How Freddie Mercury of Queen and David Bowie Created The 80s Hit Under Pressure | Professor of Rock

In the summer of 1981... two rock titans clashed in a recording studio tucked away at the foot of the Swiss Alps to create extemporaneous magic. The truly unbelievable story of “Under Pressure” by Queen with David Bowie NEXT on Professor of Rock.

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It’s time for another edition of #1 in our Hearts where we go behind a song that was so phenomenal, that it should’ve been a #1 hit but for reasons we talk about in this commentary it came up short.

Whenever you have two legends come together for a song or two can be life changing. George Micheal and Aretha Franklin on the #1 hit I Knew You Waiting for Me, Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson with the #1 hit Say Say Say, Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks on their top 5 hit Stop Draggin My Heart Around just to name a few. When fabulous Freddie Mercury of Queen and the thin white duke David Bowie recorded Under Pressure together, it was more than life changing. It was or rather is one of the greatest songs ever put to tape. It’s one of those no brainer number one hits. But guess what? In america, it barely scraped the top 30. and some people know the song that sampled it better than the original. Let’s get into it.

“Under Pressure” by Queen with David Bowie…..If you don’t recall the song by its title, you will definitely say “oh yeah” when you hear the tune’s famous melodic pluck. The story of how this irresistible riff, and the complete track was invented, is about as amusing & bizarre as they come. So apparently There was no plan, no lyric sheet, no arrangement, no structure of any kind on the wondrous night it was recorded in July of 1981.The whole thing happened, unexpectedly, on a substance-induced evening in Montreux Switzerland, a sleepy resort town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva, at the base of the Swiss Alps.
I will set the stage for us……..

The 4 members of Queen were in Montreux working on material for a new album. They LOVED everything about Montreux, so much so, they bought Mountain Recording Studios in Montreux in ’79, and made it their home away from home.

By sheer coincidence, David Bowie was nearby to record the title track for the movie Cat People, and when Bowie heard Freddie & the guys were basically next door, he dropped in to say ‘hello’ and hang out a bit, bringing a bounteous supply of cocaine with him to share with his friends.

With Bowie in the house, and the intoxicants flowing steadily, the all-star coteri decided to get creative. The band asked David to do background vocals for a song titled “Cool Cat,” but they scrapped the session because Bowie was unhappy with his performance.

The guys started to mess around- playing cover tunes, including Bowie’s original composition “All the Young Dudes” that was famously cut by Mott the Hoople. Then David got bored, bemusing to his friends- “this is stupid…let’s just write one.” Wise words that we’re all eternally grateful were said.