Backstage rivalries and creating "under pressure" - how the hit song "Under Pressure" was born

When David Bowie и Freddie Mercury have teamed up to record "Under Pressure.", we have one of the best duets of all time! The composition became a trademark of both musicians, an international hit and a classic of its time! However, the process of its creation really took "under pressure".

Creative differences and the clash of two strong personalities hampered the recording process and even put the mixing desk out of action! But it was this one tension and made "Under Pressure" such a massive hit.

A chance meeting in Switzerland

The meeting of David Bowie and Queen in Switzerland was an accident. Ironically, the musicians ended up in a quiet town in Switzerland Montreux - the band was recording at Mountain Studios, while the "rock chameleon" was busy recording as well. Everyone was already familiar with each other, so this meeting could be called a "typical friendly encounter".

How exactly Bowie ended up in the studio with Queen is not entirely clear, for versions differ. The band's tour manager, Peter Hince, claims that David was invited to the studio by Roger Taylor. But Bowie himself said that the meeting in the studio was due to the efforts of the sound engineer David Richards. Anyway, when it happened - everyone wanted to have a little fun!

From covers to a one-of-a-kind hit

No one planned to record anything - the musicians were just having fun and performing covers to various songs. From the memoirs of Peter Hince:

"They were happy to see each other, and they just started goofing around. They performed covers, some of their own stuff... It was fun!"

The idea of doing new material was brought up Bowie. He later spoke of it this way:

"It was completely spontaneous, not planned. I thought it was a good idea!"

And here's what he remembered Roger Taylor:

"We were all drunk! We were in the studio and just for fun playing all sorts of old songs, and then David suggested we record something of our own."

"Speed is the true sister of talent!"

The music was written by the whole "gang", and on the fly! Here's what he said about it Brian May:

"We played some old songs and then something new started to come out and we said, 'OK, let's try to record this.' It was totally spontaneous. We were fumbling together, like some kind of ensemble, to find a minus line."

It all started with the fact that John Deacon played a six-note riff. Then the musicians broke for lunch, during which they drank a few more bottles of wine. And when they got back to work, the song began to take shape. According to Deacon, Bowie gave him some good advice on some of the chords. After the musicians recorded the backing track to what would later become "Under Pressure."Several of the band members decided to call it a night. It was getting late and they had drunk a lot of wine, but David Bowie wanted to keep creating!

Remarkably, the song was originally going to be called "People on the streets." (People on the Streets). These words appeared in the original lyrics written by the musicians during their first night of work, but the next day, as Bowie continued to pull the leadership role In the studio, the atmosphere in the studio and the way the composition was created. This expression fully described the atmosphere in the studio and the way the composition was born.

"Clashing horns."

When everyone returned to the studio the next day, David continued to lead the vocal component of the song. Brian May reminisced:

"Freddie and David have no doubt bumped horns. But it's when the sparks fly that everything turns out great!"

According to Peter Hince, Bowie and Mercury behaved as "consummate professionals who don't tolerate outside advice":

"David took responsibility for the vocals, which caused some tension. But that's how you get good music - by creating it under tension!"

Bowie suggested unusual idea to record the vocals. When the phonogram was ready, David said:

"Have each of us go into the vocal booth and sing the way we think the melody should go - the way we have in our heads - and we'll put together a vocal from that."

https://youtu.be/YoDh_gHDvkk

And so they did. But the tension continued all the way to New York, where Mercury and Bowie met again a few weeks later to do a final mix for the track.

"Freddie and David had different views on how the mix should be done, and the sound engineer had absolutely no idea what to do!", May recalled.

Not only the participants of the recording suffered from the tension, but also... the equipment! While the musicians were finishing the song, mixing console suddenly decided to break! The end result was what Brian May called the "assembled" version of "Under Pressure".

The song has never once been performed as a duet

Queen often played "Under Pressure" at their concerts - it was an important song for them because of the "David and lyrical content.". Bowie didn't revisit the song until a 1992 Freddie Mercury tribute concert, when he performed it with . Annie Lennox. Brian May recalled this emotional scene:

"David has made a wonderful contribution to the show..."

Beginning in 2000, Bowie regularly included this song in his set list. It is noteworthy that both Mercury and Bowie performed on the Live Aid in 1985, but the opportunity for a duet was lost.....

Lastly, I would like to add that there are other records as well Queen + David Bowie. I give the floor to Peter Hince:

"Of course there were other tracks recorded by Queen and Bowie that never came out. Pretty raw, but original material definitely. They were just incredibly spontaneous, good musicians. I can categorically say that I know there were finished tracks, not mixed, but fully formed songs that were recorded!"

Brian May confirmed this theory in 2017. Who knows, maybe we'll get a pleasant surprise in the future and one day these tracks will still reach us? Let's hope so!