Writers: Roger Waters and David Gilmour
Producers: Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour and Roger Waters
Recorded: April-November 1979 in France, New York, and Los Angeles
Released: November 1979
| Players: | Roger Waters — vocals, bass David Gilmour — vocals, guitar Rick Wright — keyboards Nick Mason — drums |
| Album: | The Wall (Columbia) |
The climactic rocker of Pink Floyd's epic The Wall, “Run Like Hell” peaked at Number 53 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Guitarist David Gilmour came up with the music for this track while recording his first solo album in 1978. Bassist Roger Waters added the menacing lyrics while the group was recording The Wall.
When “Run Like Hell” was played during the original concerts for The Wall, it was accompanied by one of Pink Floyd's most famous props — the flying pig.
“Run Like Hell” has become one of the most popular songs in Pink Floyd's repertoire, played on all of the band's tours since its release, used in the film soundtrack for La Carrera Panamericana, and given a dance remix by Waters in 1990.
Prior to recording the album, Waters presented his bandmates with two possible concepts — The Wall, which they chose, and another set of songs, which went on to become his first solo album,The Pros And Cons of Hitch Hiking.
The Wall was recorded in several studios, including Super Bear in France (where Gilmour and keyboardist Richard Wright had recorded solo albums), CBS in New York, The Producers Workshop in Los Angeles, and the group's own studio in London. Work at the latter was not declared for tax reasons.
At the time of the recording, in fact, Pink Floyd was in dire financial straits following the collapse of their accounting firm, which had placed much of the band's money in poor investments.
The Wall hit Number One on the Billboard 200 in January 1980 and stayed there for 15 weeks.
It has sold more than 23 million copies in the U.S. alone.
The Wall hit Number One in every other country except Japan and, surprisingly, in Pink Floyd's homeland of England.
Tensions were high within the band at this point, with Gilmour, Wright, and drummer Nick Mason fighting Waters' control of the band. Waters even insisted that Wright leave the band or he would scrap the project — meaning the group wouldn't be able to recoup their financial losses. Wright reluctantly agreed.
Wright and Mason were also mistakenly left off the album's credits in its first printing. The error was corrected on subsequent editions.
In addition to the Floyd members, a number of uncredited studio musicians also contributed to The Wall.