"Hell on Wheels" is a
disco song performed by American singer-actress
Cher from her sixteenth studio album, ''
Prisoner
A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison. ...
''. It was written by Bob Esty and Michele Aller and produced by Esty. It was released as the album's first and only international single in late 1979. The song was also added to the ''
Roller Boogie
''Roller Boogie'' is a 1979 American romantic musical drama film starring Linda Blair and Jim Bray, a former competitive artistic skater from California. The film also stars Beverly Garland, Mark Goddard and Kimberly Beck, and is directed by M ...
'' soundtrack in 1979. Lyrically, the track is about "follow what you like".
"Hell on Wheels" initially received mixed reviews from critics, but in 1999 Randy Cordova from ''
The Arizona Republic
''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $3 ...
'' praised the song, calling it a "roller-disco anthem". Cher starred in a short film that Casablanca Records wanted to promote her single with. After releasing the promotional film, Cher began making
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
s.
Background
According to J. Randy Taraborrelli 's biography, "Hell on Wheels" was recorded because Cher admitted to being a roller-skating fanatic. The single was released with "Git Down (Guitar Groupie)", a song from the album ''
Take Me Home'' on its B-side. Both songs were released as a 12" extended version and both versions are not yet released on CD.
In 1979, "Hell on Wheels" was included in original motion picture soundtrack to the film ''Roller Boogie'' as the track number one. After the released of the soundtrack album, "Hell on Wheels" was released in Japan with a different artwork, featuring a photo of Cher bottom center, taken from the ''
After Dark'' magazine, and with a still of
Linda Blair
Linda Denise Blair (born January 22, 1959) is an American actress and activist. She played Regan MacNeil in the horror film ''The Exorcist'' (1973), for which she won a Golden Globe Award and received a nomination for an Academy Award. The fil ...
and
Jim Bray. The song was released with "Git Down (Guitar Groupie)" on its B-side. Strangely "Git Down (Guitar Groupie)" in the Japanese single was a "Theme from Roller Boogie", despite the song never appeared in the movie or in the soundtrack album.
Despite a worldwide commercial release, "Hell on Wheels" did not manage to achieve any success other than charting only on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, and peaking at a disappointing number fifty-nine.
"Hell On Wheels" was also her last hit for Casablanca Records.
"Hell on Wheels" was used as the theme song for
Michael Kors
Michael David Kors (born Karl Anderson Jr. August 9, 1959) is an American fashion designer. He is the chief creative officer of his brand, Michael Kors, which sells men's and women's ready-to-wear, accessories, watches, jewelry, footwear, and f ...
' Fall 2019 campaign ad with
Bella Hadid
Isabella Khairiah Hadid (born October 9, 1996) is an American model. In 2016, she was voted "Model of the Year" by industry professionals for Models.com. Over the span of four years, Hadid has made twenty-seven appearances on international '' ...
and
Mayowa Nicholas.
Critical reception
"Hell on Wheels" received mixed reviews from critics. The review of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' newspaper describes the song as the best cut of the album and noted "'Hell on Wheels', latches onto the roller-skating craze as tenaciously-and stylishly-as the
Beach Boys
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...
latched onto surfing. Joel Flegler of the ''
Fanfare Magazine
''Fanfare'' is an American bimonthly magazine devoted to reviewing recorded music in all playback formats. It mainly covers classical music, but since inception, has also featured a jazz column in every issue.
History and profile
''Fanfare'' wa ...
'', while reviewing the ''Roller Boogie'' soundtrack gave a negative review for all the songs, using the word 'worse' in reference to the length of the album. Another critic said that every song of the album had the same rock influence, and about the song said that was "her trendy roller-disco effort".
Music video
The video for "Hell on Wheels" was tough for Cher to shoot. She was required to skate down steep, mountainous roads while sporting a broken arm. In the video, Cher is roller skating and being followed by a huge truck driven by two men which use the maximum speed of the truck to catch up with her. Following this, Cher convinces many people with different types of transportation to follow and take a ride with her.
"Hell on Wheels" was Cher's first professional video. Some consider "
Take Me Home" to be her first professional clip, though this was lifted from her highly rated 1979 TV special ''Cher...and Other Fantasies''. "Hell on Wheels" is one of the 1970s pioneer music videos to be produced in the
MTV style before MTV itself existed, and now it is considered to be one of the first modern music videos.
The video was premiered on the late night
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
television show ''
The Midnight Special''.
Promotional clips were also shown during a 1979 interview with
Phil Donahue
Phillip John Donahue (born December 21, 1935) is an American media personality, writer, film producer and the creator and host of ''The Phil Donahue Show''. The television program, later known simply as ''Donahue'', was the first talk show forma ...
on ''
The Phil Donahue Show
''The Phil Donahue Show'', also known as ''Donahue'', is an American television talk show hosted by Phil Donahue that ran for 26 years on national television. Its run was preceded by three years of local broadcast on WLWD in Dayton, Ohio, and i ...
''. Despite that "Hell on Wheels" was her first official music video released it was never released on her best video collection.
Personnel
*Cher – main vocals
*Michelle Aller – background vocals
*
Richard Tee
Richard Edward Tee (born Richard Edward Ten Ryk; November 24, 1943 – July 21, 1993) was an American pianist, studio musician, singer and arranger, who had several hundred studio credits and played on such notable hits as "In Your Eyes", " Sl ...
– Hammond B3 organ
*
Mike Baird
Michael Bruce Baird (born 1 April 1968) is an Australian investment banker and former politician who was the 44th Premier of New South Wales, the Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Western Sydney, and the Leader of the New South W ...
– drums
*John Pierce – bass guitar
*
Steve Lukather, Ira Newborn – guitar
*Dan Wyman – synthesizer, programming
*Bob Esty – piano, synthesizer, background vocals
*Alan Estes,
Oliver C. Brown – percussion
*Sid Sharp – concertmaster
;Technical
*Larry Emerine – co-producer, engineer
*Harry Langdon –
photography
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...
Charts
References
External links
Official website of Cher
{{Authority control
1979 singles
Cher songs
Casablanca Records singles
Articles containing video clips
Songs written by Bob Esty
1979 songs