"Gunman" is the debut single by English

speed garage Speed garage (occasionally known as plus-8) is a genre of electronic dance music, associated with the UK garage scene, of which it is regarded as one of its subgenres. Characteristics Speed garage features sped-up NY garage 4-to-the-floor rhyth ...

duo

187 Lockdown 187 Lockdown was a British speed garage act, comprising Danny Harrison and Julian Jonah. The duo produced one album, with four singles released from it, and remixed many songs towards the end of the 1990s. The duo also recorded under a numbe ...

. The song was released twice, first in November 1997 where it reached No. 16 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 1 on the

UK Dance Chart The Dance Singles Chart and the Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the electronic dance music, dance music genre (e.g. house music, house, trance music, trance, ...

, then again the following year, peaking one place lower at No. 17. The song contains samples of

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone ( , ; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, Orchestration, orchestrator, conductor, trumpeter, and pianist who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 film score, scores for cinema and televisi ...

's "Carillon (Watch chimes)" (from the film ''

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''), and a vocal sample from Dr Alimantado's "Gimmie Mi Gun".

Impact and legacy

In 1999, Tom Ewing of ''

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'' ranked the song at number 84 in his list of the "Top 100 Singles of the 90s", saying "'Gunman' is crude, undeniable stuff, formulaic as hell but a formula that felt – feels – fresh, exciting and accessible." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' listed "Gunman" at number 8 in their list of "The best UK garage tracks - ranked!" in 2019. ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was printe ...

'' included the song in their list of "The 15 Best Speed Garage Records Released in '97 and '98".

Redbull.com Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...

included the song in their list of "10 underground UK garage classics that still sound fresh today".

Track listing

;UK CD single # "Gunman" (Pointed Radio Edit) (3:07) # "Gunman" (Nu-Birth's Gun Groove Dub) (6:30) # "Gunman" (Original Mix) (6:19) # "Gunman" (Natural Born Chillers Remix) (7:12) # "Gunman" (Blunt Edit) (3:31)

Charts

References

1997 songs 1997 debut singles 1998 singles 187 Lockdown songs East West Records singles {{1990s-UK-single-stub