No More Heroes (The Stranglers song)
"No More Heroes" | ||||
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Single by The Stranglers | ||||
from the album No More Heroes | ||||
B-side | "In the Shadows" | |||
Released | September 1977 | (UK)|||
Length | 3:29 | |||
Label | United Artists | |||
Songwriter(s) | Hugh Cornwell, Jean-Jacques Burnel, Jet Black | |||
Producer(s) | Martin Rushent | |||
The Stranglers singles chronology | ||||
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"No More Heroes" is a song by The Stranglers, released as a single from their album of the same name. It is one of the group's most successful singles (featuring regularly both in greatest hits and punk/new wave compilation albums), having peaked at No. 8[1][2] in the UK Singles Chart.[3]
The song's lyrics refer to several historical figures, including Elmyr de Hory, Leon Trotsky, Lenny Bruce, William Shakespeare and fictional character Sancho Panza.[4]
At the time of the single's release, the B-side "In the Shadows" was a non-album track; however, it appeared on the Stranglers' next studio album, Black and White. The band's publishers threatened legal action against Elastica in 1995, arguing that their single "Waking Up" borrowed elements of "No More Heroes". Elastica eventually settled out of court.[5]
A cover of the song by Violent Femmes featured in the movie Mystery Men, and was also heard in two episodes of the BBC television series Ashes to Ashes: episode 1 of Series 1[2] and episode 4 of Series 3. It was included in the soundtrack to Series 1. The song was featured on the closing credits of TV series Zapped, Season 2, Episode 6. Former Stranglers member and song co-writer Hugh Cornwell released an acoustic version of the song on his 2018 album “Monster”, along with acoustic versions of nine other Stranglers songs.
The video game series No More Heroes is named after this song and the album.[6]
References
- ^ "Official Charts Company - The Stranglers - No More Heroes". Archive.is. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
- ^ a b Everyhit.com (NB Enter either Stranglers in "Name of artist" and/or No More Heroes in "Title of Song" for details
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 535. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ "How depth of heroes has been confused with crass celebrity". The Irish Times. 16 April 2011.
- ^ Stylus Magazine: Elastica
- ^ "SUDA51, Game Creator (No More Heroes, Killer7) - toco toco". 1 Aug 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
External links
- The Stranglers: No More Heroes at Discogs (list of releases)
- The Stranglers songs
- 1977 singles
- Song recordings produced by Martin Rushent
- 1977 songs
- United Artists Records singles
- Songs written by Dave Greenfield
- Songs written by Hugh Cornwell
- Songs written by Jean-Jacques Burnel
- Songs written by Jet Black
- Cultural depictions of Leon Trotsky
- Cultural depictions of William Shakespeare
- Songs about celebrities
- Songs about politicians
- Songs about writers
- Songs involved in plagiarism controversies