Comments on: Why will no one break the champions?

Question: Why will no one break the champions?

sled — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 14:19:11 -0800

Why is it that Queen's "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions" always plays back to back?

These are definitely seperate "tracks." At least I thought so. Is there something I'm missing here that requires every station and satellite radio to play these smashed together, without exception? I've attempted some basic Google-Fu, forgive me if this easy, I'm just missing it.

By: InfidelZombie

InfidelZombie — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 14:21:21 -0800

If I remember right, they came on the single that way. They are each too short for most radio stations alone, but together come in at right around the magic 3 minutes. Plus they flow well together.

By: Ironmouth

Ironmouth — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 14:25:12 -0800

The single was done that way. It got tons and tons of airplay on A.M. radio when I was a kid. Plus, they belong together, of course.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 14:29:46 -0800

Wait just a second here... If they were the A and B side of a single, wouldn't that make them harder to play in sequence?

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 14:43:24 -0800

"Fat Bottomed Girls"/"Bicycle Race" worked the same way.

By: jlkr

jlkr — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 14:56:17 -0800

They weren't A and B side. They were A side, iirc. I don't remember what was on the B side, though.

By: ibmcginty

ibmcginty — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 15:01:43 -0800

I've heard it described as a "double A" release, I think. I think the songs were released & marketed together from the word go.

The real question to me is, how come Led Zep's Heartbreaker is always followed by Living Loving Maid?

By: thanotopsis

thanotopsis — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 15:37:53 -0800

The real question to me is, how come Led Zep's Heartbreaker is always followed by Living Loving Maid?

I believe this is the same version -- zero silence between them on the original recording. A radio station either needs to crossfade into a new song, or talk over the fading song as it leaves the air. You can't do that on either Heartbreaker or We Will Rock You without starting to play Living Love Maid and We Are The Champions, respectively.

On the LZ best-of CD set that came out about 15 years ago, those two tracks weren't together, and there was a regular amount of air space after Heartbreaker. It was a bit disconcerting to hear.

By: timeistight

timeistight — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 15:41:02 -0800

They were made to be played that way, just like "Waitin' for the Bus"/"Jesus Just Left Chicago" or "This Beat Goes On"/"Switching to Glide" or "Just a Gigolo"/"I Ain't Got Nobody".

By: Meatbomb

Meatbomb — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 16:12:05 -0800

I thought "I ain't got nobody" weas just the chorus of the song "Just a Gigolo"?

By: Saucy Intruder

Saucy Intruder — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 16:14:56 -0800

Hmm, I always thought "I Ain't Got Nobody" was just a refrain to "Just a Gigolo." The gigolo part was new; the refrain was an old standard from the 30s.

On another note, is the instrumental following Eric Clapton's "Layla" a separate song?

By: dchunks

dchunks — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 16:24:50 -0800

I wish they would play Queens Fairy Fellers Master-Stroke with matching enthusiam at sporting events as We are the Champions.

By: timeistight

timeistight — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 16:30:34 -0800

"I Ain't Got Nobody" and "Just a Gigolo" were separate songs in Louis Armstrong's repertoire. Louis Prima (who was a huge Armstrong fan) put them together as a medley.

The instrumental coda to "Layla" started life as a separate piece written by drummer Jim Gordon. Clapton and producer Tom Dowd prevailed on Gordon to allow it to be used in the song in exchange for a co-writer's credit, so it's all one composition as released.

By: desuetude

desuetude — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 16:38:17 -0800

The "Just a Gigolo"/"Ain't Got Nobody" medley was originated by Louis Prima in the 50s. Both songs were written in the 30s. Louis Armstrong was probably the first to make both songs famous; Cab Calloway's version of "I Ain't Got Nobody" is another notable early version. But both were performed by pretty much everyone who was anyone.

By: timeistight

timeistight — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 16:41:19 -0800

I Ain't Got Nobody (R. Graham/S. Williams) recorded by Armstrong December 10, 1929, in New York City.

Just a Gigolo (I. Caesar/L. Casucci) recorded by Armstrong March 9, 1931, in Los Angeles.

Wikipedia on Layla.

By: signal

signal — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 17:27:10 -0800

The scene in Goodfellas with the bodies and the instrumental bit from Layla is one of my favorite moments in film history.

By: sciatica

sciatica — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 19:05:54 -0800

Contrary to popular belief, the Queen single "We Are The Champions/We Will Rock You" was not a double-A side. "We Will Rock You" was a b-side.

Bicycle Race/Fat Bottom Girls was considered a double a-side.
per wikipedia

It was the first single I bought - didn't understand the whole a-side/b-side thing then, I just knew I liked both songs.

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 19:12:53 -0800

I once heard Pink Floyd's Brain Damage on the radio and it wasn't followed by Eclipse. What in the hell is wrong with some people?

By: thanotopsis

thanotopsis — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 19:16:30 -0800

I once heard Pink Floyd's Brain Damage on the radio and it wasn't followed by Eclipse. What in the hell is wrong with some people?

It's like not following Goodbye Blue Sky with Empty Spaces and Young Lust.

Damn, I need to break out The Wall.

By: lhauser

lhauser — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 20:18:26 -0800

Jackson Browne's "The Load-out" and "Stay" have to be played together as well...the the Queen songs, one seems like a lost twin without the other...

By: jaysus chris

jaysus chris — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 20:58:58 -0800

These two songs have been so overplayed at sporting events and in Mighty Duck-like movies that they make me cringe. I'm sure I'm not the only one...

By: bephillips

bephillips — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 01:27:55 -0800

They are the first and second tracks of Queen's News of the World album. They belong together just as Mean Mr. Mustard -> Polythene Pam or St. Stephen -> The Eleven.

By: tomble

tomble — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 02:07:47 -0800

Hey, great question! This is one of those things I wonder about everytime I hear these songs on the radio, but I never remember to ask.mefi.

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 06:14:20 -0800

"Time" and "Great Gig in the Sky" by Pink Floyd are always played together. No break on the LP, I think folks just always thought it was part of Time, which was a big hit when the album came out (seems to my recollection, it was bigger than Money).

By: Rash

Rash — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 08:47:32 -0800

These two songs have been so overplayed at sporting events and in Mighty Duck-like movies that they make me cringe. I'm sure I'm not the only one...

No, you're not. But my cringing is induced by the problem with Queen -- sometimes they were very good, but those other times, look out. "We Will Rock You" -- great stuff. "Champions" -- dreadful, cloying, bombastic. "Bohemian Rhapsody" -- sonic torture. But off the same record, "39" is sublime.

By: Meatbomb

Meatbomb — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 09:42:57 -0800

The scene in Goodfellas with the bodies and the instrumental bit from Layla is one of my favorite moments in film history.

Yes, I second that thought signal.

By: SisterHavana

SisterHavana — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 10:05:36 -0800

"Need You Tonight"/"Mediate" also are meant to be played together, though many radio stations just play the first song. The video has both songs together.

Another couple songs I've never heard played apart are "Funeral For A Friend"/"Love Lies Bleeding" by Elton John.