Total Control (song)
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Total Control
| cover = The Motels Total Control 1979 single cover.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = The Motels
| album = Motels
| B-side = Love Don't Help
| released = 1979
| recorded = 1979
| studio =
| genre =
| length = 3:45
| label = Capitol
| writer = Martha Davis, Jeff Jourard
| producer = John Carter
| prev_title = Closets and Bullets
| prev_year = 1979
| next_title = Anticipating
| next_year = 1980
}}
"Total Control" is a song by American new wave band the Motels. It was released in 1979 as the second single from their debut studio album Motels. The song failed to make an appearance on the US Billboard Hot 100, but reached number 9 on the Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart in December 1979. It fared better in Australasia, peaking at number 7 in Australia and 11 in New Zealand. The song has been covered by American singer Tina Turner and Australian singer Missy Higgins. In 1980 the italian singer Anna Oxa made a spooky cover of the song, with a new text in italian, under the title "Controllo totale". The song was featured in the 1986 film "Something Wild" (Dir: Jonathan Demme) during a pivotal robbery scene.
Background
Speaking of the song in 2000, Davis recalled, "When I wrote this my heart had been broken. I was angry, I wrote a thrash punk rock song, [then] Jeff Jourard came along with this wonderful minimalist chord progression [and] I laid my thrash lyrics on the new progression."{{cite AV media notes |title=Anthologyland |others=The Motels |year=2000 |first=Davis |last=Martha |type=CD |publisher=Oglio Records |id=OGL81607-2 |location=US}}
Critical reception
Upon its release as a single, Cash Box noted how Davis' "hauntingly plaintive vocals succeed beautifully in capturing the smoldering intensity of this L.A.-based outfit on the first single off of its self-titled debut effort". The reviewer also commented on the "lazy bass and fluid, moaning sax work [which] catch the bluesy late night feel of the cut".{{cite magazine |title=Reviews: Singles |magazine=Cash Box |date=November 10, 1979 |volume=41 |issue=26 |page=20 |issn=0008-7289}} Record World considered the song to be a "rather quirky ballad" on which Davis "gives a hauntingly vulnerable reading".{{cite magazine |title=Single Picks |magazine=Record World |date=November 10, 1979 |volume=36 |issue=1686 |page=16 |issn=0034-1622}}
Track listing
US 7" single
- "Total Control" - 3:45
- "Love Don't Help" - 1:56
Charts
=Weekly charts=
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Year-end chart performance for "Total Control" ! Chart (1980) ! Position |
| scope="row"| Australia (Kent Music Report){{cite web|url=https://imgur.com/a/kTGdGUZ|title= National Top 100 Singles for 1980|publisher= Kent Music Report |issue= 341 |via= Imgur |date= January 5, 1981 |access-date= January 17, 2022 }}
| 32 |
|---|