"Pressure" is a song by Trinidadian-British singer

Billy Ocean Leslie Sebastian Charles, (born 21 January 1950), better known by his stage name Billy Ocean, is a British recording artist who had a string of R&B international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s. He was the most popular British R&B singer-son ...

, which was released in 1993 as the lead single from his eighth studio album, '' Time to Move On''. The song was written by Ocean, Wycliffe Johnson and Clevie Browne, and produced by

Steely & Clevie Steely & Clevie was a Jamaican dancehall reggae production duo that was composed of members Wycliffe Johnson and Cleveland Browne. The duo worked with artists such as the Specials, Gregory Peck ("Poco Man Jam," 1990), Bounty Killer, Elephant Man ...

. "Pressure" reached No. 55 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and remained in the Top 100 for two weeks. It remains Ocean's last appearance on the chart. "Pressure" was inspired by Ocean's wrongful arrest in October 1991 in London on the suspicion of drug dealing. The charges against the singer were subsequently dropped.

Critical reception

Upon its release, Penny Kiley of the ''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liverp ...

'' wrote, "He's kept up with new music - this is a solid dance track with some familiar samples. And the words sound heartfelt." A reviewer from ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' described the song as a "slightly disguised Italo dance tune". In a review of ''Time to Move On'', Deborah Wilker of the ''

Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Br ...

'' considered the song "buoyant" and one that "should score with the club crowd".

Track listing

* 7" single #"Pressure" (U.S. Radio Edit) - 4:04 #"On Your Knees" - 5:00 * 12" single #"Pressure" (Stevo's Extended Club Mix) - 6:00 #"Pressure" (U.S. Radio Edit) - 4:04 #"Pressure" (U.K. 12" Extended Mix) - 6:23 #"Pressure" (U.K. Dub Mix 1) - 5:08 * 12" single (European promo) #"Pressure" (Extended Club Mix) - 6:25 #"Pressure" (Sparse Mix) - 5:16 #"Pressure" (Dub Mix) - 5:20 * CD single (UK release) #"Pressure" (U.S. Radio Edit) - 4:04 #"Pressure" (Stevo's Extended Club Mix) - 6:00 #"Pressure" (U.K. 12" Extended Mix) - 6:23 #"On Your Knees" - 5:00 * CD single (European release) #"Pressure" (U.S. Radio Edit) - 4:04 #"Pressure" (Mr Lee's Radio Dance Mix) - 4:15 #"Pressure" (U.K. 12" Extended Mix) - 6:23 #"On Your Knees" - 5:00

Personnel

Pressure *

- vocals * Dalton Browne, Danny Browne - guitar * Wycliffe Johnson - keyboards * Clevie Browne - drums, percussion Production *

- producers * Colin York - recording engineer on "Pressure" and "On Your Knees" * Chris Trevett - mixing engineer on "Pressure" and "On Your Knees", recording engineer on "On Your Knees", remix engineer on "Stevo's Extended Club Mix" * Anthony Saunders - recording engineer on "On Your Knees" * Mr. Lee - remix and additional production on "Stevo's Extended Club Mix" and "Mr Lee's Radio Dance Mix" * Stephen George - remix engineer on "Stevo's Extended Club Mix" * Tommy D. - remix and additional production on "Extended Mix" and "Dub Mix" * Gary Wilkinson - remix engineer *

Tom Coyne Tom Coyne may refer to: * Tom Coyne (writer), American writer and professor * Tom Coyne (broadcaster) (1930–2015), British television presenter * Tom Coyne (music engineer) (1954–2017), American mastering engineer * Thomas Coyne (cricketer) (187 ...

- mastering

Charts

References

{{Billy Ocean 1993 songs 1993 singles Billy Ocean songs Jive Records singles