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"Steve McQueen" is the first and ultimately only single from Welsh rock band
The Automatic The Automatic (also known as The Automatic Automatic in the U.S.) was a Welsh rock band. The band's last-known lineup was composed of Robin Hawkins on vocals, bass and synthesisers, James Frost on guitar, synthesisers, backing vocals and occas ...
's second album ''
This Is A Fix ''This Is A Fix'' is the second album by Wales-based band The Automatic. It was released on 25 August 2008. The band worked with producer Don Gilmore in Los Angeles, but were disappointed with these sessions, and instead worked with Butch Walker ...
''. It is their fifth single overall. The track began radio and video play as of 7 July 2008 and was released on 18 August 2008. The track premiered on the 2007 NME Indie Rock Tour, along with "Revolution" – which later would be titled "Secret Police", and was originally recorded over the final weeks of 2006 with original member of The Automatic – Alex Pennie, penned to be released in April 2007, the single was for unknown reasons scrapped until 2008 when it was re-recorded with Paul Mullen as a member of the band.The Automatic interview
designermagazine.tripod.com, December 2006


Origins and recording

The track "Steve McQueen" was first mentioned in late 2006, after the release of the band's debut album
Not Accepted Anywhere ''Not Accepted Anywhere'' is the debut album from Welsh rock band The Automatic, originally released on 19 June 2006. Working with producers Stephen Harris, Richard Jackson and Ian Broudie on different tracks at a variety of studios around the ...
. "Steve McQueen", along with another track titled "Revolution" had been recorded over
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
2006 by Rob, Frost, Iwan and Pennie. The two tracks were to be released as a transition from Not Accepted Anywhere to their next studio album. "Steve McQueen" and "Revolution" were performed throughout NME 2007 Indie Rock Tour, with bootlegs of the track appearing on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
, however after this for an undisclosed reason the release was scrapped.Shockwaves NME Awards Indie Rock Tour is go
NME, 30 January 2007 Not Accepted Anywhere was taken overseas to the United States, where it was promoted on the Vans Warped Tour, with "Steve McQueen" and "Revolution" subsequently being removed from the set list, up until Alex Pennie left the band on 18 September 2007. After which Yourcodenameis:milo vocalist and guitarist Paul Mullen joined the band, revamping "Steve McQueen", stripping away the synthesizer and screaming vocal parts and replacing them with a second guitar and harmonizing vocals The track was re-recorded at Sage & Sound Recordings in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, with producer
Butch Walker Bradley Glenn "Butch" Walker (born November 14, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the glam metal band SouthGang from the late 1980s to early 1990s as well as the lead vocalist ...
assisted by Ryan Hewitt. Fellow musicians
Frank Turner Francis Edward Turner (born 28 December 1981), is an English punk and folk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Hampshire. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primarily acoustic-based sol ...
and
Chris T-T Chris T-T (born Christopher Thorpe-Tracey, 16 September 1974) is a retired English singer-songwriter based in Brighton. In a 20-year career he released 10 studio albums, two live collections and a number of collaborations. He is also a speaker, ...
also came to the session to provide extra percussion and vocals, along with vocals from Butch, Rob, Frost, Iwan and Paul.


Composition

The lyrical content of the song has been noted to be a transitional song between albums
Not Accepted Anywhere ''Not Accepted Anywhere'' is the debut album from Welsh rock band The Automatic, originally released on 19 June 2006. Working with producers Stephen Harris, Richard Jackson and Ian Broudie on different tracks at a variety of studios around the ...
– which deals with the themes of growing up and the person experiences of the band, and
This Is A Fix ''This Is A Fix'' is the second album by Wales-based band The Automatic. It was released on 25 August 2008. The band worked with producer Don Gilmore in Los Angeles, but were disappointed with these sessions, and instead worked with Butch Walker ...
– which deals with larger stories. The title "Steve McQueen" is a reference to the 1963 film The Great Escape, starring actor Steve McQueen as a captured
United States Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
Officer; Captain Virgil Hilts, who tries to escape from a Stalag.


Release

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
, Designer Magazine and a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
radio interview with James Frost all sourced "Steve McQueen" for an April 2007 release, along with b-side "Revolution", both of which were recorded at Christmas 2006. This release was however dissolved for an unknown reason. Over a year passed from its original intended release in April 2007, when eventually a re-recording – with Paul Mullen replacing Alex Pennie premiered on
Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...
's
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
show on 7 July 2008; moments later a clip of the track was added to the bands myspace and it was also announced that
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
.com would be hosting the video premiere on 8 July. The track in its first week was added to Radio 1's ''C List'' and
Greg James Gregory James Alan Milward (born 17 December 1985) is an English radio and television presenter, comedian and author. He is the host of BBC Radio 1's breakfast show, co-presenter on the cricket podcast '' Tailenders'' alongside Felix White and ...
' record of the week. The release was celebrated by an instore signing in
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...
, followed by a party and secret later on that evening in Cardiff; due to the record label's (Polydor/B-unique) stupidity the single was released a day late, on 19 August 2008.


Appearances in the media

The song has been acoustically performed for
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
, NME,
BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio ...
and The Fly, whilst also appearing live from the band on MTV Rocks' Gonzo on Tour 2008,
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
's
T4 on the Beach T4 on the Beach was an annual British one-day music event which was held on the beach at Weston-super-Mare and televised on Channel 4. The event began in 2003 as Pop Beach in Great Yarmouth, changing to the current title and venue in 2005. The d ...
2008 and ITV's The Fashion Show. The song was also used on the
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
program ''4music'': V Festival 2008, Formula 1's official website for the highlight reel of the 2008
Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...
and the soundtrack of Colin McRae: Dirt 2.


Music video

The music video was filmed on 15 June 2008 in the
Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily ...
,
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, the same location used for the music videos
The Killers The Killers are an American rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After going through a number of short-term bass players and drummers in t ...
– Don't Shoot Me Santa and
The All American Rejects The All-American Rejects is an American rock band from Stillwater, Oklahoma, formed in 1999.It Ends Tonight "It Ends Tonight" is a song by American rock band the All-American Rejects, released as the third and final single from their second studio album '' Move Along'' on September 17, 2006. Background and composition "It Ends Tonight" was written by ...
. Several pieces of the plane parts seen in the music video are pieces used in the opening episodes of television series LOST. The video itself is set around a scrap yard (the Mojave Airport & Spaceport), with wreckages of planes and engines around a desert, opening with singer Rob Hawkins pushing a motorbike through the desert (A reference to McQueen's film The Great Escape) the video continues to show the band playing in the scrapyard as well as walking around it, and as the video progresses the band are put through a sand storm. The video was directed by Paul Minor, who has previously directed videos for
Queens of The Stone Age Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated QOTSA) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1996 in Palm Desert, California. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout mul ...
.


Reception

Fraser McAlpine of
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
''chartblog'' gave the single 3/5 saying; "a muscular reworking of the band's trademark sound, only without the really trademark noise (Alex Pennies screams), which leaves them sounding a bit like just another rock band, but a million per cent less irritating than they used to" Alex Fletcher of Digital Spy wrote "With a beefed-up arsenal of guitars and a snarling, infectious chorus, 'Steve McQueen' is a brilliant slice of old fashioned rawk" giving it 4/5 Nicole Kenny of
Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...
also gave the single 4/5 "In a nutshell Steve McQueen is a raucous rock song with a very addictive chorus that will get you singing along on the first hear of it" Sean Smith and James Davies of The Blackout praised the band in Rock Sound, saying "I like it, they've grown up. Its catchy", with James saying "Its a bit more chunky than their earlier stuff, well done, good effort."


Chart performance

"Steve McQueen" marked
The Automatic The Automatic (also known as The Automatic Automatic in the U.S.) was a Welsh rock band. The band's last-known lineup was composed of Robin Hawkins on vocals, bass and synthesisers, James Frost on guitar, synthesisers, backing vocals and occas ...
's fourth appearance in the UK Top 40, peaking at #16 in 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 ...
hence also making it their second UK Top 20 single. It dropped a place to #17 the following week, then to #29 in its third week and dropped out of the Top 40 altogether in its fourth week.


Track listing


Personnel

;Production *
Butch Walker Bradley Glenn "Butch" Walker (born November 14, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the glam metal band SouthGang from the late 1980s to early 1990s as well as the lead vocalist ...
– producer, backing vocals, percussion * Ryan Hewitt – engineer * Stephen Harris – mixing * Richard Jackson – mixing of b-sides "Young Entrepreneurs", "Big Ideas", "In This World" ;Musicians *
Chris T-T Chris T-T (born Christopher Thorpe-Tracey, 16 September 1974) is a retired English singer-songwriter based in Brighton. In a 20-year career he released 10 studio albums, two live collections and a number of collaborations. He is also a speaker, ...
– vocals, percussion *
Frank Turner Francis Edward Turner (born 28 December 1981), is an English punk and folk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Hampshire. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primarily acoustic-based sol ...
– vocals, percussion * Paul Mullen – vocals, guitar, synthesizer, percussion *
James Frost James Martin Frost (born 22 August 1986) is the guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist of Welsh band The Automatic, and guitarist and backing vocalist for Cardiff-based band Effort. As well as his musical duties for The Automatic, Frost ha ...
– vocals, guitar, synthesizer, percussion *
Robin Hawkins Robin Hawkins (born 11 February 1986) is a vocalist and bassist. He was a member of Welsh band The Automatic. Personal life Rob studied at Cowbridge Comprehensive School, completing his A-levels and going on to take a chance with The Automatic ...
– lead vocals, bass guitar, percussion *
Iwan Griffiths Iwan Griffiths is drummer for Welsh rock band The Automatic. Iwan originates from Cowbridge in Wales, and lives in Cardiff. He has a law degree from Cardiff University. Musical career Along with bandmates Rob and Frost he was in the lineup of t ...
– vocals, drums, percussion *
Alex Pennie Alexander Gregor Pennie (born 14 December 1985) was previously in Welsh band The Automatic from the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales, where he provided backing vocals as well as playing synthesizers and keyboards for the act. Pennie left The Au ...
– co-writer, synthesizers, vocals, percussion in original version ;Artwork * David Bailey – graphics, artwork * Shaun Bloodworth – photography


References


External links

*
Behind the scenes video shoot photos
by Peter Hill {{DEFAULTSORT:Steve Mcqueen (The Automatic Song) The Automatic songs Songs written by James Frost Songs written by Iwan Griffiths Songs written by Robin Hawkins Songs written by Alex Pennie 2008 singles 2008 songs Polydor Records singles Songs about actors