| "Stand Back" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Stevie Nicks | ||||
| from the album The Wild Heart | ||||
| B-side | "Garbo" | |||
| Released | May 19, 1983 | |||
| Format | 7-inch, 12-inch | |||
| Recorded | Studio 55, Los Angeles, CA | |||
| Genre | Rock/Pop | |||
| Length |
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| Label | Modern | |||
| Writer(s) | Stevie Nicks | |||
| Producer | Jimmy Iovine | |||
| Stevie Nicks singles chronology | ||||
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"Stand Back" is a song by Stevie Nicks from her 1983 album The Wild Heart. It was released as the first single for the album on May 19, 1983, and went to number five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the U.S. Top Rock Tracks chart. It was a major success, and still receives substantial airplay to this day.
The song has been a staple in Nicks' live shows since its pre-album debut at the US Festival in May 1983, and it has also been included in Fleetwood Mac tour setlists since 1987.
The main intro of the song features an Oberheim OB-Xa synthesizer. The synth-bass is played on a Roland Jupiter 8. On the Rock A Little tour, the Oberheim is replaced with a Yamaha DX7. There were two mixes prepared for the song; the generally more well known Album Version (4:48) and the edited Single Version (4:18). Differences between the two are somewhat subtle, but the Single Mix tends to have more of a "collapsed" or "mono" sound to it and the electronic drum programs are mixed, rather dry and flattened, especially in the song's intro bars; whereas the drum tracks on the Album mix are accentuated by a generous amount of reverb effect and harder compression. Acoustic drums were given a more backseat role on Stand Back. There is a further 'polished' version of the track, with crisper percussion and louder foreground synth, featured on Nicks' 1991 best of compilation Timespace, remixed by Chris Lord-Alge, and running at 4:59.
In the UK, the single was given Nicks' first 12-inch release, featuring a different glossy picture sleeve and the inclusion of a third track, "Wild Heart" (album version), whilst a very limited 12-inch extended DJ promo was released on vinyl in the US in 1983, featuring longer instrumental and vocal sections and clocking in at 7:56.
A 12-inch promotional single was also released to US radio stations in 1983, featuring a full-colour sleeve, but playing the standard 4:48 album version (in mono and stereo) on both sides. The wider grooves, however, allowed for a deeper bass sound.
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Nicks has often told the story of how she wrote the song. She wrote it shortly after she was married to Kim Anderson. The newlyweds were driving up to San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara when Prince's song "Little Red Corvette" came on the radio. Nicks started humming along to the melody, especially inspired by the lush synthesizers of the song, and "Stand Back" was born. They stopped and got a tape recorder and she recorded the demo in the honeymoon suite that night. Later, when Nicks went into the studio to record the song, she called Prince and told him the story of how she wrote the song to his melody. He came to the studio that night and played synthesizers on it, although his contribution is uncredited on the album. Then, she says, "he just got up and left as if the whole thing happened in a dream."[1] Prince is occasionally listed as the song's co-writer, especially on mainland European releases.
There are two versions of the video.
The first, which was never aired and is referred to as the "Scarlett Version", was directed by Brian Grant and features Nicks in a very expensive re-creation of aspects of Gone With the Wind. Stevie herself nixed the video—according to Grant, she felt she looked fat.[2] This version can now be found (with Nicks commentary) on the DVD supplement of her 2007 collection Crystal Visions – The Very Best of Stevie Nicks.
The second, or 'official', version was directed by Jeff Hornaday and shows Nicks performing the song in front of a microphone in a dimly lit room surrounded by walls and mirrors made of glass. The emphasis in this version is dance, and interspersed throughout are choreographed sequences of dancers (in a subtle homage to the 1980 movie Fame) who join Nicks on the soundstage toward the end.
Notable covers include Linus Loves and Sam Obernik's 2003 version, which was a moderate club hit. Stereo Soundclash, Pure Polly Esther, Sky Ferreira and Rod Stewart also performed versions.
| "Stand Back – Remixes" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Stevie Nicks | ||||
| from the album Crystal Visions – The Very Best of Stevie Nicks | ||||
| Released | May 29, 2007 (digital download) August 28, 2007 (CD single) |
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| Recorded | Studio 55, Los Angeles, CA | |||
| Genre | Rock/Pop | |||
| Label | Reprise | |||
| Producer | Jimmy Iovine | |||
| Stevie Nicks singles chronology | ||||
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The song was also later remixed and released again as a single on August 28, 2007 to promote the compilation album Crystal Visions – The Very Best of Stevie Nicks. This time the single went to number 2 on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart.
| CD Maxi Single Track Listing | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Stand Back (Tracy Takes You Home Mix)" | 11:26 | |||||||
| 2. | "Stand Back (Tracy Takes You Home Dub)" | 11:34 | |||||||
| 3. | "Stand Back (Tracy Takes You Home Mixshow)" | 6:53 | |||||||
| 4. | "Stand Back (Ralphi's Beefy Retro Mix)" | 11:12 | |||||||
| 5. | "Stand Back (Ralphi's Beefy Retro Edit)" | 7:30 | |||||||
| 6. | "Stand Back (Morgan Page Vox)" | 7:02 | |||||||
| 7. | "Stand Back (Morgan Page Dub)" | 7:01 | |||||||
The most recent live performance of the song in Nicks' solo shows is captured in the 2009 CD release The Soundstage Sessions, where Nicks chose the track as the opening number to her show, rather than placing it towards the climactic end of the setlist as per previous tours.
| Chart (1983) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 5 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Tracks | 2 |
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | 2 |
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