Urgent (song)

Infobox Single
Name = Urgent


Cover size =
Caption =
Artist = Foreigner
from Album = 4
A-side = "Urgent"
B-side = "Girl on the Moon" [7"] [ [http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=696901 Images for Foreigner - Urgent ] ]
"Head Games" (Live) / "Hot Blooded" (Live) [12"] [ [http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=568780 Images for Foreigner - Urgent ] ]
Released = July 2, 1981
Format = 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl promo
Recorded = 1980–1981
Genre = Rock
Length = 3:29 [7" (single edit)]
4:27 [12" (album version)]
Label = Atlantic
Writer = Mick Jones
Producer = Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Certification =
Last single = "Women"
1980
This single = "Urgent"
1981
Next single = "Waiting for a Girl Like You"
1981
Misc ="Urgent" is a 1981 song recorded by the American Rock band Foreigner, and the first single from their album "4".

Recording

Foreigner went into the studio with producer "Mutt" Lange, best known at the time as producer of heavy metal band AC/DC. Foreigner's sound wasn't quite as heavy, and the band worked with then-unknown Thomas Dolby to program and play synthesizer. Dolby's work can be heard on "Urgent", along with a saxophone solo by Motown great [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:difixqr5ldde allmusic ((( Junior Walker > Overview ))) ] ] Junior Walker.

Urgent release

The song hit the U.S. pop charts on the Fourth of July, 1981 [ [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=379&cfgn=Singles&cfn=The+Billboard+Hot+100&ci=3071156&cdi=8897936&cid=07%2F04%2F1981 Top Music Charts - Hot 100 - Billboard 200 - Music Genre Sales ] ] , and reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, holding that spot for the entire month of September. [ [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=379&cfgn=Singles&cfn=The+Billboard+Hot+100&ci=3071165&cdi=8898789&cid=09%2F05%2F1981 Top Music Charts - Hot 100 - Billboard 200 - Music Genre Sales ] ] "Urgent" hit #1 on the "Billboard" Mainstream Rock Chart, a position it held for four weeks. The song was released in an edited version on 7" vinyl, and in its full album version on a DJ-only 12" Promo single, which was backed with live versions of two earlier hits.

"Urgent" was the most successful single from the "4" album at rock radio, though it was outsold by the album's next single, "Waiting for a Girl Like You", which reached #2 on the Hot 100 in November 1981 and remained at that spot through the end of the following January, for a total of ten weeks, being certified Gold. "4" went Gold and Platinum during the chart run of the "Urgent" single. The album has since been certifed multi-platinum by the RIAA, for selling over 6 million copies in the U.S. alone. [ [http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS RIAA - Gold & Platinum - August 12, 2008 ] ]

More or less "Urgent" around the world

The song was Foreigner's second-best selling single (after "I Want to Know What Love Is") in both Canada and Sweden, reaching #1 in Canada in September 1981 and #20 in Sweden in March 1982. [ [http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Foreigner&titel=Urgent&cat=s swedishcharts.com - Foreigner - Urgent ] ] In Australia, "Urgent" peaked at #24 in August 1981. In the UK, the song reached only #54 upon its first release in 1981. In 1982, after "Waiting for a Girl Like You" went Top Ten there, "Urgent" was re-released, this time reaching only slightly higher, peaking at #45. [ [http://www.polyhex.com/music/chartruns/chartruns.php polyhex.com UK Singles Chart runs ] ]

Other versions

Foreigner performs a live version of the song on the 1993 album "Classic Hits Live".

A live concert version by the 2005 incarnation of the band, featuring Kelly Hansen on vocals, can be heard on the release "Extended Versions".

hannon cover version

Electro-pop/R&B singer Shannon recorded a version of the Foreigner hit for her 1985 album "Do You Wanna Get Away". Foreigner's label, Atlantic Records, distributed Mirage, the label for the Shannon release. [ [http://bsnpubs.com/atlantic/atlanticstory.html Atlantic Records Story ] ] The song was the album's fourth single, peaking at #68 for two weeks on Billboard's R&B Singles chart in November and December 1985. [ [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=367&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Hot+R%26amp%3BB%2FHip-Hop+Songs&ci=3004669&cdi=6211510&cid=12%2F07%2F1985 Top Music Charts - Hot 100 - Billboard 200 - Music Genre Sales ] ] A 12" remix of the mid-tempo track was not the major dance hit of her previous releases.

References

External links

* [http://www.foreigneronline.com Foreigner Official Website]
* [http://www.4eigner.net/themusic/charts.html Fansite]