Demolition Man (song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the Grace Jones/Police song. For the Def Leppard song, see Euphoria (Def Leppard album).
For other uses of "Demolition Man", see Demolition Man (disambiguation).
| "Demolition Man" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Grace Jones | ||||
| from the album Nightclubbing | ||||
| B-side | "Warm Leatherette", "Bullshit" | |||
| Released | March 1981 | |||
| Format | 7", 12" | |||
| Genre | New wave, synthpop, rock | |||
| Length | 4:04 | |||
| Label | Island | |||
| Writer(s) | Sting | |||
| Producer(s) | Chris Blackwell, Alex Sadkin | |||
| Grace Jones singles chronology | ||||
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"Demolition Man" is a single by Grace Jones, released in 1981.
Background
The song was written by Sting of The Police.[1] The lyric "I'm a three-line whip", often assumed to be a reference to sadomasochism, is in fact an allusion to British constitutional law. Sting explained this in an interview: "Whatever party's in power in Parliament, if it's a really important vote, you get a one-line whip. If it's incredibly important, you have a two-line whip, and something monumentally important is a three-line whip."[2]
"Demolition Man" was released as the lead single from Grace Jones's 1981 album Nightclubbing. The song was performed on A One Man Show tour, featuring marching "Joneses" (stand-ins wearing Grace Jones masks), and included in the documentary film. A still picture from the video was later used for the cover of 1982 singles "Nipple to the Bottle" and "The Apple Stretching".
Track listing
- A. "Demolition Man" – 3:31
- B. "Warm Leatherette" – 4:25
- A. "Demolition Man" – 4:56
- B. "Bullshit" – 5:18
Cover versions
- Soon after Jones released her version as a single, The Police recorded their own version for their 1981 album, Ghost in the Machine. The Police recorded the song in a jazzy hard rock style, featuring a guitar solo by Andy Summers.
- A year later, 1982, Manfred Mann's Earth Band released a version which appeared on their Somewhere in Afrika album. It was significantly rearranged from The Police's version, being of a shorter length, featuring slightly altered lyrics and making much use of synthesizers throughout. It was performed as a duet, between then members Steve Waller and Shona Laing.[7]
- The song would later be performed by Sting during his solo career and released in 1993 on an EP of the same name in support of the Demolition Man film. This version of the song plays during the film's end credits.
Use in popular culture and other media
- In the 53rd episode of Beavis and Butt-head, "True Crime", aired in 1993, the pair were watching Jones' "Demolition Man" video from A One Man Show.[8]
- A live version of the song performed by Sting was featured in the game Guitar Hero World Tour.
- An excerpt of Jones' performance of the song from A One Man Show was displayed as a part of the Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990 temporary exhibition at London's Victoria and Albert Museum in 2011 and 2012.
References
- ↑ "Repertoire Search". repertoire.bmi.com. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
- ↑ Vic Garbarini. "Article "I think if we came back..."". www.scarlet.nl. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
- ↑ "Grace Jones - Demolition Man (Vinyl) at Discogs". www.discogs.com. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
- ↑ "Demolition Man by Grace Jones : Reviews and Ratings - Rate Your Music". rateyourmusic.com. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
- ↑ "Grace Jones - Demolition Man (Vinyl) at Discogs". www.discogs.com. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
- ↑ "Demolition Man by Grace Jones : Reviews and Ratings - Rate Your Music". rateyourmusic.com. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
- ↑ "3340. “Demolition Man” by Grace Jones". sadclownrep.com. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
- ↑ "Beavis and Butt-Head: Butt-Head from "Beavis and Butt-head" show". beavis-and-butthead-episodes.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
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