"Do Anything You Want To" is a song by the Irish

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. The band initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon although Wr ...

. It was the second single released from their 1979 album '' Black Rose: A Rock Legend''. It was recorded at Pathe Marconi EMI Studios in Paris, France.'' Black Rose: A Rock Legend'' sleeve notes, Stuart Bailie, 1996.

Composition

The song opens with an African-style drum beat by Brian Downey--which gives way to a twin-guitar melody characteristic of Thin Lizzy's harmonics.Ken Brooks, "Phil Lynott & Thin Lizzy: Rockin' Vagabond", Agenda, 2000, p.82–83. The lyrics employ rhyme and alliteration-- such as in the first three lines which include the words: 'investigate', 'insinuate', 'intimidate', 'complicate', 'wait', 'hesitate', 'state', 'fate' and 'awaits.' The song fades out with lead singer

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the co-founder, lead vocalist, bassist, and primary songwriter for the hard rock band Thin Lizzy. He was known for his distinctive ...

impersonating

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

. Guitarist

Scott Gorham William Scott Gorham (born March 17, 1951) is an American guitarist and songwriter who is one of the "twin lead guitarists" for the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. Although not a founding member of Thin Lizzy, he served a continuous membership after ...

suggested: "I think he just wanted to use his American accent there."

Chart performance and video

The single reached No. 14 in the British charts and remained in the charts for nine weeks.Mark Putterford, "Philip Lynott: The Rocker", Castle, 1994, p.179. It reached No. 25 in Ireland-- charting for two weeks. An accompanying video was filmed at Molineir Studios, directed by David Mallet. Mallet said that the video cost £12–15,000 to film adding: "Most of the shoots I did with Lizzy back then only lasted a day-- maybe eight or ten hours worth of footage."Alan Byrne, "Thin Lizzy: Soldiers of Fortune", Firefly, 2004, p.111. The video was the band's first attempt at a short film rather than a simple video of a band performance. The video featured

Hot Gossip Hot Gossip (1974–1986) was a British television dance troupe and recording group. Formation Arlene Phillips moved to London to teach American jazz dance routines, working at Pineapple Dance Studios and the Italia Conti Stage School. ...

dancers Perri Lister, Dominique Wood and Carole Fletcher.

Subsequent releases

This track has been featured on several Thin Lizzy compilation albums including: ''

The Adventures of Thin Lizzy ''The Adventures of Thin Lizzy'' is a compilation album by the rock band Thin Lizzy, released in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 1981. It features songs released as singles from 1972 to 1980. Track listing All tracks written by Phil Lynott ...

'' released in 1981, '' Dedication: The Very Best of Thin Lizzy'' released in 1991, and '' Wild One: The Very Best of Thin Lizzy'' released in 1996. It was subsequently included on the '' Vagabonds, Kings, Warriors, Angels'' box set in 2002, as well as the ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

'' and '' Definitive Collection'' set. "Just the Two of Us," (the single's B-side) is a Lynott/Gorham composition that was not included on the ''Black Rose'' album. It was only available as part of the single until the release of '' Vagabonds Kings Warriors Angels''.

Personnel

–

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

– lead and rhythm guitar *

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career, he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, Heavy metal music, heavy ...

– lead and rhythm guitar * Brian Downey –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Charts

References

{{ThinLizzy Thin Lizzy songs 1979 singles Songs written by Phil Lynott Song recordings produced by Tony Visconti Music videos directed by David Mallet (director)