Queen and David Bowie - Under Pressure

'Under Pressure' is a 1981 song recorded by Queen and David Bowie. It marked Bowie's first released collaboration with another recording artist as a performer, and is featured on Queen's 1982 album Hot Space. The song reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart. It was also number 31 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s.

Bowie had originally come to the studios in order to sing backing vocals on another Queen song, 'Cool Cat,' which would end up being edited out since he wasn't satisfied with them. Once he got there, they worked together for a while and wrote the song.

Queen had been working on the song under the title 'Feel Like' but were not yet satisfied with the result. The final version that became 'Under Pressure' evolved from a jam session the band had with Bowie at his studio in Montreux, Switzerland, therefore it was credited as co-written by the five musicians. According to Queen bassist John Deacon (as quoted in a French magazine in 1984), however, the song's primary musical songwriter was Freddie Mercury — though all contributed to the arrangement. The earlier, embryonic version of the song without Bowie 'Feel Like' is widely available in bootleg form.

There has been some confusion about who created the song's famous bassline. John Deacon said (in Japanese magazine Musiclife in 1982, and in the previously mentioned French magazine) that David Bowie had created it. In more recent interviews, Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor have credited the bass riff to Deacon; Bowie also said on his website that the bassline was already written before he became involved. The September 2005 edition of online music magazine Stylus singled out the bassline as the best in popular music history.

Roger Taylor was frequently rumored to be the song's chief writer. However, it appears that he served more as an intermediary for Mercury and Bowie, being friends with both men. Taylor was involved in the production of the track and did some preliminary mixes with Bowie in New York, but Bowie was dissatisfied with these results and wanted to re-record everything (as claimed by May on a November 1982 interview for IM&RW magazine). In the end, the final mix was done with the involvement of Mercury and recording engineer Mack, 'Under Pressure' from Bowie and Taylor (according to Brian May in the same 1982 interview).

Although very much a joint project, only Queen incorporated the song into their live shows at the time. Bowie chose not to perform the song before an audience until the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, when he and Annie Lennox sang it as a duet (backed by the surviving Queen members). However, since Mercury's death and the Outside tour in 1995, Bowie has performed the song at virtually every one of his live shows, with bassist Gail Ann Dorsey taking Mercury's vocal part. The song also appeared in setlists from A Reality Tour mounted by Bowie in 2004, when he frequently would dedicate it to Freddie Mercury. Queen + Paul Rodgers have recently performed the song as well. While Bowie was never present for a live performance of the song with Mercury, Roger Taylor instead filled for back-up vocals usually in unison with Mercury as Mercury would take over most of Bowie's parts.

The song's bassline was sampled by rapper Vanilla Ice for his 1990 single 'Ice Ice Baby'. Freddie Mercury and David Bowie did not receive credit or royalties for the sample. In a 1990 interview, Vanilla Ice said the two melodies were slightly different because he had added an additional note. In later interviews, Vanilla Ice readily admitted he sampled the song and claimed his 1990 statement was a joke; others, however, suggested he had been serious. He later paid Mercury and Bowie, who have since been given songwriting credit for the sample.

In 2010, Irish singing duo Jedward recorded a mashup of 'Under Pressure' and 'Ice Ice Baby' as their debut single. 'Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)' was released in the United Kingdom on January 31, 2010 via download and as a physical single on February 15, 2010

Click the link below to download the following:
Video
Live Performance - Wembley 1986
David Bowie and Annie Lennox Performance at Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
Single Version
Rah Mix - Re-issue release
Soul Brother - Original B-Side
Bohemian Rhapsody - Re-Issue B-Side
Feel Like - Demo Song That Would Evolve Into Under Pressure

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=2ccb7d0cd98a6267aaca48175a79d1c39c16ea92d6b688f087095ac91101628c

Queen and David Bowie - Under Pressure - Video