


"I was thinking at the time, 'If anyone wants to try and copy this video, good luck to them.'" Two dead, headless, featherless chickens were animated using stop-motion and shown dancing along to the synthesised shakuhachi solo. "It took a lot of hard work," Gabriel recalled. Gabriel lay under a sheet of glass for 16 hours while filming the video one frame at a time. The style was later used in the video for " Big Time", another single from So. Many of these techniques had been employed in earlier music videos, such as Talking Heads's 1985 hit " Road to Nowhere", also directed by Johnson. Aardman Animations and the Brothers Quay provided claymation, pixilation, and stop motion animation that gave life to images in the song. The "Sledgehammer" video was commissioned by Tessa Watts at Virgin Records, directed by Stephen R. US versions of the single contained an extended dance remix of "Sledgehammer". The single release included the previously unreleased "Don't Break This Rhythm" and an "'85 Remix" of 1982's " I Have the Touch". "Sledgehammer" also achieved success on other Billboard charts in 1986, spanning the Album Rock Tracks (two weeks at the summit in May and June) and Hot Dance Club Play (one week atop this chart in July). It replaced " Invisible Touch" by his former band Genesis coincidentally, that group's only US No.1. "Sledgehammer" is Gabriel's only US No.1.

Arnold, Coral "Chyna Whyne" Gordon, and Dee Lewis, who also did the backing for " Big Time". Gabriel said the "cheap organ sound" comes from an expensive Prophet-5 synth, which he regards as "an old warhorse" sound tool. The song also features a synthesised shakuhachi flute generated with an E-mu Emulator II sampler. But I think the song was more influenced by many of those Stax and Atlantic tracks rather than Otis particularly." – Peter Gabriel, July 1986 So that was a thrill for me, just to get a whole lot of fan stories.

It was really passionate and exciting… Wayne Jackson, who plays on that track, was also with Otis Redding and was touring with him when I saw them in London. But, as a teenager, soul music was one of the things that made me want to be a musician. I'm still tempted, although probably that would be construed as an even greater sell-out.
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"It's probably about three years old… I was playing at that time with the idea of doing an album full of soul songs – mainly other people's, but maybe a couple of my own. "Sledgehammer" has been described as dance-rock, blue-eyed soul, and funk. In a 2005 poll conducted by Channel 4 the music video was ranked second on their list of the 100 Greatest Pop Videos. The song also saw Gabriel nominated for three Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. The song's music video won a record nine MTV Video Music Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards and Best British Video at the 1987 Brit Awards. It was his biggest hit in North America and ties with " Games Without Frontiers" as his biggest hit in the United Kingdom. 4 on the UK Singles Chart, thanks in part to its music video. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States on 26 July 1986 and No. 1 in Canada on 21 July 1986, where it spent four weeks No. It was produced by Gabriel and Daniel Lanois. It was released as the lead single from his fifth studio album, So, on 21 April 1986. Thankfully, we can jam out to all our favorite hits during E!'s Clash of the Cover Bands, hosted by Stephen "tWitch" Boss , with fierce contestants channeling their favorite celeb alter egos for a chance at a cash prize." Sledgehammer" is a song by English rock musician Peter Gabriel. Weezer even went on to cover the track, thanks to its iconic video fame. We still can't stop thinking about 'NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye" single from No Strings Attached where a pop puppeteer takes control of the boy band, or A-ha's comic book-inspired "Take on Me" that pre-dated the Marvel craze. With Britney Spears and Queen Bey lighting up the cameras, male music stars have also churned out some iconic hits. Yep, Gaga went on to become an Oscar winner! Who can forget the "Telephone" music video featuring the one and only Beyoncé? With the birth of MTV came the rise of the music video.įrom "Wannabes" to "Waterfalls," girl groups have long dominated the video scene, while pop icons like Madonnaand Lady Gaga reinvented themselves through stunning costumes, sensual videos and superb acting talent.
