Songoftheday 10/2/12 - Cover me when I run, cover me through the fire...

Peter Gabriel - "Shock The Monkey"
from the album Security (Peter Gabriel 4) (1982)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #29 (two weeks)
Weeks in the top-40: 10

Today's Song of the Day is by former Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel, who was with the group from its start in 1967 until 1975, when he left for a solo career. His first of four self-titled albums was released in 1977, and his single "Solsbury Hill" became his first minor US hit and top-20 UK hit that year. On the third album in 1980 (nicknamed "Melt"), he did even better, scoring a top-10 hit in Britain, Canada, and Ireland with "Games Without Frontiers".

For his followup, Gabriel recorded Security digitally in England, and the first single, "Shock The Monkey", dealt with paranoia and jealousy amongst a disjointed tribal beat, and was written by Gabriel and co-produced by him and David Lord...

The song became his first top-40 hit in America (including his Genesis years), and topped the rock radio chart for two weeks. It also crossed over into other formats, making the R&B chart at #64 and  the dance chart at #26. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't a big hit in his native England, only peaking at #58 there. With his next studio set, Gabriel would finally give up the same-name practice on his albums, and reward himself with a #1 record.

(Click below to read the rest of the post)


In 1999 alt-metal group Coal Chamber released a cover of the song featuring Ozzy Osbourne that made the rock radio chart...

...as did another metal group, Suburban Tribe in 2007, while faithfully recreating the video...

Up Tomorrow: The Gang go steppin' (ooh la la la)...