On this day in 1980: Queen started a three week run at #1 on the U.S. singles chart with ‘Another One Bites The Dust.’ The song is featured on the group’s eighth studio album ‘The Game.’
The song was a worldwide hit, charting at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, making it their second number-one single in the U.S. The song spent 15 weeks in the Billboard top 10 (the longest running top ten song of 1980), including 13 weeks in the top five, and 31 weeks total on the chart (more than any other song in 1980). It reached #2 on the Hot Soul Singles Chart and the Disco Top 100 chart, and #7 on the UK Singles Chart. The song is credited as Queen’s best-selling single, with sales of over 7 million copies. It won an American Music Award for Favorite Rock Single and also garnered a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
The famous bass line was inspired by “Good Times” by the disco group Chic. In an interview Chic co-founder and bassist Bernard Edwards stated, “That Queen record came about because that Queen bass player … spent some time hanging out with us at our studio.” There are no synthesizers in the song: all effects are created by piano, electric guitars and drums, with subsequent tape playback performed in reverse at various speeds. Finally, sound effects were run through the harmonizer for further processing. The effect of the harmonizer can be heard clearly in the “swirling” nature of the sound immediately before the first lyric.
Here’s a look at the complete Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 from this day back in 1980:
1 3 ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST –•– Queen (Elektra)-8 (1 week at #1) (1)
2 2 ALL OUT OF LOVE –•– Air Supply (Arista)-17 (2)
3 1 UPSIDE DOWN –•– Diana Ross (Motown)-13 (1)
4 4 GIVE ME THE NIGHT –•–George Benson (Warner Brothers / Qwest)-14 (4)
5 7 DRIVIN’ MY LIFE AWAY –•– Eddie Rabbitt (Elektra)-16 (5)
6 6 LATE IN THE EVENING –•– Paul Simon (Warner Brothers)-9 (6)
7 12 WOMAN IN LOVE –•– Barbra Streisand (Columbia)-5 (7)
8 10 I’M ALRIGHT –•– Kenny Loggins (Columbia)-13 (8)
9 5 LOOKIN’ FOR LOVE –•– Johnny Lee (Full Moon)-13 (5)
10 11 XANADU –•–Olivia Newton-John / Electric Light Orchestra (MCA)-9 (10)
11 16 REAL LOVE –•– The Doobie Brothers (Warner Brothers)-5 (11)
12 8 FAME –•– Irene Cara (RSO)-17 (4)
13 15 ALL OVER THE WORLD –•– Electric Light Orchestra (MCA)-10 (13)
14 14 YOU’LL ACCOMP’NY ME –•– Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band (Capitol)-11 (14)
15 18 HE’S SO SHY –•– The Pointer Sisters (Planet)-11 (15)
16 17 HOT ROD HEARTS –•– Robbie Dupree (Elektra)-12 (16)
17 20 NEVER KNEW LOVE LIKE THIS BEFORE –•– Stephanie Mills (20th Century)-9 (17)
18 22 JESSE –•– Carly Simon (Warner Brothers)-10 (18)
19 19 DON’T ASK ME WHY –•– Billy Joel (Columbia)-10 (19)
20 23 LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE TO ME –•– Boz Scaggs (Columbia)-7 (20)
