Why will no one break the champions?

June 27, 2006 2:19 PM

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.

posted by sled to Media & Arts (26 answers total)

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.
posted by InfidelZombie at 2:21 PM on June 27, 2006

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.
posted by Ironmouth at 2:25 PM on June 27, 2006

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?
posted by smackfu at 2:29 PM on June 27, 2006

"Fat Bottomed Girls"/"Bicycle Race" worked the same way.
posted by kirkaracha at 2:43 PM on June 27, 2006

They weren't A and B side. They were A side, iirc. I don't remember what was on the B side, though.
posted by jlkr at 2:56 PM on June 27, 2006

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?
posted by ibmcginty at 3:01 PM on June 27, 2006

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.
posted by thanotopsis at 3:37 PM on June 27, 2006

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".
posted by timeistight at 3:41 PM on June 27, 2006

I thought "I ain't got nobody" weas just the chorus of the song "Just a Gigolo"?
posted by Meatbomb at 4:12 PM on June 27, 2006

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?
posted by Saucy Intruder at 4:14 PM on June 27, 2006

I wish they would play Queens Fairy Fellers Master-Stroke with matching enthusiam at sporting events as We are the Champions.
posted by dchunks at 4:24 PM on June 27, 2006

"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.
posted by timeistight at 4:30 PM on June 27, 2006

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.
posted by desuetude at 4:38 PM on June 27, 2006

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.
posted by timeistight at 4:41 PM on June 27, 2006

The scene in Goodfellas with the bodies and the instrumental bit from Layla is one of my favorite moments in film history.
posted by signal at 5:27 PM on June 27, 2006

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.
posted by sciatica at 7:05 PM on June 27, 2006

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?
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:12 PM on June 27, 2006 [1 favorite]

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.
posted by thanotopsis at 7:16 PM on June 27, 2006

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...
posted by lhauser at 8:18 PM on June 27, 2006

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...
posted by jaysus chris at 8:58 PM on June 27, 2006

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.
posted by bephillips at 1:27 AM on June 28, 2006

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.
posted by tomble at 2:07 AM on June 28, 2006

"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).
posted by Goofyy at 6:14 AM on June 28, 2006

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.
posted by Rash at 8:47 AM on June 28, 2006

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.
posted by Meatbomb at 9:42 AM on June 28, 2006

"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.
posted by SisterHavana at 10:05 AM on June 28, 2006