On 26 October 1981, Queen and David Bowie released “Under Pressure” - a single recorded in a 24-hour jam session at Mountain Studios, Montreux. UK #1 for two weeks, #29 on the Billboard Hot 100. Nine years later, John Deacon's seven-note bassline would become the core sample in the Vanilla Ice “Ice Ice Baby” scandal - settled out of court, credited after the fact. Freddie Mercury and David Bowie would never record together again.
July 1981: a Montreux accident
Bowie showed up at Mountain Studios in July 1981 to record “Cool Cat”, a track intended for his next album. Queen were next door mixing Hot Space. Bowie wanted Mercury to sing a backing vocal for him.
What was planned as a two-hour session turned into an all-night jam. By morning, “Cool Cat” had been abandoned and something new had emerged under the working title “People on Streets”. Queen and Bowie never intended to write a song together - the track arrived by accident.
A small detail: the final mix was cut at Power Station in New York. Bowie and Queen argued by transatlantic phone over every bar, and Bowie ultimately insisted on his mix.
John Deacon's seven notes
The legendary bassline - “dee-dee-dee-dum-dum-da-da” - is seven notes, repeating for the entire song. John Deacon came up with it during a smoke break, humming. When he returned to the studio, he had forgotten the riff, and Roger Taylor reminded him by memory.
Technically the pattern is simple: D - D - D - A - A - G - F, played on a Fender Precision Bass through an Ampeg SVT. But the pause between the second and third cell is precisely long enough to clear space for vocals. Deacon admitted in a 1982 interview: “I didn't understand why everyone in the studio went silent. Then Bowie started singing over it - and I got it”.
Bowie and Mercury sketched the vocal line on the spot: two parts, trading off and locking in unison. The chorus melody “Pressure pushing down on me” is Mercury. “Turned away from it all like a blind man” is Bowie.
Recording: Mountain Studios and a battle of egos
Recording ran onto a 16-track Studer A80. Everything was cut in one overnight session - bass, drums (Roger Taylor, Ludwig kit), guitar (Brian May, Red Special through a Vox AC30), piano (Mercury, a Yamaha C7 grand), and two vocals.
“Freddie and David in one room is two very big egos. Brian, Roger and I sat in the control room and watched them write the vocal. Neither would concede. It wasn't a session, it was a duel”.
- John Deacon, Mojo interview, 1999
Brian May later confirmed that some lines were rewritten fifteen times. Mercury wanted one thing, Bowie another. The final version is a compromise in which neither man fully won.
Anatomy of the sound
- Key: D major moving to F# minor in the chorus
- BPM: 113
- Length: 4:04 (single edit), 4:08 (album version)
- Bass: Fender Precision, John Deacon - one line throughout
- Drums: Ludwig, Roger Taylor - simple 4/4 with rare snare rolls
- Guitar: Red Special + Vox AC30, Brian May - solo at the finale
- Piano: Yamaha C7 grand, Mercury - two chords in the intro
- Producer: Queen + David Bowie (shared)
- Studio: Mountain Studios, Montreux, Switzerland
- Recording dates: 10-11 July 1981, one overnight session
- Single release: 26 October 1981, EMI UK / Elektra US
Chart history and a US false start
In the UK the single entered at #8 and climbed to #1 in two weeks, where it stayed for two. It was Queen's second UK #1 after “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Australia, the Netherlands, and New Zealand - all #1.
The US story was rougher. Columbia (Bowie's label) and Elektra (Queen's) couldn't agree on who was promoting the single. Radio was confused: is this Bowie or Queen? Net result - #29 on the Billboard Hot 100. Neither act agreed to make a video, so MTV never got a clip and never played it in rotation.
Only by the late 1990s did “Under Pressure” reach American classic status - thanks to a second-hand sample.
1990: “Ice Ice Baby” and the lawsuit that never happened
In August 1990 Vanilla Ice released “Ice Ice Baby”, entirely built on Deacon's seven notes. At first, Ice claimed his bassline was different - that he had “added one note” (“ding ding ding ding ding-ding da-ding” vs “ding ding ding ding ding-ding ding”). He explained this to MTV journalists on camera in September 1990 with a straight face.
Queen and Bowie weren't persuaded. Their lawyers filed a $500,000 claim plus writer credit. The case never reached court - Vanilla Ice settled out of court and retroactively added Mercury, May, Deacon, Taylor and Bowie as co-writers of “Ice Ice Baby”.
Since then, all royalties from “Ice Ice Baby” (17 million US copies, one week at Billboard #1 in 1990) are split between Ice and the former Queen + Bowie. Freddie Mercury received these payments for the last 13 months of his life.
Why Queen and Bowie never tracked another song
After “Under Pressure” Queen and Bowie discussed a follow-up at least twice - in 1984 and again in 1986. Each attempt died on logistics: Queen's schedule vs Bowie's tour. But as Brian May wrote in his 2004 memoir, the real reason was that “the recording process was too draining”.
When Mercury died in November 1991, Bowie delivered a memorial address at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert (20 April 1992, Wembley Stadium) and performed “Under Pressure” with Annie Lennox in Freddie's place.
At that concert, Bowie knelt and recited the Lord's Prayer in front of 72,000 people. It was one of his last public religious gestures of his life.
What to listen for next
For a sense of 1981-1985 vocal collaborations: “Under Pressure” (1981) → “Take My Breath Away” Berlin (1986) → “Together in Electric Dreams” Moroder/Oakey (1984). Three different strategies for fitting two voices into one song.
From Bowie's solo run 1980-1983: “Under Pressure” → “Ashes to Ashes” (1980) → “Let's Dance” (1983). Three versions of the same artist - experimental, pop-ironic, mainstream.