Eminence Front
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| "Eminence Front" | |||||||||||||
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| Single by The Who | |||||||||||||
| from the album It's Hard | |||||||||||||
| B-side | One At A Time [1] | ||||||||||||
| Released | 1982 | ||||||||||||
| Recorded | 1982 | ||||||||||||
| Genre | Rock, funk | ||||||||||||
| Length | 5:39 | ||||||||||||
| Label | Polydor Records (UK) Warner Bros. (US) |
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| Writer(s) | Pete Townshend | ||||||||||||
| Producer | Glyn Johns | ||||||||||||
| The Who singles chronology | |||||||||||||
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"Eminence Front" is a song written and sung by Pete Townshend of The Who. It appears as the sixth track on the group's 1982 studio album, It's Hard. The single reached #68 on the Billboard Hot 100.[1] It is the only song from the album that the band has opted to play live after the initial post-release tours. Lead singer Roger Daltrey, vocally critical of the album, described "Eminence Front" as the only song on it that he felt was worthy of being released[citation needed] (although he later sang "Cry If You Want" during their 2006 tour, incorporating the lyrics into an extended version of "My Generation.")
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[edit] Writing and recording
In the song, Townshend sings about the delusions and drug use of the wealthy and hedonistic. The lyrics describe a party in which people hide from their problems behind a façade. Townshend has introduced the song in live performances with: "This song is about what happens when you take too much white powder; it's called Eminence Front".[cite this quote]
In the originally released version there is a timing flaw or a syncopation in the first chorus, where Townshend sings "behind an eminence front", while Daltrey sings the title term in time. A more linear-sounding remixed version appears on the 1997 re-release of the CD (a live version, recorded on the band's final stop on their 1982 tour in Toronto, appears as a bonus track on the re-release). Additionally, the remix has Townshend's vocals panned centrally rather than hard left in the stereo spectrum.
The song produced a video, shot at a rehearsal in Landover, Maryland, during their 1982 US tour, which enjoyed consistent airplay on MTV upon its release. Footage from the Who's 1982 concert at Shea Stadium was also used in the video.
"Eminence Front" was scheduled to be released as a single in the UK by Polydor Records in 1982; the catalog number was WHO 7 but the single was never released. The picture sleeve, by Richard Evans, depicted a 1930s Art Deco house in Miami.[2]
The song is in the key of F minor.
[edit] Use in other media
The song was used in the Miami Vice third season episode "Kill Shot".
The song was used in the trailer for the 2000 experimental film Time Code.
The song is played on the radio station K-DST in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. It is also available for download in the music video game series Rock Band.
CBS had intended to use the song as the theme song for the London-based spin-off of its popular CSI franchise, but the show was ultimately scrapped.
In the first episode of HBO's Entourage, the song plays while the characters drive through during the red carpet scene.
In the movie Law Abiding Citizen, character Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) enjoys a steak dinner in prison while listening to the song on iPod speakers. The lyrics "They're hiding.. behind an eminence front... it's a put-on" hints that Clyde is not what he seems to be and foreshadows what is to come. The song is then changed to "Engine No. 9" by the Deftones and the volume increased as Clyde stabs his cell mate to death.
The Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers and Dallas Mavericks have used the introduction to the song as background music for player lineup introductions.
The song appears in the Local on the 8s forecast music, January 2010 playlist[2] on the Weather Channel.
The song is occasionally used by the MSNBC show Morning Joe.
UFC fighter Stephan Bonnar is a Who fan and uses "Eminence Front" as his entrance music. Another UFC fighter, Nate Marquardt, also uses this song as an entrance song before his fights.
The instrumental intro of the song is used to close out the radio show of Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti on WBZ-FM.
NBA's Dallas Mavericks uses a slightly modified version of the song's instrumental intro for their starting lineup introduction.
