Demolition Man (song)

"Demolition Man" is a song written by Sting and performed by Grace Jones as the A-side of a 1981 single. Sting's band, the Police, later released their rendition of the song on their album Ghost in the Machine.

This article is about the Grace Jones/Police song. For the Def Leppard song, see Euphoria (Def Leppard album).
For other uses of "Demolition Man", see Demolition Man (disambiguation).
"Demolition Man"
Single by Grace Jones
from the album Nightclubbing
B-side"Warm Leatherette", "Bullshit"
ReleasedFebruary 16, 1981
Genre
Length4:04
LabelIsland
Songwriter(s)Sting
Producer(s)
Grace Jones singles chronology
"Breakdown"
(1980)		 "Demolition Man"
(1981)		 "I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)"
(1981)

Background

The song was written by Sting of the Police.[1] The lyric "I'm a three-line whip", often assumed to be a reference to sadomasochism, is in fact an allusion to the voting instructions issued to British members of parliament to cast their votes according to the party line. Sting explained this in an interview: "Whatever party's in power in Parliament, if it's a really important vote, you get a one-line whip. If it's incredibly important, you have a two-line whip, and something monumentally important is a three-line whip."[2]

Grace Jones version

"Demolition Man" was released as the lead single from Grace Jones's 1981 album Nightclubbing. The song was performed on A One Man Show tour, featuring marching "Joneses" (stand-ins wearing Grace Jones masks), and included in the documentary film. A still picture from the video was later used for the cover of 1982 singles "Nipple to the Bottle" and "The Apple Stretching".

Track listing
  • 7" single
A. "Demolition Man" – 3:31
B. "Warm Leatherette" – 4:25
  • 12" single
A. "Demolition Man" – 4:56
B. "Bullshit" – 5:18

The Police version
"Demolition Man"
Song by The Police
from the album Ghost in the Machine
Released2 October 1981 (1981-10-02)
Recorded1981
GenreHard rock
Length5:57
LabelA&M
Songwriter(s)Sting
Producer(s)The Police

Soon after Jones released her version as a single, the Police recorded their own version for their 1981 album, Ghost in the Machine. The Police recorded the song in a jazzy hard rock style, featuring a guitar solo by Andy Summers.

Personnel
  • Sting – bass, vocals, saxophone
  • Andy Summers – guitars
  • Stewart Copeland – drums

"Demolition Man" was performed by Sting many times during his solo career and released in 1993 on an EP of the same name in support of the Demolition Man film. This version of the song plays during the film's end credits.

  • In the 53rd episode of Beavis and Butt-head, "True Crime", aired in 1993, the pair were watching Jones' "Demolition Man" video from A One Man Show.[3]
  • A live version of the song performed by Sting was featured in the game Guitar Hero World Tour along with an in-game representation of Sting himself, which becomes an unlockable character upon completing the song in the bass career.
  • An excerpt of Jones' performance of the song from A One Man Show was displayed as a part of the Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990 temporary exhibition at London's Victoria and Albert Museum in 2011 and 2012.
  • As the closing credit song in the film by the same name, Demolition Man (film), starring Wesley Snipes and Sylvester Stallone.
  • "Demolition Man" was included in the live album "Budapest Live" by Manfred Mann's Earth Band in 1984 .[4] and their studio album "Somewhere in Afrika" released in 1983 [5]

References
  1. "Repertoire Search". repertoire.bmi.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-23. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  2. Vic Garbarini. "Article "I think if we came back..."". www.scarlet.nl. Archived from the original on 2018-08-30. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  3. "Beavis and Butt-Head: Butt-Head from "Beavis and Butt-head" show". beavis-and-butthead-episodes.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on 2011-05-22. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
  4. "Manfred Mann Earth Band website".
  5. "Manfred Mann Earth Band website".
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