Eminence Front
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| “Eminence Front” | |||||
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| Song by The Who | |||||
| Album | It's Hard | ||||
| Released | 1982 | ||||
| Genre | Rock | ||||
| Length | 5:39 | ||||
| Label | Polydor Records (UK) Warner Bros. (U.S.) |
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| Producer | Glyn Johns | ||||
| It's Hard track listing | |||||
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"Eminence Front" is a song written and sung by Pete Townshend of The Who. It appears as the sixth track on the group's studio album, It's Hard (1982). The single reached #68 on the Billboard Hot 100, and garnered a lot of rock radio airplay. It continues to be a staple of classic rock radio. It is the only song from the album that the band has opted to play live after its initial tours directly after releasing the album.
Lead singer Roger Daltrey, vocally critical of the album, described "Eminence Front" as the only song on it that he felt was worthy of being released (although he later requested "Cry If You Want" during their 2006 tour, incorporating the lyrics into an extended version of "My Generation"). Early in the song, there is a syncopation, some say a flaw in the singing, where Daltrey and Pete Townshend end the title term at slightly different times. That flaw was edited, and a corrected version appears on the 1997 re-release of the CD (a live version, recorded on the band's final date of their 1982 tour in Toronto, appears as a bonus track on the re-release). The song had a video, shot at a rehearsal in Landover, Maryland, during their '82 US tour, which enjoyed consistent airplay on MTV upon its release.
The song itself focuses on the hedonistic lifestyle that was prevalent during the 1980s — seemingly prophetic considering the song was originally recorded in 1981. The lyrics tell about a party in which people ignore their problems and merely try to hide behind a facade — an eminence front. Townshend has introduced the song in live performances with the words, "this song is about what happens when you take too much white powder. It's called 'Eminence Front'."
'Eminence Front' was scheduled to be released as a single in the UK by Polydor Records in 1982. The catalog number was WHO 7 but the single was never released. The picture sleeve, by Richard Evans depicted a 1930s Art Deco house in Miami.
[edit] Use in media
The song appears in the popular videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on the Classic Rock radio station K-DST, as well as a 1:44 video released by Rockstar Games to illustrate the end of a popular 10 year era of their gaming including clips from many of their games including the Grand Theft Auto Series, Manhunt, Max Payne, The Warriors and the Midnight Club series.
Many fans of the CSI television franchise lobbied for the song to be chosen as the theme song for CSI: NY, but ultimately "Baba O'Riley" was picked for the new show. (When a London version of the show was rumored to be in the planning stages, it was thought that 'Eminence Front' would become its theme, but no such show was ever actually planned.)
Mixed Martial Arts fighter Stephan Bonnar has used the song as entrance music.[citation needed]
The final two episodes of the ABC TV series Line of Fire were titled "Eminence Front" parts 1 and 2, during which the song was featured.
In the first episode of Entourage, 'Eminence Front' is played as Vincent Chase steps out of a limo and his entourage walks down the red carpet to the Premier of 'Head On'.
The NBA's Dallas Mavericks have used this song for their player introductions since they moved into the American Airlines Center.
The New York Mets used this song for their player introductions at Shea Stadium during the 2006 Major League Baseball season.
The song is played moments before opening kick-off of San Diego Chargers' games at Qualcomm Stadium.
It was used at the beginning of the third episode of season 3 of Miami Vice entitled Killshot.
