This Wheel's on Fire (song)

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"This Wheel's on Fire (with Brian Auger and The Trinity)"
"This Wheel's on Fire (with Brian Auger and The Trinity)" cover
Single by Julie Driscoll
B-side(s) "Black Cat"
Released 1968
Format 7" single
Recorded 1968
Genre Psychedelic rock
Writer(s) Bob Dylan, Rick Danko
Chart positions
  • #5 (UK)
"This Wheel's on Fire"
"This Wheel's on Fire" cover
Single by Siouxsie & the Banshees
from the album Through the Looking Glass
B-side(s) "Shooting Sun", "Sleepwalking (On the High Wire)", "She Cracked"
Released January 12, 1987
Format 7" single, 12" single
Recorded 1986
Genre Gothic rock / Alternative rock
Label Polydor
Writer(s) Bob Dylan, Rick Danko
Producer(s) Siouxsie & the Banshees
Mike Hedges
Chart positions
  • #14 (UK)
Siouxsie & the Banshees singles chronology
"Candyman"
(1986)
"This Wheel's on Fire"
(1987)
"The Passenger"
(1987)

"This Wheel's on Fire" is a song written by Bob Dylan and Rick Danko. It was recorded by Dylan and appeared on his 1975 album The Basement Tapes, as well as on The Band's 1968 album Music From Big Pink.

In 1968, a version by Julie Driscoll with Brian Auger and The Trinity became a hit in the United Kingdom. It peaked at number five on the UK singles chart. With its use of distortion, the imagery of the title and the group's flamboyant dress and performance, this version came to represent the psychedelic era in British music. Driscoll recorded the song again in the early '90s with Adrian Edmonson as the theme to the BBC comedy series Absolutely Fabulous, whose main characters are throwbacks to that era.

In 1987 the song was covered by English rock band Siouxsie & the Banshees for their all-covers album Through the Looking Glass. Released as the first single from that album, the Banshees' version climbed to number fourteen in the UK singles chart.

Other artists who have released their own versions, include The Byrds, Hamilton Camp, Phil Lesh, Golden Earring, The Hollies, Ian and Sylvia and Serena Ryder.

Siouxsie & the Banshees
Siouxsie Sioux | Steven Severin | Budgie
Knox Chandler | John Valentine Carruthers | Peter Fenton | Jon Klein | Martin McCarrick | John McGeoch | John McKay | Kenny Morris | Marco Pirroni | Robert Smith | Sid Vicious
Siouxsie & the Banshees discography
Studio albums and extended plays: The Scream | Join Hands | Kaleidoscope | Juju | A Kiss in the Dreamhouse | Hyæna | The Thorn EP | Tinderbox | Through the Looking Glass | Peepshow | Superstition | The Rapture
Compilations: Once Upon a Time: The Singles | Twice Upon a Time: The Singles | The Best of Siouxsie & the Banshees | Downside Up
Live Albums: Nocturne | Seven Year Itch
Peel Sessions: Voices on the Air: The Peel Sessions
Singles: Hong Kong Garden | The Staircase (Mystery) | Playground Twist | Mittageisen / Love in a Void | Happy House | Christine | Israel | Spellbound | Arabian Knights | Fireworks | Slowdive | Melt! | Dear Prudence | Swimming Horses | Dazzle | Overground | Cities in Dust | Candyman | This Wheel's on Fire | The Passenger | Song from the Edge of the World | Peek-a-Boo | The Killing Jar | The Last Beat of My Heart | Kiss Them for Me | Shadowtime | Fear (of the Unknown) | Face to Face | O Baby | Stargazer
Related articles
The Creatures | The Glove | Bromley Contingent