Out of Limits
{{Infobox song
| name = Out of Limits
| cover =
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = The Marketts
| album = Out of Limits!
| B-side = Bella Dalena
| released = October 1963{{cite web | url=https://www.45cat.com/record/5391 | title=The Marketts - Out of Limits }}
| recorded = 1963
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Surf rock{{cite book|first=Dave|last=Marsh|title=The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made|url=https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Heart_Of_Rock_Soul.html?id=5t5DYDniSHEC|date=1989|publisher=Plume|isbn=0-452-26305-0|page=361}}
| length = 2:09
| label = Warner Bros.
| writer = Michael Z. Gordon
| producer =
| prev_title = Surfer's Stomp
| prev_year = 1962
| next_title = Vanishing Point
| next_year = 1964
}}
"Out of Limits" is a 1963 surf rock instrumental piece written by Michael Z. Gordon{{cite web |url=http://repertoire.bmi.com/title.asp?blnWriter=True&blnPublisher=True&blnArtist=True&keyID=1140414&ShowNbr=0&ShowSeqNbr=0&querytype=WorkID |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061124143417/http://repertoire.bmi.com/title.asp?blnWriter=True&blnPublisher=True&blnArtist=True&keyid=1140414&ShowNbr=0&ShowSeqNbr=0&querytype=WorkID |url-status=dead |archive-date=2006-11-24 |title=Out of Limits |publisher=Repertoire.bmi.com |access-date=2012-11-10 }} and performed by The Marketts.
Background
While on tour with a band called the Routers, Gordon wrote the Marketts' first release on the Warner Bros. label and their biggest hit, an instrumental called "Outer Limits". First pressings were issued as "Outer Limits", named and surf-styled after the television program of the same name. However, Rod Serling sued the Marketts for quoting the four note motif from his television show, The Twilight Zone, without his approval, which resulted in the change of the title to "Out of Limits".{{cite book |last1=Uslan |first1=Michael |last2=Clark |first2=Dick |last3= Solomon|first3=Bruce |publisher= Dell Publishing Company|date= 1981|title= Dick Clark's the First 25 Years of Rock & Roll|url= https://archive.org/details/dickclarksfirst200usla|url-access=registration |quote=It seems that the opening bars were virtually identical to those of the "Twilight Zone" theme. That was bad enough, but linking the tune with "Twilight Zone's" biggest television competitor was too much for Serling. All reissues of the single were retitled "Out of Limits |isbn=9780440517634}}{{cite web | title=Up Close With Michael Z. Gordon Of The Marketts | date=2019-07-02 | url=http://www.musicdish.com/mag/?id=10270 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702124037/http://www.musicdish.com/mag/?id=10270 | archive-date=2019-07-02 | url-status=dead | access-date=2022-01-27}} The record has been described as "an intriguing up-beat disc with a galloping rhythm".{{cite book| first= Joseph| last= Murrells| year= 1978| title= The Book of Golden Discs| edition= 2nd| publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd| location= London| pages= [https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/163 163]| isbn= 0-214-20512-6| url-access= registration| url= https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/163}}
Chart performance
The song peaked at No. 3 in February 1964 on the Hot 100 for two weeks and on Cashbox for one week. It stayed on both the Hot 100 and Cashbox for 14 weeks.{{cite book
| first= Joel
| last= Whitburn
| year= 1990
| title= The Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Sixties (7 December 1963 through 7 March 1964)
| publisher= Record Research Inc.
| location= Menomonee Falls, WI
| isbn= 0-89820-074-1
| page= 386}}{{cite book
| first= Frank
| last= Hoffmann
| year= 1983
| title= The Cash Box Singles Charts, 1950-1981
| publisher= The Scarecrow Press, Inc
| location= Metuchen, NJ & London
| page= 380}} It sold over a million copies globally, topped the charts on many U.S. radio stations,Burke, David. [http://www.acerecords.co.uk/content.php?page_id=59&release=8751 "The Marketts."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015122638/http://acerecords.co.uk/content.php?page_id=59&release=8751 |date=2011-10-15 }}, Ace Records. Accessed February 17, 2012. and earned Gordon a BMI award.BMI Repertoire, [https://archive.today/20120719144423/http://repertoire.bmi.com/title.asp?blnWriter=True&blnPublisher=True&blnArtist=True&page=1&keyid=1140414&ShowNbr=0&ShowSeqNbr=0&querytype=WorkID "Out of Limits"]. Accessed February 17, 2012. It brought the studio group national prominence, and many radio, nightclub and personal appearances.
Cover versions
The Ventures also had a very popular version of the song that was included on their 1964 album The Ventures In Space.
Popular culture
"Out of Limits" is a popular choice for television and film soundtracks; it can be heard in:
- Pulp Fiction (1994)
- Slayground (1983)IMDB, [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088135/ "Slayground"] (1983)
- The Outsiders (1983)
- Mafioso: The Father, the Son (2004).IMDB, [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0282484/ "Mafioso: The Father, The Son"] (2004)
- It is also available on the compilations Billboard Top Rock'n'Roll Hits: 1964, Elvira Presents Haunted Hits and Classic Rock (Time-Life Music).
- As the theme tune for Frankie Boyle's New World Order (2017)