Grace Jones - Slave To The Rhythm (12" Blooded Mix)
- 12 INCH VINYL
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
Slave To The Rhythm is regarded as one of the best-produced tracks of the 1980s, and a highlight from Trevor Horn's famous team who shaped the much of the sound of UK pop music in the early part of the decade.
Yet for all the accolades engineer Stephen Lipson insists the finished track is much simpler than it appears. But the journey the track took to its final version was far from simple.
Slave To The Rhythm was written by Bruce Woolley (who had co-written Video Killed The Radio Star with Horn) and Simon Darlow (who had co-written hits for Dollar and Toyah), along with Horn and Lipson.
It was actually intended for Frankie Goes To Holywood as a follow-up to their debut mega-hit Relax. They began working on a version of the track before choosing to develop their own songs, Two Tribes, Welcome To The Pleasuredome and The Power Of Love for their next singles.
Meanwhile, Grace Jones' profile was rising, in part due to her forays into the film world, including her role in the 1984 James Bond film, A View To A Kill, and her appearances on mainstream chat shows in the UK and US.
Jones had grown up in Jamaica before moving to New York with her family at the age of 13 where she began a modelling career which continued when she moved to Paris in the 1970s.
Later in the decade she signed a deal with Island Records, initially releasing disco tracks. She had her first UK hit in 1980 with Private Life, and her first major hit in 1981 with the double-A side single Pull Up To The Bumper / La Vie En Rose.
Slave To The Rhythm would became her signature hit thanks largely to Island Records boss Chris Blackwell who first suggested that Jones should record the unused track, and then said a new version should be made in a go-go style.
And so it was that the production team headed to New York's famous The Power Station studio to record new parts with members of various Washington-based go-go bands.
The slower tempo and new rhythm, bass, guitar and percussion parts gave the track a sultry luxurious groove that was some way from the initial demo versions recorded by Frankie Goes To Hollywood and then Jones.
Lipson and team returned to London to begin assembling the track with Horn overseeing the process from a distance. "If he's always in the room he can't macro," Lipson explains. "If he's out the room and walks in he can have a sensible view."
Orchestral parts were arranged by Richard Niles, known for his lavish and sometimes over the top style. Lispon explains that most of Niles' arrangement wasn't used, but the parts that were are key to the character of the track.
"The main bit that was used has that big build up," he says. "Grace thought it sounded like the Johnny Carson show, so she said 'And now ladies and gentlemen...here's Grace!'. It was a bit of a joke but we decided to leave it in."
They also added applause from a sound effects library, a spoken intro from actor Ian McShane, and during the final mixdown Lipson spontaneously improvised a low noise sound between McShane's intro and the bell sound that denotes the start of the track.
Backing vocals were added by Tessa Niles, who also recorded with The Police, ABC, Pet Shop Boys and The Rolling Stones, amongst many others, in the 1980s.
"It's actually all quite simple," Lipson concludes. "Just with lots of little details. They're like little bits of jewellery."
Slave To The Rhythm was released as a single in November 1985. It reached number 12 in the UK Top 40 and was named single of the year by The Face magazine.
Featured here is the Blooded mix from the UK 12 inch single. It is an extended version of the single and album versions (the accompanying album is built entirely around the track, with eight very different versions alongside spoken word pieces, and interviews with Jones).
Perhaps one of the reasons Slave To The Rhythm grew to become so loved and Jones' signature tune is that its luxurious, beautiful, multi-faceted production reflects aspects of Jones' own persona. It's almost the perfect vehicle for her charisma, and talent.
Certainly Jones feels its production captures something of her character: "Trevor wanted to get the best out of me, and I wanted to get the best out of him. He put a lot into the concept and kept adding bits until somehow over a period of time he managed to pull it together. He interpreted my voice and personality and really made it bigger."
Year: 1985
Label: Island Records
Cat no: 12IS 206