Under Pressure — how Queen and David Bowie cooked up a number one hit

{"text":[[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":7.85,"text":"“Ding-ding-ding diddle ing-ding.” That’s how Queen guitarist Brian May onomatopoeically renders the bassline from “Under Pressure”, the band’s 1982 hit with David Bowie. Ding-ding-ding diddle ing-ding. Instantly indelible. Or was it?"}],[{"start":23.6,"text":"In 1981, Queen were working on their 10th album, Hot Space, in Montreux’s Mountain Studios, which they owned. Bowie, who lived not far away, was spending time at the studio working on the title track for the film Cat People. Inevitably Bowie and Queen came together and an impromptu jam ensued. Drink was taken and maybe other recreational stimulants and they played old songs for a while until someone — most think it was Bowie — suggested they write something together."}],[{"start":52.900000000000006,"text":"Queen’s drummer Roger Taylor had a nascent song called “Feel Like” which, judging from the [demo version available on YouTube](https://youtu.be/OWkyI02e2Hs?si=LkwmKCJWlmvmNCqr), contains the bare bones of “Under Pressure”. However, it was missing several key ingredients, one of which was the simple but highly effective bassline that bassist John Deacon came up with."}],[{"start":70.55000000000001,"text":"Aware that they were now on to something, the musicians left the studio for a bite to eat and yet more alcoholic refreshment. When they returned, Deacon couldn’t remember the exact riff he had been playing. Taylor has claimed that it was he who recalled it. Guitarist Brian May has said it was Bowie. Deacon himself has said, “David wrote the bassline, he’s responsible for it.”"}],[{"start":92.75000000000001,"text":"According to a 2004 statement by Bowie on his now defunct website Bowienet: “The song was written from the ground up on the night I visited their studio. I believe the riff had already been written by Freddie Mercury and the others so then we jointly put together the different chord sections to make it a cohesive piece of music.”"}],[{"start":111.65,"text":"Everyone remembers it slightly differently; that’s partly the nature of collaboration and the creative process — and partly, no doubt, down to the booze. Bowie claimed that “we had the whole thing written and recorded in one evening flat” but that’s not quite the entire story either because it was mixed a couple of weeks later at Power Station studio in New York. That process seems to have been driven by Bowie, who decided which of the numerous ad-libbed vocal contributions to include, with Mercury sometimes disagreeing. May, not present for the mixing, would later say that Bowie was “quite difficult to work with” while admitting that Queen could also be “pigheaded”."}],[{"start":148.75,"text":"“Under Pressure”, credited to all the members of Queen plus Bowie, was released on October 26 1981 and provided Queen’s first UK number one since “Bohemian Rhapsody” in 1975. It was Bowie’s third, “Ashes to Ashes” having been number one the previous year."}],[{"start":167.25,"text":"Subsequent covers include soul singer [Joss Stone’s version](https://youtu.be/WI9ivxI4eb4?si=oqQLWFyhJyVf63Q2), which appears on a 2005 tribute album Killer Queen. In the same year New Jersey rockers My Chemical Romance and Utah outfit The Used joined forces on a take released to raise funds for victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami."}],[{"start":185.85,"text":"In 2007, when BBC Radio 1 released an album of covers marking its 40th birthday, each contributing artist was asked to pick a song from a particular year. Queen fans Keane were assigned 1981 and chose “Under Pressure”. Experimental Californian rock band Xiu Xiu included it as the sole cover on their 2008 album Women as Lovers. The NME’s critic dismissed the album as “pretentious” but allowed that “Under Pressure” was “unexpected and brilliant”. A version sung by [Pink](https://youtu.be/qrrjITelsXA?si=IJ5Lii-0K23XOnP6) features at the climax of Happy Feet Two, the 2011 animated comedy about penguins."}],[{"start":223.75,"text":"Perhaps the standout cover is, like the original, a collaboration. Inspired by the looming US presidential election, Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and Willie Nelson released a version in 2020. This poignant country ballad has a languid charm enhanced by their markedly different voices. Karen O said: “I’ve heard this song countless times without processing the gravity of what Bowie and Freddie were singing about, maybe because their performances are so exhilarating you get swept away in the high of that duet.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":255.25,"text":"Bowie and Mercury never performed the song together live. It wasn’t until the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in April 1992 at Wembley Stadium that Bowie returned to the song. Who could stand in for Queen’s charismatic frontman, who had died the previous year? The remaining members of the band invited Annie Lennox. The Scottish singer, as the expression has it, wholly understood the assignment. There is footage of the rehearsal showing Bowie and May grinning appreciatively as she unleashes her powerful voice. For the actual show, she had designer Antony Price (who died recently) create an extraordinary dress to her specifications, did her own Blade Runner-inspired make-up and gave a performance for the ages."}],[{"start":300.95,"text":"As for that bassline, we know one thing for certain: it definitely wasn’t written by Vanilla Ice. The rapper’s 1990 hit “Ice Ice Baby” sampled it without giving credit. After legal threats, a private settlement was reached."}],[{"start":314.3,"text":"Let us know your memories of ‘Under Pressure’ in the comments section below"}],[{"start":318.90000000000003,"text":"‘The Life of a Song: The stories behind 100 of the world’s best-loved songs’ is published by Chambers"}],[{"start":325.95000000000005,"text":"Music credits:Raincloud; Reprise; Universal; Kill Rock Stars; Rockers to Swallow; Capitol"}],[{"start":332.95000000000005,"text":"Letter in response to this article:"}],[{"start":335.75000000000006,"text":"Montreux memories / From Werner Kehl, Berlin, Germany "}],[{"start":347.70000000000005,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1784964996_3801.mp3"}