No Self Control (Peter Gabriel song)

Last updated
"No Self Control"
Peter Gabriel - No Self Control.jpg
Single by Peter Gabriel
from the album Peter Gabriel (Melt)
B-side "Lead a Normal Life"
Released25 April 1980 [1]
Recorded1979
Genre
Length3:55
Label Charisma
Songwriter(s) Peter Gabriel
Producer(s) Steve Lillywhite
Peter Gabriel singles chronology
"Games Without Frontiers"
(1980)
"No Self Control"
(1980)
"Biko"
(1980)

"No Self Control" is a song written and performed by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel. It was released in 1980 as the second single released from his third self-titled album and peaked at number 33 in the UK.

Contents

Background

The song was inspired by Steve Reich's composition Music for 18 Musicians . "Steve Reich had done this wonderful record called Music for Eighteen Musicians, which involved marimbas and I think, of all the systems composers, his work had a lot of textures and colours and grooves to them that I really responded to. So I tried to involve elements of that in the work." [4]

Percussionist Morris Pert supplied the song's marimba work, which underpins the composition. Wordless backing vocals from both Gabriel and Kate Bush enter following the introduction of Pert's marimba ostinato. The marimba playing, which author Durrell Bowman described as "rhythmically insistent" and "minimalist", drops out at the song's more rock–oriented bridge, which includes instrumentation of electric guitar, bass, and drums, the latter of which was provided by Phil Collins. [5] Guitarist David Rhodes played his parts on a Fender Jazzmaster through a Eurotec Black Box Fuzz Module. [6]

Prior to being recorded for Gabriel's 1980 studio album, the song was performed live under the working title "I Don't Know How to Stop". [7] Later live performances, such as on Plays Live (1983), were slower and more subdued than the studio recording. Gabriel and his China 1984 touring band performed "No Self Control" on BBC One's Top of the Pops in May 1980. [8]

Track listing

7" UK single (1980)

  1. "No Self Control" – 3:47
  2. "Lead a Normal Life" – 4:10

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1980)Peak
position
UK Official Singles Chart [9] 33

In other works

It was used in the season three episode of Homicide: Life on the Street , "The City That Bleeds".

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Happy Rhodes</span> American singer (born 1965)

Happy Rhodes is an American singer, musician, and songwriter with a four-octave vocal range, releasing 11 albums between 1986 and 2007.

<i>Peter Gabriel</i> (1982 album) Fourth solo album by Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel is the fourth studio album by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel. In the United States and Canada, the album was released by Geffen Records with the title Security. Some music streaming services refer to it as Peter Gabriel 4: Security. A German-language version, entitled Deutsches Album, was also released. The album saw Gabriel expanding on the post-punk and world music influences from his 1980 self-titled record, and earned him his first US top 40 single with "Shock the Monkey".

<i>This Womans Work: Anthology 1978–1990</i> 1990 box set by Kate Bush

This Woman's Work: Anthology 1978–1990 is a compilation box set by the English singer-songwriter Kate Bush. Released in 1990 on CD, vinyl and cassette; it comprises her six studio albums to that point together with two additional albums of B-sides, rarities and remixes. The box set was re-released on CD only in 1998 in different packaging.

<i>Peter Gabriel</i> (1980 album) Third solo album by Peter Gabriel

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".

<i>Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats</i> 1990 greatest hits album by Peter Gabriel

Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats is a compilation album by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel. It was released in 1990 as Gabriel's first career retrospective, including songs from his first solo album Peter Gabriel (1977), through Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ (1989). It was remastered with most of Gabriel's catalogue in 2002. The vinyl version of the album is called Shaking the Tree: Twelve Golden Greats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">In Your Eyes (Peter Gabriel song)</span> 1986 single by Peter Gabriel

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don't Give Up (Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush song)</span> 1986 single by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush

"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 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sat in Your Lap</span> 1981 song by Kate Bush

"Sat in Your Lap" (1981) is a song by English art rock musician Kate Bush. It was the first single to be released from her fourth studio album, The Dreaming (1982), issued 15 months prior to the album's release. The single peaked at no. 11 on the UK Singles Chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strange Phenomena (song)</span> 1979 single by Kate Bush

"Strange Phenomena" is a song written and recorded by English musician Kate Bush. It was released as a single only in Brazil in June 1979, and was the fifth and final single from her debut album, The Kick Inside.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digging in the Dirt</span> 1992 single by Peter Gabriel

"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.

"San Jacinto" is a song written and performed by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel. Released in 1982, it is the second track off his fourth self-titled album. Excerpts of the song’s coda were repurposed for "Powerhouse at the Foot of the Mountain" on Gabriel's 1985 Birdy soundtrack album. He also re-recorded "San Jacinto" with an orchestra on his New Blood album in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Games Without Frontiers (song)</span> 1980 single by Peter Gabriel

"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.

"Family Snapshot" is a song written and performed by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel, appearing on his third eponymous studio album.

"Intruder" is a song written and performed by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel. The song was the first to use the "gated reverb" drum sound created by Hugh Padgham and Phil Collins, with Collins performing the song's drum part. The gated drum effect was later used in Collins' own "In the Air Tonight", and appeared frequently through the 1980s, on records such as David Bowie's "Let's Dance" and the Power Station's "Some Like It Hot".

"The Rhythm of the Heat" is a song written and performed by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel. Released in 1982, it is the opening track off his fourth self-titled album. In 1985, the song was used during the opening scene of "Evan" in season one of Miami Vice and also appeared in the Oliver Stone film Natural Born Killers in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Have the Touch</span> 1982 song performed by Peter Gabriel

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Growing Up (Peter Gabriel song)</span> 2002 single by Peter Gabriel

"Growing Up" is a song by English rock musician Peter Gabriel from his 2002 album, Up. The song was released as the third single from Up where it reached the top 40 in Italy. It was also included on the Growing Up Live concert film in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Don't Remember (Peter Gabriel song)</span> 1980 single by Peter Gabriel

"I Don't Remember" is a song written and recorded by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel, released as the fourth and final single from his third eponymous studio album in 1980. Although originally only released as an A-side single in the United States and Canada, a live version released with the album Plays Live (1983) reached No. 62 on the UK Singles Chart and remained in the Top 75 in Britain for 4 weeks. The song was included in Gabriel's compilation album Shaking the Tree (1990) and two different versions were included in Flotsam and Jetsam (2019).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">More than This (Peter Gabriel song)</span> 2002 single by Peter Gabriel

"More Than This" is a song by English rock musician Peter Gabriel from his 2002 album, Up. The song was released as the second single from Up and was the only song from the album to chart in the UK, reaching number 47. It was also included on the Growing Up Live concert film in 2003. The live performance featured projections of a balloon suspended above the stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">That Voice Again</span> 1986 promotional single by Peter Gabriel

"That Voice Again" is a song by English rock musician Peter Gabriel from his 1986 album So. The song was released as a promotional single and reached No. 14 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. Gabriel identified "That Voice Again" as one of his favorite songs on the album.

References

  1. "Music Week" (PDF). p. 28.
  2. "The Quietus | Features | Anniversary | Peter Gabriel 3". The Quietus.
  3. Thomson, Graeme (30 October 2015). "Peter Gabriel – the first four solo albums remastered". Uncut . Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  4. "Peter Gabriel". Petergabriel.com. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  5. Bowman, Durrell (2 September 2016). Experiencing Peter Gabriel: A Listener's Companion. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 78–79. ISBN   9781442252004.
  6. Dery, Mark (September 1987). "David Rhodes - Atmospheric Guitar for Peter Gabriel". Guitar Player. Retrieved 25 June 2024 via David Rhodes Archive.
  7. Scarfe, Graeme (2021). Peter Gabriel: Every Album, Every Song. United Kingdom: SonicBond. p. 25. ISBN   978-1-78952-138-2.
  8. Smith, Mic (1990). "Peak Time Viewing: Peter Gabriel on British TV 1975–90". White Shadow (Gabriel fanzine). No. 3. p. 8.
  9. "Peter Gabriel UK discography". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 17 November 2011.