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No Self Control (Peter Gabriel song)

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"No Self Control"
Single by Peter Gabriel
from the album Peter Gabriel (Melt)
B-side"Lead a Normal Life"
Released25 April 1980[1]
Recorded1979
Genre
Length3:55
LabelCharisma
Songwriter(s)Peter Gabriel
Producer(s)Steve Lillywhite
Peter Gabriel singles chronology
"Games Without Frontiers"
(1980) 		"No Self Control"
(1980) 		"Biko"
(1980)

"No Self Control" is a song written and performed by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel. It was released in 1980 as the second single released from his third self-titled album and peaked at number 33 in the UK.

Background

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The song was inspired by Steve Reich's composition Music for 18 Musicians. "Steve Reich had done this wonderful record called Music for Eighteen Musicians, which involved marimbas and I think, of all the systems composers, his work had a lot of textures and colours and grooves to them that I really responded to. So I tried to involve elements of that in the work."[4]

Percussionist Morris Pert supplied the song's marimba work, which underpins the composition. Wordless backing vocals from both Gabriel and Kate Bush enter following the introduction of Pert's marimba ostinato. The marimba playing, which author Durrell Bowman described as "rhythmically insistent" and "minimalist", drops out at the song's more rock–oriented bridge, which includes instrumentation of electric guitar, bass, and drums, the latter of which was provided by Phil Collins.[5] Guitarist David Rhodes played his parts on a Fender Jazzmaster through a Eurotec Black Box Fuzz Module.[6]

Prior to being recorded for Gabriel's 1980 studio album, the song was performed live under the working title "I Don't Know How to Stop".[7] Later live performances, such as on Plays Live (1983), were slower and more subdued than the studio recording. Gabriel and his China 1984 touring band performed "No Self Control" on BBC One's Top of the Pops in May 1980.[8]

Critical reception

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In his retrospective review of Peter Gabriel's third eponymous release, Chris Roberts of The Quietus described the song as a "beautifully structured and subtly aggressive" song with a "compelling construct of synths and riffs."[2] Graeme Thompson of Uncut magazine said that "No Self Control" was one of the album's "terrific songs" that was "greatly enhanced by a vaulting spirit of adventure."[3]

Track listing

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7" UK single (1980)

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  1. "No Self Control" – 3:47
  2. "Lead a Normal Life" – 4:10

Personnel

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Charts

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Chart (1980) Peak
position
UK Official Singles Chart[9] 33

In other works

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It was used in the season three episode of Homicide: Life on the Street, "The City That Bleeds".

References

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  1. ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 28.
  2. ^ a b Roberts, Chris (11 October 2010). "The Quietus | Features | Anniversary | Peter Gabriel 3". The Quietus. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  3. ^ a b Thomson, Graeme (30 October 2015). "Peter Gabriel – the first four solo albums remastered". Uncut. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  4. ^ "Peter Gabriel". Petergabriel.com. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  5. ^ Bowman, Durrell (2 September 2016). Experiencing Peter Gabriel: A Listener's Companion. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 78–79. ISBN 9781442252004.
  6. ^ Dery, Mark (September 1987). "David Rhodes - Atmospheric Guitar for Peter Gabriel". Guitar Player. Retrieved 25 June 2024 – via David Rhodes Archive.
  7. ^ Scarfe, Graeme (2021). Peter Gabriel: Every Album, Every Song. United Kingdom: SonicBond. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-78952-138-2.
  8. ^ Smith, Mic (1990). "Peak Time Viewing: Peter Gabriel on British TV 1975–90". White Shadow (Gabriel fanzine). No. 3. p. 8.
  9. ^ "Peter Gabriel UK discography". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
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