Singles Chart after entering the chart in July of that year. A live version also charted in the US and the UK in 1994.
"Sledgehammer" is a song by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel. It was released in April 1986 as the lead single from his fifth studio album, So (1986). It was produced by Gabriel and Daniel Lanois. It reached No. 1 in Canada on 21 July 1986, where it spent four weeks; No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States on 26 July 1986; and No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart, thanks in part to its music video. It was his biggest hit in North America and ties with "Games Without Frontiers" as his biggest hit in the United Kingdom.
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"In Your Eyes" is a song by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel from his fifth solo studio album So (1986). It features Youssou N'Dour singing a part at the end of the song translated into his native Wolof. Gabriel's lyrics were inspired by an African tradition of ambiguity in song between romantic love and love of God.
"Don't Give Up" is a song written by English rock musician Peter Gabriel and recorded as a duet with English singer Kate Bush for Gabriel's fifth solo studio album So (1986). The single version was released as the second single from the album in the UK in October 1986 and as the fourth single in the US in March 1987. It spent eleven weeks in the UK Top 75 chart in 1986, peaking at number nine.
Pieces of the Sun is bassist Tony Levin's third solo album. It is an instrumental record blending elements of jazz, progressive rock, experimental, and international music. It featured his touring group of the time, which included keyboardist Larry Fast, guitarist Jesse Gress, and drummer Jerry Marotta. The California Guitar Trio accompanies this quartet on the opening track, "Apollo." In addition to percussion duties, Marotta also plays acoustic guitar, Omnichord and saxophone on the album. The only vocals are the spoken word "Tequila" on “Tequila” and "dog one!," "dog two!", "dog three!" on "Dog One," which is a new recording of a Peter Gabriel composition, which Levin, Marotta and Fast had developed together while in Gabriel’s band.
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"Games Without Frontiers" is a song written and recorded by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel. It was released on his 1980 self-titled third studio album, where it included backing vocals by Kate Bush. The song's lyrics are interpreted as a commentary on war and international diplomacy being like children's games. The music video includes film clips of Olympic Games events and scenes from the educational film Duck and Cover (1951), which used a cartoon turtle to instruct US schoolchildren on what to do in case of nuclear attack. This forlorn imagery tends to reinforce the song's anti-war theme. Two versions of the music video were initially created for the song, followed by a third one made in 2004.
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