"Urgent" is a song by the British-American rockbandForeigner, and the first single from their album 4 in 1981.
Background
Producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange wanted to hear every music idea guitarist Mick Jones had recorded on tape, no matter how embarrassing. One of these ideas was the opening riff for what would become "Urgent". “I had the riff starting out," Jones recalled. "And I said, 'That’s like an experimental instrumental thing that I’m working on.’ He said, ‘No, it isn’t anymore – let’s take that one, because that’s got a lot of potential.’ There wasn’t even a song with it.” He also said, “‘Urgent’ … was a bit of a hybrid. It was a soul song, really – a quirky kind of rock and soul combination. That album had a bunch of different departures on it from the album that preceded it, Head Games. … It was just like a musical journey.”[2] In fact, "Urgent" was recorded with Mick Jones playing lead and rhythm guitar, including a line originally composed for Ian McDonald, who left the band in 1980.
Recording
Foreigner went into the Manhattan studio with producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, best known at the time as producer for hard rock band AC/DC. Foreigner's sound wasn't quite as heavy, and the band worked with then-unknown Thomas Dolby to program and play synthesizer. Dolby's work can be heard on "Urgent." Mark Rivera, Foreigner's regular saxophonist on albums and tours throughout the 1980s, played rhythmic sax on the song, including the recurring siren-like riff. The iconic tenor saxophone solo was performed by celebrated Motown multi-instrumentalist Junior Walker,[3] who was coincidentally performing in New York during Foreigner's album sessions and agreed to contribute. [1]
Lange was a perfectionist with Dolby, making him play some of the simple notes over and over until they were perfect. On the other hand, Dolby recalled Lange using Walker's first take, appreciating its raw, rough edges. Jones stated in an interview his conflicting memory of Lange fastidiously splicing together multiple takes from Walker, who later mimicked the recorded version when performing with the band as a guest on tour.[4] Lange was a fan of Dolby's earlier work, and Dolby had a demo of a song called "Urges" where he sang "urges, urges...". Lange asked Dolby for permission to incorporate this into a Foreigner song, which was then turned into the lyric "Urgent, urgent...". Dolby was a little surprised when he heard the finished song, but later felt glad to have positively influenced the track. "Urges" later appeared on Dolby's 1982 album The Golden Age of Wireless.[2]
Rivera recorded at least 12 versions of the saxophone solo but ultimately the first version was used in the final release, despite some rough edges.[5]
Jones has rated "Urgent" as one of his 11 favorite Foreigner songs, specifically praising Walker's sax solo and Dolby's "freaky" riffs.[6]
Reception
Billboard said that "Guitars and keyboards supply the rhythmic punch on this tasty rocker."[7]Billboard reviewer Gary Graff rated "Urgent" to be Foreigner's all-time greatest song, particularly praising Dolby's synthesizer and Walker's saxophone but also saying that the song "would have been killer" even without the sax solo.[8]Record World said that "From the opening keyboard throbs to Lou Gramm's lusty vocal growls to Jr. Walker's sax heat, this rocker...is headed to the top of AOR-pop playlists."[9]Classic Rock History critic Brian Kachejian rated it as Foreigner's 6th best song, saying that the "rowdy bouncy feel...is highly addictive."[10]
Chart performance
The song entered the U.S. pop charts the week ending July 4, 1981, and reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, holding that spot for the entire month of September.[11] "Urgent" hit #1 on the BillboardRock Tracks chart, a position it held for four weeks.[12]
"Urgent" was the most successful single from the 4 album on album-oriented rock radio, though it was outsold by the album's later single, "Waiting for a Girl Like You", which reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1981 and remained at that spot through the end of the following January, for a total of ten weeks, being certified Gold. 4 went Gold and Platinum during the chart run of the "Urgent" single. The album has since been certified multi-platinum by the RIAA, for selling over six million copies in the U.S. alone.[13]
The song was Foreigner's second-best-selling single (after "I Want to Know What Love Is") in both Canada and Sweden, reaching #1 in Canada in September 1981 and #20 in Sweden in March 1982.[14] In Australia, "Urgent" peaked at #24 in November 1981, but remained in the Top 50 for 24 weeks. In the UK, the song reached only #54 on the UK singles chart upon its first release in 1981. In 1982, after "Waiting for a Girl Like You" went Top Ten there, "Urgent" was re-released, this time reaching only slightly higher, peaking at #45.[15]
