Swingtown (song)

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"Swingtown"
Swingtown - Steve Miller Band.jpg
Single by Steve Miller Band
from the album Book of Dreams
B-side"Winter Time"
Released7 October 1977 (US)
  • 6 January 1978 (UK) [1]
Recorded1975-1976
GenreBlues rock, rock and roll, synthrock
Length3:27
LabelCapitol Records
Songwriter(s)Steve Miller, C. McCarty
Producer(s)Steve Miller
Steve Miller Band singles chronology
"Jungle Love"
(1977) 		"Swingtown"
(1977) 		"Heart Like a Wheel"
(1981)

"Swingtown" is a 1977 hit song by the Steve Miller Band. It was their third and final single release from their Book of Dreams album, and became the second biggest hit from the LP.

"Swingtown" reached No. 17 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and spent two weeks at No. 13 on the Cash Box Hot 100. It also peaked at No. 13 on the Canadian pop chart.

Chart performance[]

Use in media[]

In late 1978 and 1979, Ford used an edit from the instrumental sections of the song in its television ads for the '79 Ford Mustang.

"Swingtown" appears in the soundtrack of the film My Girl 2.

"Swingtown" is used in an episode of the HBO series, The Sopranos. The episode is "D-Girl", during the show's second season.

"Swingtown" is a popular song sung by students at the University of Wisconsin Madison, especially at Wisconsin football games at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Marching Band plays it and the students sing the "O-OOOOO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O" part of the song ending it with the word "sucks" to refer to section "O" of the student section, the "sucks" is chanted by other student sections especially section P, this is usually followed by a chant of "fuck you, eat shit" by student sections O and P.[6] Despite the song being popular among the students, several attempts to have the song banned by the UW staff and the Chancellor have been attempted due to the controversial "fuck you, eat shit" chant, but the banning of the song has so far proven to be unsuccessful. Steve Miller, himself a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and vocalist of the Steve Miller Band guest conducted the song with The Wisconsin Marching Band.[7]

Inspiration for Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train"[]

Guitarist Greg Leon, who initially took Randy Rhoads' place in Quiet Riot, claims that the iconic verse riff to Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" came about when he and Rhoads were messing around with "Swingtown". “We were hanging out, and I showed him the riff to Steve Miller’s "Swingtown". I said: "Look what happens when you speed this riff up". We messed around, and the next thing I know he took it to a whole other level and end up writing the "Crazy Train" riff.”[8]

References[]

  1. ^ "Steve Miller singles".
  2. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  3. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 12/17/77".
  4. ^ "Top 200 Singles of '77 – Volume 28, No. 11, December 31 1977". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. 17 July 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.
  6. ^ "Wisconsin vs Michigan 2007 5th Quarter Swingtown". YouTube. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Steve Miller conducting the Wisconsin Band "Swingtown"!". YouTube. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  8. ^ Mick Wall (1 February 2012). "Randy Rhoads: The Guitarist Who Changed The World". Classic Rock.

External links[]

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