History
The bass line was inspired by the song "Good Times" by the disco group Chic. In an interview with New Musical Express, Chic co-founder Bernard Edwards stated, "...that Queen record came about because that Queen bass player... spent some time hanging out with us at our studio".
Recording sessions were produced by Reinhold Mack at Musicland Studios in Munich (West Germany) and consisted of Deacon playing almost all the instruments: bass, piano, rhythm and lead guitars and handclap percussion. Roger Taylor added a drum loop and Brian May contributed some noises with his guitar and an Eventide Harmonizer. There are no synthesisers used in the song: all effects are created with pianos, guitars, and drums, with subsequent tape playback performed in reverse at various speeds. Finally, some sound effects were run through the harmonizer for further processing. The effect of the harmonizer can be heard clearly in the "swirling" nature of the sound immediately before the first lyric. After attending a Queen concert in Los Angeles, Michael Jackson suggested to Freddie Mercury backstage that "Another One Bites the Dust" be released as a single. The earlier live performances of the song had drummer Roger Taylor on lead vocals during the chorus, as opposed to the album version which was sung by Mercury in its entirety. In later performances, parts of the chorus were sometimes not sung by any member of the band, letting the audience sing it instead.
At the 1981 American Music Awards on 30 January, "Another One Bites the Dust" won the award for Favorite Pop/Rock Single. The song also garnered Queen a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The band lost to Bob Seger's album Against the Wind. The music video for "Another One Bites the Dust" was filmed at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas. This song is played when the Chicago Bulls win a home game.
Read more about this topic: Another One Bites The Dust
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