A now famous duet with David Bowie, "Under Pressure" was the result of an impromptu jam session in the band's studio in Montreux.[8] When it was released in 1981, "Under Pressure" reached #1 in the UK singles chart.[7] Freddie Mercury was the primary director of this track, with him and Bowie as the main lyricists (each writing the lines they sang). Part of the chord progression is based on a rough demo of an unreleased song "Feel Like".[17] The songwriting is credited to all five participants.
Track listing
Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Staying Power" Freddie Mercury 4:10 2. "Dancer" Brian May 3:46 3. "Back Chat" John Deacon 4:31 4. "Body Language" Mercury 4:29 5. "Action This Day" Roger Taylor 3:33
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Put Out the Fire" May 3:15
2. "Life Is Real (Song for Lennon)" Mercury 3:39
3. "Calling All Girls" Taylor 3:53
4. "Las Palabras de Amor (The Words of Love)" May 4:26
5. "Cool Cat" Deacon, Mercury 3:26
6. "Under Pressure" (with David Bowie) David Bowie, Deacon, May, Mercury, Taylor 4:02
Bonus track (1991 Hollywood Records CD reissue)
No. Title Length
12. "Body Language (1991 Bonus Remix)" 4:44
2011 Bonus EP
No. Title Length
1. "Staying Power (Live in Milton Keynes, June 1982)" 3:57
2. "Soul Brother (B-Side)" 3:36
3. "Back Chat (Single Remix)" 4:12 4. "Action This Day (Live in Tokyo, November 1982)" 6:25 5. "Calling All Girls (Live in Tokyo, November 1982)" 4:45
2011 iTunes Bonus Videos
No. Title Length
1. "Las Palabras De Amor (Top Of The Pops, 1982)"
2. "Under Pressure (Rah Mix, 1999)"
3. "Action This Day (Live at Milton Keynes Bowl, 1982)"
Charts
Chart positions
Chart (1982) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[18] 15
Austrian Albums Chart[19] 1
Canadian Albums Chart[20] 6
Dutch Albums Chart[21] 1
French Albums Chart[22] 7
German Albums Chart[23] 5
Italian Albums Chart[24] 9
Japanese Albums Chart[25] 6
New Zealand Albums Chart[26] 5
Norwegian Albums Chart[27] 3
Swedish Albums Chart[28] 4
UK Albums Chart[29] 4
U.S. Billboard 200[30] 22
U.S. Billboard R&B Albums Chart[30] 40
Year-end charts
Chart (1982) Position
Austrian Albums Chart[31] 17
Canadian Albums Chart[32] 46
Italian Albums Chart[24] 54
UK Albums Chart[33] 51
Certifications
Region Certification Sales/shipments
Austria (IFPI Austria)[34] Gold 25000x
United Kingdom (BPI)[35] Gold 100000^
United States (RIAA)[36] Gold 500000^
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone
Personnel
• John Deacon – bass guitar, synthesizer, electric guitar, drums, electric piano
• Brian May – lead guitar, synthesizers, piano, backing vocals, synth bass on "Dancer", lead vocals (falsetto lines on "Put Out the Fire" and lead harmony on "Las Palabras de Amor")
• Freddie Mercury – lead vocals, piano, synthesizers, synth bass on "Staying Power", keyboards
• Roger Taylor – drums, drum computer, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Action This Day", rhythm guitar, keyboards
With:
• David Bowie – lead vocals, percussion and keyboards on "Under Pressure"
• Arif Mardin – "Hot and Spacey" horn arrangement and production on "Staying Power"
• Mack – production, keyboard programming on "Action This Day"
Miscellaneous
• Michael Jackson, who was close friends with the band during the time, later cited Hot Space as an influence for his own blockbuster album Thriller.[37][38]
• The cover art of U2's 1997 Pop album, Blur's 2000 Best Of compilation, "Weird Al" Yankovic's 1994 Greatest Hits Volume II, and The Black Eyed Peas's 2010 The Beginning bear some similarity to the Hot Space cover (which, in turn, drew its inspiration from the cover of The Beatles' album Let It Be). Pop, like Hot Space, was also an attempt to make a dance album, both of which received mixed results.
• The 1982 Hot Space Tour was Queen's last tour of America until the Queen + Paul Rodgers Tour in 2006 (the band stopped touring completely in 1986 due to Mercury's health, and did not tour again until the Queen + Paul Rodgers Tour commenced in 2005).[39]
References
[1] Stephen Thomas Erlewine Hot Space (http://www.allmusic.com/album/r687305/review) Allmusic. Retrieved 2 August 2011 [2] Hot Space (http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/193117/hot_space) Rolling Stone. Retrieved 3 August 2011
[3] Queen - Hot Space (http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/queen-hot-space.htm) Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 3 August 2011
[4] A Glorious Queen (http://queenarchives.com/index.php?title=Queen_-_07-23-1982_-_Washington_Post_-_A_Glorious_Queen) The Washington Post. Retrieved 3 August 2011
[5] Queen - Hot Space (http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/queen-hot-space.htm) Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 31 May 2011
[6] Prato, Greg. "Hot Space Review" (http://www.allmusic.com/album/r687305/review). Allmusic. . Retrieved 2006-12-05.
[7] Chart Stats - Queen And David Bowie (http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=9471) Retrieved 9 June 2011
[8] Lowry, Max (13 July 2008) The ones that got away (http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/jul/13/popandrock.art) The Guardian.
Retrieved 3 August 2011
[9] "15 Albums Where Great Rock Acts Lost the Plot" (http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/q150lists.htm). Q magazine. July 2004. Archived at rocklistmusic.co.uk
[10] O'Casey, Matt, dir. (2011) Queen - Days of Our Lives. Part 2. BBC. Queen Productions Ltd. Retrieved 31 May 2011
[11] Roy Thomas Baker & Gary Langan Interview (http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_articles/oct95/queen.html#) Sound On Sound.
Retrieved 3 August 2011
[12] Miccio, Anthony. "On Second Thought" (http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/queen-hot-space.htm). Stylus. . Retrieved 2006-12-05 'Staying Power' marked the band's first and only collaboration with Arif Mardin - whose previous credits include working with Chaka Khan, The Bee Gees and Aretha Franklin - and is the only song in Queen's catalogue to feature an authentic horn section.
The original demo of the track featured a guitar instead of horns..
[13] "Queen - The Complete Words" (http://www.queenwords.com/lyrics/songs/sng12_02.shtml). . Retrieved 2006-12-05.
[14] Obrecht, Jas. "Brian May Interview" (http://www.pcpki.com/queen/articles/bhm8301.html). Guitar Player (January 1983), archived at Andy's Queen page (http://www.pcpki.com/queen/). . Retrieved 2006-12-05.
[15] Milward, John (1982-06-10). "Hot Space Review" (http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/queen/albums/album/193117/review/
5946715/hot_space). Rolling Stone, issue 371. . Retrieved 2006-12-05.
[16] "Queen Demos of Released Tracks (A-L)" (http://www.ultimatequeen.co.uk/Songs/queendemos1.htm). . Retrieved 2006-12-05.
[17] "Queen Demos of Released Tracks (M-Z)" (http://www.ultimatequeen.co.uk/Songs/queendemos2.htm). . Retrieved 2006-12-05.
[18] Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
[19] http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Queen&titel=Hot+Space&cat=a
[20] Queen" and "Hot" and "Space" and "Top Albums/CDs" (http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.
php?PHPSESSID=53gtrvbfj0gk7r9b4sd40dtvu0&q1=Queen+Hot+Space&q2=Top+Albums/CDs&interval=50) Library and Archives Canada
[21] http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Queen&titel=Hot+Space&cat=a [22] http://www.infodisc.fr/Album_Q.php
[23] http://www.charts.de/album.asp?artist=Queen&title=Hot+Space&cat=a&country=de
[24] "Hit Parade Italia - Gli album più venduti del 1982" (http://www.hitparadeitalia.it/hp_yenda/lpe1982.htm) (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it.
. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
[25] a-クイーン "- Yamachan Land (Archives of the Japanese record charts) - Albums Chart Daijiten - Queen" (http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/
~yamag/album/al_queen.html) (in Japanese). 2007-12-30. a-クイーン. Retrieved 2011-09-14.
[26] http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Queen&titel=Hot+Space&cat=a [27] http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Queen&titel=Hot+Space&cat=a [28] http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Queen&titel=Hot+Space&cat=a [29] http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=40276
[30] http://www.allmusic.com/artist/queen-p5205/charts-awards/billboard-albums
[31] "Austriancharts.st - Jahreshitparade 1984" (http://austriancharts.at/1984_album.asp). Hung Medien. . Retrieved 2010-08-01.
[32] "Top 100 Albums '82" (http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.6170&
type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=mhe12pta2k83e08udtq66ot062). RPM. 1982-12-25. . Retrieved 2010-12-06.
[33] "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts" (http://chartheaven.9.forumer.com/a/complete-uk-yearend-album-charts_post21.html). . Retrieved 2011-10-03.
[34] "Austrian album certifications – Queen – hot Space" (http://www.ifpi.at/?section=goldplatin) (in German). IFPI Austria. . Enter Queen in the field Interpret. Enter hot Space in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
[35] "British album certifications – Queen – hot Space" (http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx). British Phonographic Industry.
. Enter hot Space in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go
[36] "American album certifications – Queen – hot Space" (http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist="hot+Space"). Recording Industry Association of America. . If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
[37] Queen: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock (http://books.google.com/books?id=adNONbUWLjgC&
pg=PT173&dq=hot+space+michael+jackson#v=onepage&q=hot space michael jackson&f=false) p.170. Retrieved 9 June 2011 [38] Thriller´, de Michael Jackson, sigue imbatido 25 años después (http://www.elperiodicoextremadura.com/noticias/noticia.
asp?pkid=341044)
[39] Queen most loved band (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/jul/05/arts.artsnews1) The Guardian. Retrieved 3 August 2011