Staying Power

Last updated

"Staying Power"
BackChat With StayingPower ASideSingle.jpg
Japanese single picture sleeve
Single by Queen
from the album Hot Space
B-side
ReleasedJuly 1982
Recorded19811982
Genre
Length
  • 4:10 (7" album version)
  • 5:52 (12" extended version)
Label Elektra
Songwriter(s) Freddie Mercury
Producer(s)
Queen singles chronology
"Calling All Girls"
(1982)
"Staying Power"
(1982)
"Back Chat"
(1982)

"Staying Power" is the first track on Queen's 1982 album Hot Space . It was written by lead singer Freddie Mercury and is notable as being the only Queen song to have a horn section, which was arranged by Arif Mardin. The song is driven by a funk-styled bass riff (played by Mercury) beginning in D minor and modulating to E minor throughout the song. John Deacon does not play bass guitar on this song—instead playing rhythm guitar on a Fender Telecaster. Roger Taylor programmed a Linn LM-1 drum machine for the track. Brian May is on his Red Special. In a Stylus review of the album, critic Anthony Miccio described the song's style as "an electro-disco track with frenetic horns." [1]

Contents

The song was released as a single in Japan.

Live performances

This song was played throughout the Hot Space Tour and to an extent, on The Works Tour. The live version of "Staying Power" is slightly different from the album version. Morgan Fisher took over the keyboard parts and replaced the Oberheim with a Roland Jupiter 8. Taylor replaced the drum machine with acoustic and electric drums. Also of note is that it was the only song played live in which Deacon played rhythm guitar, as the bass was performed via keyboard. With the electronics scaled back on the live version, the song is transformed into a funk rock song—rather than a disco-influenced rock song that stays strong to its disco influences. The live version is on Queen on Fire: Live at the Bowl, Queen Greatest Video Hits 2 and on the Hot Space 2011 deluxe CD album.

Personnel

Queen
Additional

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Under Pressure</span> 1981 single by Queen and David Bowie

"Under Pressure" is a song by the British rock band Queen and singer David Bowie. Originally released as a single in October 1981, it was later included on Queen's 1982 album Hot Space. The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Queen's second number-one hit in their home country and Bowie's third, and also charted in the top 10 in more than 10 countries around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crazy Little Thing Called Love</span> 1979 single by Queen

"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Written by Freddie Mercury in 1979, the track is included on their 1980 album The Game, and also appears on the band's compilation album Greatest Hits in 1981. The song peaked at number two in the UK Singles Chart in 1979, becoming the group's first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US in 1980, remaining there for four consecutive weeks. It topped the Australian ARIA Charts for seven weeks. It was the band's final single release of the 1970s.

<i>Jazz</i> (Queen album) 1978 studio album by Queen

Jazz is the seventh studio album by the British rock band Queen. It was released on 10 November 1978 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. Produced by Roy Thomas Baker, the album artwork was suggested by Roger Taylor, who previously saw a similar design painted on the Berlin Wall. The album's varying musical styles were alternately praised and criticised. It reached number two in the UK Albums Chart and number six on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart.

<i>Hot Space</i> 1982 studio album by Queen

Hot Space is the tenth studio album by the British rock band Queen. It was released on 4 May 1982 by EMI Records in the UK and by Elektra Records in the US. Marking a notable shift in direction from their earlier work, they employed many elements of disco, funk, R&B, dance and pop music on the album. This made the album less popular with fans who preferred the traditional rock style they had come to associate with the band. Queen's decision to record a dance-oriented album germinated with the massive success of their 1980 hit "Another One Bites the Dust" in the US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Was Born to Love You (song)</span> 1985 single by Freddie Mercury

"I Was Born to Love You" is a 1985 song by Freddie Mercury that was released as a single from his first solo album, Mr. Bad Guy. After Mercury's death, Queen re-worked this song for their album Made in Heaven in 1995, by having the other members play their instrumental parts over the original track, transforming the song from disco to rock. The Queen version from the Made in Heaven album also includes snippets of Mercury's ad-lib vocals taken from "A Kind of Magic" and from "Living on My Own".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Body Language (Queen song)</span> 1982 single by Queen

"Body Language" is a 1982 dance/funk song by British rock band Queen. It was written by the band's lead singer Freddie Mercury and was a hit in North America, where it received extensive radio play. However, the single only received a lukewarm response in the United Kingdom. The track was the second single released from their 1982 album Hot Space. The music video for the song was the first one to be banned from MTV for its nudity, despite the members of Queen being fully clothed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to...)</span> 1975 song by Queen

"Death on Two Legs " is a song by the British rock band Queen and is the opening track and second single on their fourth album A Night at the Opera. The song was written by Freddie Mercury about the band's fall-out with their original manager and Trident Studios owner Norman Sheffield. Though the song makes no direct reference to him, Sheffield sued both the band and the record label for defamation. This resulted in an out-of-court settlement, thus revealing to the public his connection with the song. Mercury said that his lawyer had cautioned him against discussing the lyrics, but that it was written from a "very emotional" place for which he felt music was the best outlet. Roger Taylor also noted that despite the success of "Killer Queen" and Sheer Heart Attack, the album preceding A Night at the Opera, the band was lacking money before the album was made. Sheffield denied that he or his companies had mistreated the band in his capacity as manager, and cited the original 1972 management contracts between himself and Queen in his autobiography published in 2013, Life on Two Legs: Set The Record Straight, in his defence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheer Heart Attack (song)</span> 1978 song by Queen

"Sheer Heart Attack" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released on their sixth studio album News of the World in 1977. It is one of two songs on the album entirely written by Roger Taylor, the other being "Fight from the Inside".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Las Palabras de Amor</span> 1982 single by Queen

"Las Palabras de Amor (The Words of Love)" is a rock ballad by the British rock band Queen. It was released as the third single from their 1982 album Hot Space. It is sung mostly in English, but with several Spanish phrases. Written by guitarist Brian May, the song proved more popular in the United Kingdom than their previous single ("Body Language"), reaching No. 17 in the UK Singles Chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calling All Girls</span> 1982 single by Queen

"Calling All Girls" is a song by the British rock band Queen, from the album Hot Space. It was written by drummer Roger Taylor. It was the third US single from the album, released in the summer of 1982, where it peaked at number 60. It was also released in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Back Chat</span> 1982 single by Queen

"Back Chat", written by the bass guitarist John Deacon, is the track most influenced by funk on the 1982 Queen album Hot Space. The song is a prime example of how Deacon was strongly pulling the band into dance orientated genres such as R&B, disco, and funk. It reached #40 on the UK Singles Chart, #18 in South Africa and a #19 entry in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pain Is So Close to Pleasure</span> A song by the band, Queen

"Pain Is So Close to Pleasure" is a song by Queen, included on their 1986 album A Kind of Magic, written by Freddie Mercury and John Deacon, released in the USA and Canada, Germany and the Netherlands as the fourth and fifth single from that album respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Invisible Man (song)</span> 1989 single by Queen

"The Invisible Man" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by drummer Roger Taylor but credited to Queen. The song is sung mostly by Freddie Mercury, with vocal contributions from Taylor. The song was released in August 1989 as the third single from the bands album The Miracle. Taylor claims that he got the inspiration to create the song while reading a book, and the bassline instantly came to his imagination. The song title was inspired by the H. G. Wells novel of the same name.

<i>The Works</i> (Queen album) 1984 studio album by Queen

The Works is the eleventh studio album by the British rock band Queen. It was released on 27 February 1984 by EMI Records just shortly after recording for the album had been completed in the United Kingdom and it is the band's first studio album to be released by Capitol Records in the United States. After the synth-heavy Hot Space (1982), the album saw the re-emergence of Brian May and Roger Taylor's rock sound, while still incorporating the early 80s retro futuristic electronic music and New York funk scenes. Recorded at the Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles, California, and Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, from August 1983 to January 1984, the album's title comes from a comment Taylor made as recording began – "Let's give them the works!".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Deacon</span> English musician and songwriter

John Richard Deacon is an English retired musician, best known for being the bass guitarist for the rock band Queen. He wrote several songs for the group, including Top 10 hits "You're My Best Friend", "Another One Bites the Dust" and "I Want to Break Free"; co-wrote "Under Pressure", "Friends Will Be Friends" and "One Vision"; and he was involved in the band's financial management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I'm in Love with My Car</span> 1975 single by Queen

"I'm in Love with My Car" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released on their fourth album A Night at the Opera in 1975. It is the album's only song written entirely by drummer Roger Taylor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hot Space Tour</span> 1982 concert tour by Queen

The Hot Space Tour was the ninth headlining concert tour by the British rock band Queen in support of their 1982 album Hot Space. The tour started on the 9th of April in Gothenburg, Sweden and ended, after sixty-nine concerts, in Tokorozawa, Japan on the 3rd of November.

<i>The Game</i> (Queen album) 1980 studio album by Queen

The Game is the eighth studio album by the British rock band Queen. It was released on 30 June 1980 by EMI Records in the UK and by Elektra Records in the US. The Game features a different sound from its predecessor, Jazz (1978). The Game was the first Queen album to use a synthesizer.

"There Must Be More to Life Than This" is the eighth track on Queen singer Freddie Mercury's debut solo album Mr. Bad Guy, released on 29 April 1985 by Columbia Records.

<i>Queen Forever</i> 2014 compilation album by Queen

Queen Forever is a compilation album by the British rock band Queen. Released on 10 November 2014, it features tracks the band had "forgotten about" with vocals from original lead singer Freddie Mercury. Queen's bassist John Deacon is also on the tracks.

References

  1. Queen – Hot Space Stylus. Retrieved 7 April 2012