"Duel" is a song by German

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

band

Propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

, released as the second single from their debut album, ''

A Secret Wish ''A Secret Wish'' is the debut album by German synthpop band Propaganda. Released by ZTT Records in 1985, it was produced by Stephen Lipson under the supervision of label boss Trevor Horn. Commercial performance and singles The singles "Duel" ...

''. Released in the United Kingdom in April 1985, it became their most successful single there, reaching No. 21. This led to the band making their sole appearance on the flagship BBC music programme, ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'', in June of that year. Drums and percussion were provided by

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is an American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the British rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with the Polic ...

Alternative version ("Jewel")

"Duel" was originally released with an alternative version of the track, "Jewel (Rough Cut)" as the B-side. It features the same lyrics delivered in a more aggressive manner, mainly by Susanne Freytag,According to the booklet in the 2010 2-CD Deluxe Edition of ''A Secret Wish'', Freytag was the only singer in the band's original line-up. She brought in her friend Claudia Brücken at the insistence of Trevor Horn, who claimed that Freytag could not sing. over a backing track of heavy beats and industrial sound effects. A 12-inch mix, "Jewel (Cut Rough)" extended this with further sound effects, and an instrumental version appeared on the group's debut album, ''

''. The two approaches to the song were combined in two different tracks. "Bejewelled" played the song through, alternating between the two versions, while "Jewelled", on the remix album ''

Wishful Thinking Wishful thinking is the formation of beliefs based on what might be pleasing to imagine, rather than on evidence, rationality, or reality. It is a product of resolving conflicts between belief and desire. Methodologies to examine wishful thin ...

'', combined elements of both, with the melodies of "Duel" playing alongside the rhythms of "Jewel".

Track listings

UK 12"

ZTT ZTT Records is a British record label founded in 1983 by the record producer Trevor Horn, the businesswoman Jill Sinclair and the ''NME'' journalist Paul Morley. They released music by acts including Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Grace Jones, ...

– 12 ZTAS 8/

Island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

– 601 687 (Europe) #"Duel (Bitter Sweet)" – 7:36 #"Jewel (Cut Rough)" – 6:53 UK 7" ZTT – ZTAS 8/Island – 107 336 (Europe) #"Duel" – 4:11 #"Jewel (Rough Cut)" – 3:39 UK 12" "Bejewelled" ZTT – 12 ZTAS 8 #"Bejewelled" – 5:07 #"Dewel (Cut Rough)" – 6:53 #"Dual (Bitter Sweet)" – 7:36 UK cassette "Do Well" ZTT – CTIS 108 #"The First Cut" – 1:29 #"Duel" – 4:43 #"Jewel (Cut Rough)" – 6:52 #"Wonder" – 1:45 #"Bejewelled" – 5:14 Digital download "Jewel" ZTT – Ztds 72 (The Beast of Propaganda, Chapter Two) #"The First Cut" – 1:28 #"Jewel (Cut Rough)" – 6:52 #"Jewel (Rough Cut)" – 3:43 #"Wonder" – 1:44 #"Bejewelled" – 5:16 #"Duel (Voiceless)" – 5:06 #"Testament One" – 1:19 Digital download "Duel" ZTT – Ztds 67 #"Duel" – 4:43 #"Duel (Bitter-Sweet)" – 7:36 #"Testament Eight" – 1:56 #"Lied" – 2:54 #"The Chase (Good-Night)" – 4:02 #"The Lesson" – 4:17 #"Duel (Thirds)" – 4:01

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Use as a sports theme

The song is often played at the stadium of

Heart of Midlothian Football Club The heart is a muscular organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the tissue ...

during home matches. "Jewelled", a remix of the song, was also used as the title and credits music of the BBC programme '' Rally Report'' (later ''Top Gear Rally Report'') covering the

Lombard RAC Rally Wales Rally GB was the most recent iteration of the United Kingdom's premier international motor rally, which ran under various names since the first event held in 1932. It was consistently a round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) cal ...

(now called

Rally GB Wales Rally GB was the most recent iteration of the United Kingdom's premier international motor rally, which ran under various names since the first event held in 1932. It was consistently a round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) cal ...

) which is the UK round of the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...

. The instrumental was also used as the sport "bed" by

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

on the evening news reports News90, News91, and News92. An instrumental section of "Duel" was used in the mid-to-late 1980s by

Australian Television Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

's sports section "7 Sport" as an intro theme for their coverage of the Australian Touring Car Championship and the

1988 Goodyear NASCAR 500 The Goodyear NASCAR 500 was a non-championship exhibition NASCAR Winston Cup series race run at the then new A$54 million Calder Park Thunderdome in Melbourne on 28 February 1988. The race was the first ever NASCAR event held outside No ...

which was quite long as the presenter/main commentator also used the timing of the intro to advise the viewers the contents of the program as well as the races themselves. In the UK, "Jewel" was also used by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

for its American football coverage in the late 1980s and by

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

for its regional ''Granada Goals Extra'' programme in the early 1990s. A shortened down version of "Jewelled" was also played during the Green Flag Lap on the circuit sound system at the

British Touring Car Championship The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...

for a few years, along with other songs.

References

External links

"Duel" discography at ZTT and All That
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duel (Song) 1985 songs 1985 singles Propaganda (band) songs Song recordings produced by Stephen Lipson ZTT Records singles