"Dirty Harry" is a song from British

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

virtual band In entertainment, a virtual band (also called a virtual idol, virtual singer, virtual group, cartoon group, cartoon idol, cartoon singer or cartoon band) is a band or music group whose members are not depicted as corporeal musicians, but animat ...

Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, ...

' second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''

Demon Days ''Demon Days'' is the second studio album by British virtual band Gorillaz. It was first released on 11 May 2005 in Japan and on 23 May 2005 in the United Kingdom by Parlophone and in the United States by Virgin Records. Produced by the band, ...

'' (2005).

Song history

"Dirty Harry" was first released as a promotional single on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

before being released as the third

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from the album on 21 November 2005, peaking at number six in the United Kingdom. An early version entitled "I Need a Gun" was included on

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual ...

's album '' Democrazy''. On 8 December 2005, "Dirty Harry" was nominated for a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

under the category "Urban/Alternative Performance", but was beaten by Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley's "

Welcome to Jamrock ''Welcome to Jamrock'' is the third studio album by Jamaican reggae/dancehall artist Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley. The album was released on September 12, 2005, in the United Kingdom, and one day later in the United States. Marley won two 2006 Gram ...

". It became Gorillaz' 3rd consecutive top 10 hit and last song to make it on the top 10 to this date.

Music video

The video was first released on 25 October 2005, sent to those on the e-mail list on Gorillaz' official website. A thematic follow-up to the band's "

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...

", it refers to the film of the same name,

being the lead actor in the movie. "Dirty Harry" is the first Gorillaz music video to be shot on location; initially, the group intended to utilise a computer animated desert as background, but discovered that simply flying to a real desert was easier and cheaper. The video was shot in the Swakopmund Desert in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

; it mainly features a shirtless 2-D and an animated version of the San Fernando Valley Youth Chorus stranded in the desert, following what appears to have been a helicopter crash. The survivors keep themselves entertained with the song while awaiting the arrival of rescuers, portrayed by Noodle and Murdoc crewing a

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Wer’wolf MKII The Wer'wolf MK2 is a Namibian designed and built military vehicle that offers protection against small arms fire and land mines. The vehicle uses a MAN chassis, axles and engine. The Wer'Wolf MK2 is a modular vehicle. It is built with a crew ...

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-proof vehicle driven by Russel. Both song and video feature a guest appearance by

Pharcyde The Pharcyde (currently known as The Far Side) is an American alternative hip hop group, formed in 1989, from South Central Los Angeles. The original four members of the group are Imani (Emandu Wilcox), Slimkid3 (Trevant Hardson), Bootie Brown ...

rapper

Bootie Brown The Pharcyde (currently known as The Far Side) is an American alternative hip hop group, formed in 1989, from South Central Los Angeles. The original four members of the group are Imani (Emandu Wilcox), Slimkid3 (Trevant Hardson), Bootie Brown ...

, who leaps out of a sand dune in military fatigues to perform his verse of the song. The video concludes with Gorillaz, the children, and Bootie Brown departing the crash site in the Wer'wolf, which breaks down a short distance away.

Track listings

UK CD1 and digital download 1 # "Dirty Harry" – 3:52 # "All Alone" (live) – 3:39 UK CD2 and digital download 2 # "Dirty Harry" (single edit) – 3:51 # "Hongkongaton" – 3:33 # "Dirty Harry" ( Chopper Remix) – 3:40 UK DVD single # "Dirty Harry" (video) – 5:00 # "Murdoc Is God" – 2:26 # "Dirty Harry" (animatic with "Dirty Harry" instrumental) – 4:21 European and Australian CD single # "Dirty Harry" – 3:50 # "Dirty Harry" (Chopper Remix) – 3:40 # "Hongkongaton" – 3:35 # "Dirty Harry" (music video) – 5:00 # "Dirty Harry" (animatic with "Dirty Harry" instrumental) – 4:21 Japanese CD single # "Dirty Harry" – 3:50 # "All Alone" (live) – 3:40 # "Hongkongaton" – 3:35 # "Dirty Harry" (Chopper Remix) – 3:40 # "Dirty Harry" (video) – 5:00

Personnel

– vocals, synthesizers, guitars, string arrangements *

– vocals * Jason Cox – mixing, engineering * James Dring – drum programming * Al Mobbs – double bass * Emma Smith – double bass * Amanda Drummond – viola * Stella Page – viola * Prabjote Osahn – violin * Sally Jackson – violin * Isabelle Dunn – cello * Danger Mouse – sampled loops, percussion, drum programming, mixing *

Howie Weinberg Howie Weinberg is an American audio mastering engineer with over 2,257 mastering credits, three TEC Awards, 21 Grammy Awards, two Juno Awards, and one Mercury Prize. Career Weinberg mastered Herbie Hancock's 1983 album ''Future Shock''. Other m ...

– mastering * Steve Sedgwick – mixing assistance * The San Fernandez Youth Chorus – additional vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

Rolling Stone article

MTV news article with confirmation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dirty Harry (Song) 2005 singles 2005 songs British funk songs Gorillaz songs Parlophone singles Song recordings produced by Danger Mouse (musician) Songs written by Damon Albarn