"You Belong to the City"
Single by Glenn Frey
from the album Miami Vice soundtrack
B-side"Smuggler's Blues"
ReleasedSeptember 1985[1]
Genre
Length4:22 (single version)
5:51 (album version)
LabelMCA
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Glenn Frey
Glenn Frey singles chronology
"Smuggler's Blues"
(1985)		 "You Belong to the City"
(1985)		 "True Love"
(1988)
Music video
"You Belong to the City" on YouTube

"You Belong to the City" is a song written by Glenn Frey and Jack Tempchin, and recorded by Frey during his solo career. It was written specifically for the television show Miami Vice in 1985. The song peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, although it did reach the top of the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart.[3]

The song, along with Jan Hammer's "Miami Vice Theme", helped the Miami Vice soundtrack album reach the top spot of the Billboard 200 chart. Frey performed this song live when touring with the Eagles until 2005. A version of the Eagles performing the song can be found on their DVD Farewell Tour I: Live from Melbourne released that year.

History

The song was featured in, and written specifically for, the Miami Vice episode "Prodigal Son".

Production

All instruments were performed by Frey except the saxophone part played by studio musician Bill Bergman, as well as the drum track by Frey's long-time drummer, Michael Huey. The song was recorded at Fool on the Hill studios, New York City, at the end of 1984. The synthesizer used in this song was a Yamaha DX7.

Music video

At the beginning of the video, the notes of the introductory saxophone riff are played as Frey (who does not sing during the entire video) sits in his apartment in New York, looking out the window and smoking. Elsewhere, a woman prepares at home for a night on the town. She has Miami Vice playing on the television, a pattern which is repeated every time a television is shown in the video. Frey leaves the apartment and walks the streets of the city, his journey interspersed with scenes representative of New York nightlife and culture. He crosses paths with the woman when the taxi she is riding in almost runs him over. Later, they meet again when Frey sees her through the window of a pub, then walks in. She sees him and he watches her brush off the advances of another man but makes no move to approach her himself. Finally, he gets up to leave, but the woman catches him as he hails a taxi and they decide to walk back to her place together. The video then cuts to Frey leaving her high-rise the next morning. In the final shot of the video, Frey gazes out onto a vista of New York City from Carl Schurz Park while tossing a cigarette into the East River.

Two versions of the video exist: one with the Miami Vice intercuts and one without.

Reception

Cash Box said it is "a mid-tempo rocker which features all the power of Frey’s vocal style."[4]

Chart performance

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Great Rock Disography". p. 253.
  2. 1 2 Gordon, Allen S. (1998). "Jay-Z: In My Lifetime". Rap Pages. Vol. 7. L.F.P. Incorporated. p. 233. For strictly hard-core rappers, using a white/new wave 1980s pop tune like Glen Frey's "You Belong to the City" would be considered treading on thin ice
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Glenn Frey – Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Single Releases" (PDF). Cash Box. September 14, 1985. p. 11. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
  5. ↑ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – CHART POSITIONS PRE 1989, part 2". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 9414." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0599." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  8. ↑ "InfoDisc : Tous les Titres par Artiste". InfoDisc (in French). Select "Glenn Frey" from the artist drop-down menu. Archived from the original on September 20, 2013. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  9. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – You Belong to the City". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Glenn Frey – You Belong To The City" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Glenn Frey – You Belong To The City". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  12. ↑ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending NOVEMBER 23, 1985". Cash Box. Archived from the original on October 1, 2012.
  13. ↑ "RPM's Top 100 Singles of 1985". RPM. Vol. 43, no. 16. Library and Archives Canada. December 28, 1985. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Top 100 Hits for 1985". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  15. ↑ "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1985". Cash Box. Archived from the original on October 1, 2012.
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