Big Hit Singles

I have written a number of articles that strive to answer some of those Frequently Unasked Questions about FZ. This one looks at the contributions some of his former musicians have made to top 20 singles over a thirty year period.

1971

Get It On by T. Rex made it to number 1 in the UK and featured backing vocals by Flo & Eddie. The duo also sang on a bunch of other hits for Bolan’s band, but Get It On (titled Bang A Gong in the US) spent four weeks at the top and was the group’s biggest ever record.

1972

Love Train by the O’Jays made it to number 1 in the US and featured Robert Martin on French Horn. Martin was a session musician at Sigma Sound Studios in the early seventies and plays on a load more Philly hits, including Bethca By Golly Wow by the Stylistics and Me And Mrs Jones by Billy Paul.

1974

After David Bowie dismissed drummer Mick ‘Woody’ Woodmansey following the Ziggy Stardust Tour, he was replaced by Aynsley Dunbar. Dunbar played on Bowie’s next two albums: the 1973 covers collection Pin Ups and 1974’s Diamond Dogs. Diamond Dogs was preceded by the single Rebel Rebel, which went to number 5 in the UK Singles Chart.

During the sessions for Pin Ups, Dunbar played on a cover of The McCoys' Sorrow and Bowie’s own The Man Who Sold The World, the latter sung by Scottish chanteuse Lulu. Both were separately released as 7 inch platters and both went to number 3 in the UK Singles Chart.

1975

In 1973, while still with Curved Air, Eddie Jobson played on Bryan Ferry’s debut solo album, These Foolish Things: “I played keyboards and synthesizer, and I also was the whole orchestra because Bryan couldn’t really afford one back then. He asked me to join Roxy Music right after that.” Replacing Brian Eno at the age of 18, he played on the band’s next three studio albums as well as playing on numerous tours and working on Ferry’s third solo release, Let’s Stick Together. Out of all this, the biggest hit he is featured on is Roxy’s Love Is The Drug, which went to number 2 in the UK Singles Chart.

1979

After Bowie ‘stole’ him from Zappa, Adrian Belew contributed a guitar solo towards the end of Bowie’s single Boys Keep Swinging, made up of multiple takes. Before he recorded any of these, Bowie gave him very little guidance about the song he was about to hear. Belew later said, “It was like a freight train coming through my mind. I just had to cling on.” The song went to number 7 in the UK Singles Chart.

That same year, George Duke played synthesizer on Michael Jackson’s Off The Wall, which also went to number 7 in the UK Singles Chart. Shamone!

1981

Phil Collins’ debut solo single, In The Air Tonight, features the violin of L. Shankar. The record went to number 2 in the UK charts, and to the top of the pops elsewhere in Europe. Word is that Collins and Shankar recorded together at the UMRK in the early 90s, but these sessions have yet to see the light of day.

1985

We Are the World by the USA For Africa supergroup, was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, produced by Quincy Jones, and featured Ian Underwood on synthesizers. It went to number 1 in a number of countries around the globe, including the UK and US, and became the fastest-selling American pop single in history.

Peter Wolf arranged Nightshift by The Commodores and co-wrote (with Bernie Taupin) and co-produced We Built This City by Starship. He also played keyboards on both songs, which were hits around the globe: Nightshift went to number 3 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart, number 2 in Belgium, Israel, South Africa & New Zealand, and number 1 in the Netherlands; We Built This City peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also topped the charts in Paraguay, South Africa, Australia and Canada, but is regarded by many as the worst song of all time.

1986

Aside from the fact that Paul Simon’s You Can Call Me Al was inspired by Pierre Boulez (who at a party had mistakenly referred to Simon as ‘Al’ and his then wife Peggy as ‘Betty’), the song also featured Adrian Belew on guitar synthesizer, as well as In New York musicians Ronnie Cuber and Randy Brecker. Said Ade of his contribution: “I had written a variety of saxophone emulations from baritone to alto which had a realistic yet unorthodox quality. He spelled out each part exactly as he wanted them for the iconic beginning of the song. They may have added real saxophones later but my synthesized saxophones are definitely there as well. It’s my own ‘proud secret’ to know that’s me.”

Surprisingly, the song failed to make the top 20 in the US but spent five weeks in the UK top 10 and became Simon’s biggest solo hit, eventually being certified triple platinum here. Belew observed, “Paul was the first person to send me a gold record so I’ll never forget him for that. I had probably played on other gold records by then but no one else had been as thoughtful.”

Arthur Barrow played almost everything on Berlin’s Take My Breath Away. The song reached number 1 in the UK, US and elsewhere, and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

1987

Aynsley Dunbar plays on Is This Love by Whitesnake, which reached number 9 in the UK and number 2 in the US. While the band’s 1987 album also included Dunbar on a re-recording of Here I Go Again, his tracks were replaced by Denny Carmassi on the radio-mix version that went to number 1 in the US and Canada.

1990

King Of Wishful Thinking by Go West was produced by Peter Wolf, who also programmed the drums and played keyboards on it. The song first appeared on the Pretty Woman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack album, but Wolf continued to produce tracks for the band and their subsequent Indian Summer album. The song reached number 18 in the UK Singles Chart and made it into the US top ten. Big. Huge!

1992

Madonna wrote This Used To Be My Playground specifically for the film A League of Their Own, in which she also starred. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week and featured Vinnie Colaiuta on drums. Vinnie recalled: “I had to come in and overdub. There was just a basic drum machine, an orchestra playing all long tones, and a mini-moog bass that intentionally wasn’t quantized in order to get a feel. I had to find my middle ground, and every note counted. It was like an eternity. It was strange – just a call I got. I didn’t even know what it was, and I was done in an hour and a half, but it was a valuable experience.”

Warren Cuccurullo co-wrote Ordinary World during his stint with Duran Duran; it topped the charts in Canada and Italy, reached number 3 in the US and 6 in the UK. Cuccurullo also co-wrote Come Undone (number 13 in the UK Singles Chart in 1993).

1993

Sting’s Fields Of Gold is a certified classic which features his long-time drummer, Vinnie Colaiuta. Surprisingly, the single only reached number 16 in both the US Cash Box Top 100 and UK Singles Chart; it fared a little better in Canada and some parts of Europe though.

1995

Fantasy by Mariah Carey features an Adrian Belew co-write credit due to the fact that it samples the Tom Tom Club’s 1981 song Genius Of Love. Fantasy was an Antipodean, European and North American number 1 for the songbird supreme.

1996

They Don’t Care About Us by Michael Jackson features Chuck Wild (keyboards). Chuck of course provided Broadway piano on Thing-Fish and was later a member of Missing Persons. The King of Pop reached number 1 in Germany and Italy, and number 4 in the UK, with this ditty. Like Jewish Princess, the song was deemed anti-Semitic (for the line: “Jew me, sue me, everybody do me / Kick me, kike me, don’t you black or white me.”). But like Frank, Jackson stood his ground and claimed, “The song is about the pain of prejudice and hate and is a way to draw attention to social and political problems. I am angry and outraged that I could be so misinterpreted.”

2002

While not a smash hit in her home country (though it did top Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart), Whitney Houston’s Whatchulookinat cracked the top ten in five countries and made it to number 13 in the UK. It was co-written by Andre Lewis, who replaced George Duke in The Mothers in 1976. The video for the single features an overzealous pap/fan interrogating Houston as she leaves the studio and tells her he’d drink her bath water – a little unfortunate, given the manner of her death 10 years later. Coincidentally, Lewis passed away just eleven days before Houston in 2012.