"Son of a Gun" is the debut single of British

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded da ...

Jake Williams Jake Williams (born 1974) is a British electronic music producer and remixer, who currently records as Rex the Dog. Rex the Dog currently releases on Kompakt Records. As Rex the Dog, Williams is a proponent of DIY electronics and performs liv ...

, released under the name JX. It was released in March 1994, reaching number six in the United Kingdom and Australia and number 35 in the Netherlands. The song contains samples from the 1976 song "Touch and Go" by

Ecstasy, Passion & Pain Ecstasy, Passion & Pain (often abbreviated EP&P or E.P.&P.) was a 1970s disco band. Their most successful songs are "Touch and Go" and "Ask Me". History EP&P was founded by Barbara Roy in New York in 1972. Roy was the only fixed member of the g ...

featuring Barbara Roy.

Critical reception

In his weekly UK chart commentary in ''

Dotmusic ''Dotmusic'' was a music webzine that existed as a standalone website from 1 June 1995 to December 2003. Initially intended as the web complement to the UK music industry trade magazine ''Music Week'', the site was relaunched in December 1998 as a ...

'', James Masterton described the song as a "bubbling synthesised dance hit". A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' gave it four out of five, adding, "A corking house tune that has failed to keep its head down, hence the reissue. Lyrics with attitude and some stomping remixes from JX and

Red Jerry Hooj Choons is a house record label formed by Alex Simons and Red Jerry (real name Jeremy Dickens) in 1990. The first release was "Carnival de Casa" by Rio Rhythm Band, however, it was not until 1992's release of Felix (dance music), Felix's ...

among others." The '' RM'' Dance Update complimented it as a "banging

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

stomper". An editor, Andy Beevers, called it "an unstoppable belter with dead catchy hi-energy synth riffs and the unforgettable ''A man that's on the run is a dirty son of a gun'' female vocal

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

. There are apparently Alex Party remixes on the way, although this existing mix should be all you need to create dancefloor mayhem." He also declared it as "a potential hit". Another editor, James Hamilton, described it as a "diva prodded raver".

Chart performance

In the UK, the single originally peaked at number 13 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 ...

on 2 April 1994. In August 1995, it was re-released after " You Belong to Me"'s chart success and peaked at number six the same month. On the

UK Dance Singles Chart The UK Dance Singles Chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, garage, synthpop) in record ...

and ''

''s Dance Singles chart, it reached number two and number one, respectively. In Scotland, it went to number four, while in Ireland, it entered the top 20 (15). "Son of a Gun" was also a top-10 hit in Australia, peaking at number six.

Music video

Two different

music videos 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 ...

were made for the song.

Track listings

* 12-inch, UK and Europe :A1: "Son of a Gun" (

/JX Mix) :A2: "Son of a Gun" (C.Y.B. Run Mix) :B1: "Son of a Gun" ( Alex Party Mix) :B2: "Son of a Gun" (A Deeper Cut) * CD single, UK #"Son of a Gun" (Hooj Edit) – 3:38 #"Son of a Gun" (Red Jerry/JX Mix) – 7:35 #"Son of a Gun" (Alex Party Mix) – 4:51 #"Son of a Gun" (C.Y.B. Run Mix) – 4:39 #"Son of a Gun" (A Deeper Cut) – 7:29 #"Son of a Gun" (Original Mix) – 5:50 * CD maxi, Europe #"Son of a Gun" (Original Hooj Edit) – 3:15 #"Son of a Gun" (JX & Red Jerry Flog The Horse Remix) – 7:12 #"Son of a Gun" (Blu Peter Vs Trigger Bitchin Remix) – 6:35 #"Son of a Gun" (Candy Girls "Where's The Crack" Remix) – 9:07 #"Son of a Gun" (Original Hooj 12" Mix) – 6:58

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1994 songs 1994 debut singles FFRR Records singles Jake Williams songs Music Week number-one dance singles Songs written by Allan Felder Songs written by Bunny Sigler Songs written by Norman Harris (musician)