Ghost Rider (Suicide song)

"Ghost Rider" is a song by the protopunk band Suicide appearing on their debut album. The song is based on the Marvel Comics character.

"Ghost Rider"
Song by Suicide
from the album Suicide
Released	December 1977
Studio	Ultima Sound, New York City
Genre	Synthpunk
Length	2:34
Label	Red Star
Songwriter(s)	Martin Rev Alan Vega
Producer(s)	Craig Leon Marty Thau
Suicide track listing
7 tracks "Ghost Rider" "Rocket U.S.A. "Cheree" "Johnny" "Girl" "Frankie Teardrop" "Ché"

Cover versions

• 1979: Danish punk band Sods (later Sort Sol), covered the song on their debut album, Minutes to Go.
• 1981: Suicide's lead vocalist Alan Vega re-recorded the song for his second solo album, Collision Drive.[1]
• 1983: Soft Cell (Marc Almond & Dave Ball) perform Ghost Rider live at various shows featuring guest vocalist Clint Ruin (aka JG Thirlwell, including a performance for UK television programme The Tube which also features Gary Barnacle on saxophone.[2][3][4][5][6]
• 1987: American musician Henry Rollins, formerly of the hardcore group Black Flag, recorded the song for his debut album, Hot Animal Machine.[7]
• 1987: Electronic rock group The Cassandra Complex performs Ghost Rider live and it appears on their live album Feel the Width.
• 1988: Alternative rock band R.E.M. released a cover of the song on the B-side to their 1988 single "Orange Crush". It later appeared on the band's 1993 compilation album The Automatic Box.[8]
• 1990: Detroit garage rock band The Gories included the song on their second album.
• 1994: Henry Rollins also re-recorded the song with the Rollins Band for the soundtrack to the film The Crow.
• 2008: Industrial rock band The Young Gods did a cover version of the song on their album Knock on Wood.
• 2010: British rapper M.I.A. sampled the song on "Born Free".
• 2010: Gavin Friday and David Ball covered the song for the Alan Vega 70th Birthday Limited Edition EP Series
• 2014: British musician Anna Calvi covered the song on her Strange Weather EP.
• 2018: The American two piece Rock band Big Business (band) recorded the song for their Tour E.P. 4

Accolades

Year	Publication	Country	Accolade	Rank
2006	Les Inrockuptibles	France	1000 Indispensable Songs[9]	*
2010	Robert Dimery	United States	1,001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die, and 10,001 You Must Download[10]	*
2010	Rolling Stone	Germany	The 50 Best Songs of the 1970s[11]	*
2012	NME	United Kingdom	100 Best Songs of the 1970s[12]	71
2016	Pitchfork	United States	The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s[13]	92

(*) designates unordered lists.

Personnel

Adapted from the Suicide liner notes.[14]

Suicide Martin Rev – keyboards, drum programming Alan Vega – vocals

Production and additional personnel Larry Alexander – engineering Craig Leon – production Marty Thau – production

References

1. Valdivia, Victor W. "Alan Vega: Collision Drive > Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
2. fonefilms (15 February 2012). "Soft Cell - "Soul Inside" + "Ghostrider" feat Clint Ruin : Foetus.m4v" – via YouTube.
3. Thompson, Dave (11 June 2019). Alternative Rock. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9780879306076 – via Google Books.
4. "Timeline: 1980-1989".
5. "Suicide - The Sounds of the Secret Side".
6. "Ghost Rider: Soft Cell and Jim Foetus cover Suicide, 1983". DangerousMinds. 18 May 2012.
7. True, Chris. "Henry Rollins: Hot Animal Machine/Drive By Shooting [1999] > Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
8. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "R.E.M.: The Automatic Box > Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
9. "Les Inrockuptibles - 1000 Indispensable Songs (2006)". Les Inrockuptibles. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
10. Dimery, Robert; Visconti, Tony (January 1, 1995). 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die. Universe. p. 43. ISBN 9780789320896. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
11. "Rolling Stone (2010) Die besten Songs der Jahrzehnte 70er - Kritiker". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
12. "100 Best Songs of the 1970s". NME. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
13. "The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s - Page 6". Pitchfork.
14. Suicide (sleeve). Suicide. New York, New York: Red Star Records. 1977.CS1 maint: others (link)