| "Big Time" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Peter Gabriel | ||||
| from the album So | ||||
| B-side |
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| Released | ||||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:26 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | Peter Gabriel | |||
| Producer(s) |
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| Peter Gabriel singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Big Time" on YouTube | ||||
"Big Time" is a song by the 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. [6]
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". [7]
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. [8] 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. [9]
The drum parts were a considerable challenge to record - Gabriel requested that Marotta, Manu Katché and Stewart Copeland each play a take over a click track from a LinnDrum. [7] Marotta recorded a drum part with a harder rock feel, but Gabriel instead opted for Copeland's "lighter, poppier approach". [9] Gabriel liked Copeland's drum take but felt that it did not quite lock in rhythmically. [7] 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." [10]
To get around the timing problems, engineer Kevin Killen mixed Copeland's drum parts to mono and sampled sections of his playing that lined up best with the click track. Gabriel additionally wanted to incorporate Copeland's drum fills, which were also meticulously sampled and adjusted to align with the rest of the song. [7]
Cash Box said that the song "features Gabriel in a characteristic lyrical goldmine delivering a passionate, believable vocal". [11] Billboard called it a "dynamic, big-room funk-rocker" that recreates the old Memphis sound. [12] The Los Angeles Times was more critical and labeled the song as the album's "biggest failure", arguing that it was "a satire on ego and ambition that says nothing we haven't heard from lesser observers many times before". [13]
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" US
12" US
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 | |
Credits adapted from the album So : [14]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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"Big Time" was used in 2006 by WWE as the main theme for WrestleMania 22. [29] It is featured in the intro of the documentary film Inside Job (2010). [30]
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 Gabriel also lent his voice as an actor. [31]
"Every Breath You Take" is a song by the English 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.
"Roxanne" is a song by British rock band the Police. The song was written by lead singer and bassist Sting and was released as a single on 7 April 1978, in advance of their debut album Outlandos d'Amour, released on 3 November. It was written from the point of view of a man who falls in love with a prostitute. When re-released on 12 April 1979, the song peaked at No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Don't Stand So Close to Me" is a hit song by the British rock band the Police, released in September 1980 as the lead single from their third studio album Zenyatta Mondatta. It concerns a teacher who has a sexual relationship with a student, which in turn is discovered.
"Shock the Monkey" is a song by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel. It was released in September 1982 as the first single from his fourth self-titled studio album, issued in the US under the title Security.
Plays Live is the first live and fifth album overall by English rock musician Peter Gabriel. It was originally issued as a double album and long-play cassette in 1983, with sixteen songs. It was re-released in 1985, as a single CD called Plays Live (Highlights) with only twelve songs, some of which are edited so the album fits on a single disc. It was rereleased in its entirety as a double CD set in 1987. In 2002, a remaster of the Highlights version was issued. In 2019, the complete double-LP version was released on streaming platforms for the first time.
"Solsbury Hill" is the debut solo single by English rock musician Peter Gabriel. He wrote the song about a spiritual experience atop Solsbury Hill in Somerset, England, after his departure from the progressive rock band Genesis, of which he had been the lead vocalist since its inception. The single was a Top 20 hit in the UK, peaking at number 13, and reached number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1977.
"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 initially only released as a promotional single and reached number three on Billboard magazine's Mainstream Rock chart in June 1986, where it stayed for three weeks between July and August. A year later, in June 1987, it was released as a commercial single in parts of Europe, Australia and the United States, 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.
Acting Very Strange is the second and final solo album by Genesis guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford and the only album to feature him on lead vocals. It was released on 7 September 1982. Unlike the previous album Smallcreep's Day, Acting Very Strange uses a very raw and unpolished sound. None of the album's singles charted in the US or UK top 100, but the lead single "Maxine" did make US Billboard charts' Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart at No. 37. The song was also a top 40 pop hit in Canada, peaking at No. 39. The album itself was much more successful, reaching number 23 in the UK.
"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.
"Invisible Touch" is the title track and first single from the 1986 studio album of the same name by the English rock band Genesis. The song is a group composition which featured lyrics written by drummer and lead vocalist Phil Collins.
Robbie Robertson is the solo debut album by Canadian rock musician Robbie Robertson, released in 1987. Though Robertson had been a professional musician since the late 1950s, notably a founder of and primary songwriter for The Band, this was his first solo album. Robbie Robertson won the Juno Award for "Album of the Year", and producers Daniel Lanois and Robertson won the "Producer of the Year" Juno award, both in 1989; there were no Juno Awards in 1988.
"In Your Eyes" is a song by 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). An edited version was released as the third single from the album in the UK on 20 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.
"Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" is the second track on the 1986 album Invisible Touch by the English rock band Genesis, released in January 1987 as the fourth single from the album. It peaked at No. 3 in the US and No. 18 in the UK.
"Steam" is a song by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, released in January 1993 by Geffen Records as the second single from his sixth album, Us (1992). Gabriel, who wrote the song and produced it with Daniel Lanois, has said that the song is about a relationship in which the woman is sophisticated, bright, cultured, and knows everything about anything while the man knows nothing about anything; however, he does know about the woman, and she does not know much about herself.
"Sara" is a song recorded by the American rock band Starship which reached number-one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart on March 15, 1986. It was sung by Mickey Thomas, of the newly renamed band Starship, from their first album Knee Deep in the Hoopla, and Grace Slick provided the backing vocals.
"Digging in the Dirt" is a song by British musician Peter Gabriel. It was released as the first single taken from his sixth studio album, Us, on 7 September 1992. The song was a minor hit on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 52, but it topped both the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks and Album Rock Tracks charts. The song was moderately successful on the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 24, and it reached the top 10 in Canada, Portugal, and Sweden.
"I Have the Touch" is a song by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel from his fourth eponymous studio album released in 1982. The song's working title during the recording sessions was "Hands". This song was featured in the film The Chocolate War (1988). The 1996 remix was used in the film Phenomenon of the same year. In 1996, Heather Nova recorded a cover version of the song for the teen-witch horror film The Craft.
"Give Me All Night" is the second single from Carly Simon's 13th studio album Coming Around Again (1987). The song was co-written by Simon with Gerard McMahon and produced by Paul Samwell-Smith. An accompanying music video was filmed on Martha's Vineyard and featured drummer Rick Marotta.
