Back on the Chain Gang
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| “Back on the Chain Gang” | |||||
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| Single by The Pretenders from the album Learning to Crawl |
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| Released | 1982 | ||||
| Genre | Rock | ||||
| Writer(s) | Chrissie Hynde | ||||
| The Pretenders singles chronology | |||||
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"Back on the Chain Gang" is a song by The Pretenders from their third studio album Learning to Crawl (1984). It was released as the album's first single in 1982 (see 1982 in music), two years before the album was released, and reached number five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 as the band's highest charting single, number four on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number 17 in the United Kingdom.
The song was originally going to be about Ray Davies, leader of the band The Kinks. Hynde and Davies were a couple and had a daughter together, but the meaning of the song changed after James Honeyman-Scott, the Pretenders guitarist, died of a drug overdose at the age of 25 in 1982.
The memorable chain-gang chant heard during the chorus of the song echoes a similar chant on Sam Cooke's song "Chain Gang."
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[edit] Charts
| Chart (1983) | Peak position |
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| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 4 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 5 |
| UK Singles Chart | 17 |
| “Fotos y Recuerdos” | |||||
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| Single by Selena from the album Amor Prohibido |
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| Released | February, 1995 | ||||
| Format | CD Promo single | ||||
| Recorded | 1993 | ||||
| Genre | Latin | ||||
| Length | 2:45 | ||||
| Label | EMI | ||||
| Producer | AB Quintanilla III | ||||
| Selena singles chronology | |||||
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[edit] Selena version
The late Mexican-American singer Selena included a cover version with all-new Spanish lyrics on her album Amor Prohibido. The song was retitled "Fotos y Recuerdos" (which translates as "Photos and Memories"): even though there were no references to prisoners in the Spanish lyrics, Selena's version still used the chain-gang chant hook in the chorus. The song became very successful on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks charts, peaking at number 1 for seven weeks[1].
- Chart Performance
| Chart (1995) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks [2] | 1 |
| US Billboard Latin Regional Mexican Airplay [3] | 1 |
| US Billboard Latin Pop Airplay [4] | 12 |
| Preceded by "Toma Mi Amor" by La Mafia |
U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Tracks number-one single April 15, 1995 – May 27, 1995 |
Succeeded by "Una Mujer Como Tú" by Marco Antonio Solís and Los Bukis |
[edit] See also
Number-one hits of 1995 (U.S. Hot Latin Tracks)
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Hot Latin Tracks" on Billboard.com. Retrieved on 1995-04-27.
- ^ "Hot Latin Tracks" on Billboard.com. Retrieved on 1995-04-27.
- ^ "Latin Regional Mexican Airplay" on Billboard.com. Retrieved on 1995-04-22.
- ^ "Latin Pop Airplay" on Billboard.com. Retrieved on 1995-04-12.
[edit] External links
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