Songs With a Saxophone Solo

Somebody in the studio said it needs something, and somebody else had a sax.

Entries
10
Category
Music
Updated
  1. A white sailing yacht off a tropical Caribbean coast with a saxophone and a pastel suit jacket draped on the deck.

    10. Rio

    Duran Duran · 1982

    Andy Hamilton's tenor solo over Nick Rhodes's arpeggiator, plus a video of the band on a yacht in Antigua in suits. Top 10 in the UK, No. 14 in the US on reissue. The single most 1982 thing ever made, and the sax is what keeps it afloat.

  2. A neon city skyline at night seen from a highway overpass, a saxophone silhouetted against the glowing sky.

    09. Midnight City

    M83 · 2011

    Anthony Gonzalez made the main riff by mangling his own voice, then ended the song with a sax solo by James King of Fitz and the Tantrums because, he said, sometimes a song needs one more element. Pitchfork's No. 1 track of 2011. The sax revival starts here.

  3. A 70s Philadelphia recording studio with an alto saxophone on a chair, a soul record spinning on a turntable beside it.

    08. Young Americans

    David Bowie · 1975

    Bowie goes to Philadelphia's Sigma Sound and makes what he called plastic soul. David Sanborn's alto runs through the whole thing and Luther Vandross arranged the backing vocals. His US breakthrough. The glam spaceman went soul, and the sax made it believable.

  4. A saxophone and a bulky early-80s synthesizer side by side in a New York recording studio with red warning lights.

    07. Urgent

    Foreigner · 1981

    Motown legend Junior Walker happened to be playing in New York during the sessions and came by. Mutt Lange kept his first take for its rough edges. Thomas Dolby played the synths. No. 4 on the Hot 100. The most efficient session booking in rock history.

  5. An apartment front door being knocked on, shown from inside, with a saxophone and a chain lock in the foreground.

    06. Who Can It Be Now?

    Men at Work · 1981

    Colin Hay wrote it after people kept knocking on his door looking for the drug dealer next door. Greg Ham's sax hook opens it, and his solo was improvised on the spot when the producer asked. No. 1 in the US in 1982. Paranoia never sounded this jaunty.

  6. A tenor saxophone on a barstool in a dim jazz club, a crimson-colored football pennant shape on the wall with no writing.

    05. Deacon Blues

    Steely Dan · 1977

    Becker and Fagen knew Pete Christlieb from the Tonight Show band and brought him in. He played two takes; they used the second. The song is about loser grandeur: if Alabama gets to be the Crimson Tide, the losers get a name too. Smooth and sad, which is the Steely Dan brand.

  7. A vintage brass cash register with coins spilling out, a tenor saxophone propped against it on a studio floor.

    04. Money

    Pink Floyd · 1973

    A cash-register loop in 7/4, then Dick Parry's tenor solo, bluesy and smoky, before Gilmour takes over. Pink Floyd's breakthrough single in America, No. 13 on the Hot 100. A song about how money ruins everything that made them very, very rich.

  8. A saxophone lying on a satin bedsheet under a slowly spinning ceiling fan, a single wilted rose on the pillow.

    03. Careless Whisper

    George Michael · 1984

    George Michael wrote it at 17 on the way to a DJ gig. They auditioned 11 sax players before Steve Gregory could play the main phrase in one breath; the engineer slowed the tape to make the fingering work. Over 11 million sold. It has scored a million ironic slow dances since.

  9. A rain-slicked London street at night with an alto saxophone leaning against a lamppost and a lit window above.

    02. Baker Street

    Gerry Rafferty · 1978

    Billboard called it the most recognizable sax riff in pop. Raphael Ravenscroft played it, was paid £27, and later said it bugged him because he thought he was out of tune. Rafferty said he wrote the line; Ravenscroft said it was an old blues riff. The riff doesn't care.

  10. A tenor saxophone resting on the hood of an old car parked on a New Jersey boardwalk at night, the city lights across the water.

    01. Jungleland

    Bruce Springsteen · 1975

    The nine-and-a-half-minute closer of Born to Run, with Clarence Clemons spending sixteen hours playing every note of the solo until Springsteen was satisfied. Clemons said all they could do was hold on. When it returned live in 2012, his nephew Jake played it. Undefeated.

Honorable mentions

  • A saxophone glowing under colorful stage lights on a huge Eurovision-style stage, fog swirling and confetti in the air.

    Run Away

    SunStroke Project and Olia Tira · 2010

    Moldova's Eurovision entry finished 22nd, but Sergey Stepanov's hip-thrusting sax solo became the Epic Sax Guy meme and racked up millions of views. Seven years later the band came back and got third, Moldova's best ever. The sax was right all along.

Dishonorable mentions

  • A messy suburban living room after a party with a soprano saxophone on the couch next to braces, a retainer and a disco ball.

    Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)

    Katy Perry · 2011

    A fine party song that tied Michael Jackson's record for five No. 1s from one album, but the video has Kenny G as her uncle, playing sax. Bringing in Kenny G for a wink is the musical equivalent of a novelty tie.

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