System of Survival

"System of Survival" is a song by the band Earth, Wind & Fire issued as a single in October 1987 on Columbia Records.[1] The single reached number one on both the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart and Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart. "System of Survival" also reached No. 9 on the New Zealand Pop Singles chart, No. 14 on the Dutch Pop Singles chart and No. 25 on the Belgian Pop Singles chart.[2][3][4][5][6]

"System of Survival"
Single by Earth, Wind & Fire
from the album Touch the World
B-side"Writing on the Wall"
ReleasedOctober 1987
GenreR&B
Length4:08
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Skylark
Producer(s)Maurice White, Preston Glass
Earth, Wind & Fire singles chronology
""Boogie Wonderland" (Remix)"
(1986)		 "System of Survival"
(1987)		 "You and I"
(1987)
Music video
"System of Survival" on YouTube

Overview

"System of Survival" was produced by Maurice White and Preston Glass and composed by an unknown songwriter called Skylark.[1]

The single's B-side was a non-album song called "Writing on the Wall". "System of Survival" was released on EWF's 1987 studio album Touch the World.[1]

Critical reception

Jon Pareles of the New York Times described the song as having "a groove out of James Brown by way of Prince".[7] Andrew Panos of Number One gave the song a four out of five star rating saying "The layoff has seen the EWF lads gain a bit of a social conscience as they sing here of the sufferings of the world and what a depressing place it is. You can however, ease your troubles if you have a nip out onto the dancefloor once in a while and jig along to splendid thumping disco tunes such as this".[8] John Milward of USA Today proclaimed that the song "boasts a clean dance groove".[9] Richard Lowe of Smash Hits wrote "now they've back with a thumping great funk thing called System of Survival which is all about how terrible a place the world is and all that and how strutting one's 'stuff' is quite a good way of enjoying yourself despite it all. Just to make it more modern and 'trendy' they've got this bit with someone talking on the radio on it, and its going to be a roaring success, which is only right and 'proper'."[10] Chris Heim of the Chicago Tribune found that "the ebullient celebration of everyone as a Shining Star has given way to the grimmer task of constructing a System of Survival".[11] Cashbox called "System of Survival" a "blistering rock/funk outing".[12] Connie Johnson of the Los Angeles Times declared that the tune is "packed with energy and passion".[13] Roe Hoeburger of Rolling Stone also described the song as "a Stayin' Alive for the eighties".[14]

Credits
  • Horns – Gary Grant, Marc Russo, Wayne Wallace
  • Horns, Arranged By – Jerry Hey
  • Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Philip Bailey
  • Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Vocoder – Maurice White
  • Producer, Electric Guitar, Synthesizer, Drum Programming – Preston Glass

Written-By, Drum Programming, Synthesizer, Backing Vocals – Skylark[1]


Chart positions
Year Chart Peak
position
1987 U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles 1
New Zealand RIANZ Top 40 Singles[4] 9
Dutch Single Top 100[5] 14
Blues & Soul Top British Soul Songs[15] 17
Belgian Singles Ultratop 50[6] 25
UK Pop Singles[16] 52
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 60

Accolades
Year Country Publication Accolade[17] Rank
1987 U.S Village Voice Dean's List 19
gollark: What would circumventing xenon involve, anyway? Hmm.
gollark: We are not ACTUALLY circumventing xenon.
gollark: I mean, it's a real codename for some of our projects, at least.
gollark: Yes.
gollark: That is not the case.

References
  1. Earth, Wind & Fire: System of Survival. Columbia Records. October 1987.
  2. "Earth, Wind & Fire: System of Survival (Dance Club Songs)". billboard.com. Billboard.
  3. "Earth, Wind & Fire: System of Survival (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". billboard.com. Billboard.
  4. "Earth, Wind & Fire: System of Survival". charts.nz. RIANZ.
  5. "Earth, Wind & Fire: System of Survival". dutchcharts.nl. Dutch Charts.
  6. "Earth, Wind & Fire: System of Survival". ultratop.be. Ultratop.
  7. Pareles, Jon (November 22, 1987). "RECORDINGS; A Pair of Pop Albums Hit a Political Groove". nytimes.com. New York Times.
  8. Panos, Andrew (November 14, 1987). "Earth, Wind & Fire: System of Survival". No. 230. Number One. p. 50. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  9. Milward, John (24 November 1987). "Popular". USA Today. p. 05D. ProQuest 305961244.
  10. Lowe, Richard (November 17, 1987). "Singles". No. 233. Smash Hits. p. 85. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  11. Hiem, Chris (March 23, 1988). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch the World". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune.
  12. "Single Reviews". americanradiohistory.com. Vol. 51 no. 15. Cashbox. October 17, 1987. p. 8.
  13. Johnson, Connie (December 13, 1987). "EARTH, WIND & FIRE: Touch the World". latimes.com. Los Angeles Times.
  14. Hoeburger, Roe (January 14, 1988). "Touch The World". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone.
  15. "Blues & Soul Top British Soul Songs". No. 498. Blues & Soul. December 8, 1987. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  16. "Earth, Wind & Fire: System of Survival". officialcharts.com. Official Charts.
  17. Christgau, Robert. "Pazz & Jop 1987: Dean's List". robertchristgau.com. Village Voice.
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