ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST


Michael Jackson, Freddie and John around the 'Hot Space' era.

This is one of the simplest and most repetitive songs in the Queen catalog, but at the same time their biggest-hit ever. John'd initially written it as a cowboy-theme, but eventually changed it. While Roger's reaction was, quoting Brian, "unprintable", Freddie instantly loved it, and so did the road crew, who even recommended the band to release it as a single, only to have their suggestion fall into deaf ears.

Yet, after a Queen concert in Los Angeles, Michael Jackson told them to issue it, and then they did listen, and as a consequence they scored their second (and last) #1 hit in the States.

General Information:

Music & Lyrics by: John Deacon
Arranged by: John Deacon
Written: 1980
Length: 3:35
Released on: June 30th 1980

Produced by: Queen & Reinhold Mack
Mixed by: Reinhold Mack
Engineered by: Reinhold Mack

Recorded: February - March 1980
Recorded at: Musicland Studios, Munich, West Germany

Keys: Fm
Meter: 4/4
Form: One-Bridge

Acoustic Drums: Roger Taylor
Electronic Drums: Roger Taylor
Electric Bass: John Deacon
Electric Guitars: John Deacon & Brian May
Percussion: Uncredited
Piano: John Deacon

Lead Vocals: Freddie Mercury
Backing Vocals: Freddie Mercury

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Each Time Less Is More, More

John's first song, Misfire, had been arranged in Queen's trademark big sound: lots of vocals, lots of guitars (most of which were played by John himself). Best Friend had continued the tradition - two pianos, multi-layered voices, several guitars, additional percussion, two bass tracks sometimes - and so had You And I - again with multi-tracked voices and lots of guitars.

The 'News of the World' album changed it radically: Spread Your Wings retained the guitar choirs (including an acoustic track very beautifully played by Deacon) but would be the band's first single without any backing vocals; Who Needs You had five-six guitars (acoustic + electric) and lots of vocals and percussion but no bass, and the arrangement was still "narrow" compared to the band's previous material.

On 'Jazz' Deacy had continued the timelines: Seven Days has piano, bass, drums, electric and acoustic guitars but no backing vocals; If You Can't Beat Them had the rock band with only few guitar overdubs and a "simple" (for Queen standards) three-part vocal harmony.

For 'The Game', John (and the others for that matter) had turned more into even simpler songs and arrangements. Another One Bites the Dust had no guitar solo, a drum-loop, vocals only occasionally harmonized (forming a two-part), monotone bass-line and although it did include lots of overdubs, it still sounded sparse and funk.

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Form:

A
A
A
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B
B'
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A'
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B
B'
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A'
C
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B
B'
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A'
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B'

The famous riff is done (with variants) twenty-nine times, and the second motif appears eight times. In spite of that, John managed to avoid the track sounding too repetitive via melodic variants (he'd do something similar in I Want to Break Free), creating verse and chorus over almost the same progression.

Later on Deacon would write a song over virtually the same structural formula: Back Chat. The "C" section is a 22-bar interlude over the tonic, including a nice piano power-chord with minor seventh (B5-7). John's use of such details had started off in 'News of the World' (Spread Your Wings), and would continue later on (Cool Cat).