The Right Stuff (Bryan Ferry song)

"The Right Stuff" is a song by Bryan Ferry, the former lead vocalist for Roxy Music. It was released as the first single from his seventh solo studio album Bête Noire (1987), being Ferry's twenty-fifth single. It was the album's only Top 40 hit in the U.K., peaking at No. 37.[2][3][4][5][6]

"The Right Stuff"
Single by Bryan Ferry
from the album Bête Noire
Released28 September 1987[1]
Recorded1987
GenreSophisti-pop
Length4:25
LabelVirgin
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Bryan Ferry singles chronology
"Help Me"
(1986)
"The Right Stuff"
(1987)
"Kiss and Tell"
(1988)
Music video
"The Right Stuff" on YouTube

Background

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The song was co-written by Johnny Marr and adapted from "Money Changes Everything", the Smiths' instrumental B-side to "Bigmouth Strikes Again". When Marr was asked about the collaboration in a 1989 interview with Sonics he said "He [Ferry] didn’t know who I was. But he was looking for co-writers and someone suggested me to him. Someone played him some Smiths records and he went 'Oh, this guy plays guitar all right!' So he invited me down to the studio. Bryan Ferry was an old hero of mine and it was great to work with him, but the end result was…he’s a bit blow-waved."[7] Guy Pratt, who played bass with Ferry during this period tells it differently in his book. Ferry heard "Money Changes Everything" and had the idea of putting vocals on it. Their then guitar player Chester Kamen, "could play the intro, but couldn't play it" and so Ferry enlisted Marr himself to play on the track.[8]

References

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  1. ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 43.
  2. ^ Bryan Ferry, retrieved 12 July 2014
  3. ^ STUART LENIG -The Twisted Tale of Glam Rock - Page 88 2010 "The music was very programmatic, with images of southern sambas in "Limbo," seaside tales in "Windswept," and hidden ..."
  4. ^ The Trouser Press record guide -Ira A. Robbins - 1991 Page 244 "All things considered, "Limbo," "Kiss and Tell" and "Day for Night" are coolly inviting and likable enough, given the diminished expectations one now brings to Bryan Ferry albums. With no new music forthcoming. Ferry's British label began ..."
  5. ^ Digital Audio and Compact disc Review - Volume 4, Issues 7-12 - Page 87 1988 "Bryan Ferry: Bete Noire ... "Limbo" kicks off this danceable recording in a Caribbean groove,"
  6. ^ Keyboard - Volume 14 -1988 Page 106 "In Bryan Ferry's "Limbo," from Bete Noire, there are saxophone section parts that sound like they're from a 78 record, and in the beginning there are weird sounds like bird calls and swamp animals ..."
  7. ^ "Johnny Marr and Bryan Ferry". www.johnnymarrplaysguitar.com. Archived from the original on 2011-10-01.
  8. ^ Pratt, Guy (2007). My Bass And Other Animals. London: Orion. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-7528-9335-8.
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