You Belong to the City

"You Belong to the City"
Single by Glenn Frey
from the album Miami Vice soundtrack
B-side	"Smuggler's Blues"
Released	November 15, 1985
Format	7" vinyl
Recorded	1984
Genre	Pop rock new wave[1]
Length	5:51
Label	MCA
Writer(s)	Glenn Frey Jack Tempchin
Producer(s)	Glenn Frey
Glenn Frey singles chronology
"Smuggler's Blues" (1985) "You Belong to the City" (1985) "True Love" (1988)

"You Belong to the City" is a song written by Glenn Frey (of the Eagles) and Jack Tempchin, and recorded by Frey during his solo career. It was written specifically for the television show Miami Vice in 1985. The song nearly reached the top of the charts, peaking at number two (behind Starship's "We Built This City") on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, although it did reach the top of the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart.^[2] This song, along with Jan Hammer's "Miami Vice Theme", helped the Miami Vice soundtrack album reach the top spot of the Billboard 200 chart for 11 weeks in 1985, making it the best-selling album of the year and the most successful TV soundtrack of all time. While Frey performed this song live when touring with the Eagles, he stopped doing so in 2005. A version of the Eagles performing the song can be found on their DVD Farewell Tour I: Live from Melbourne released that year.

History

All instruments were performed by Frey except the saxophone part played by studio musician Bill Bergman, as well as the drum track by Frey's long-time drummer, Michael Huey. The song was recorded at Fool On The Hill studios, New York City, at the end of 1984. The synthesizer used in this song was a Yamaha DX7.

Music video

At the beginning of the video, the notes of the introductory saxophone riff are played as Frey sits in his apartment, looking out the window and smoking. Elsewhere, a woman prepares at home for a night on the town. She has Miami Vice playing on the television, a pattern which is repeated every time a television is shown in the video. Frey leaves the apartment and walks the streets of town, his journey interspersed with scenes representative of New York nightlife and culture. He crosses paths with the woman when the taxi she is riding in almost runs over him. Later, they meet again when Frey sees her through the window of a pub, then walks in. She sees him and he watches her brush off the advances of another man, but makes no move to approach her himself. Finally, he gets up to leave, but the woman catches him as he hails a taxi and they decide to walk back to her place together. The video then cuts to Frey leaving her high-rise the next morning. In the final shot of the video, Frey gazes out onto a vista of New York City.

Chart performance

Weekly charts Chart (1985–86) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[3] 20 Canada (CHUM)[4] 3 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[5] 2 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[6] 6 France (IFOP)[7] 63 Ireland (IRMA)[8] 26 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[9] 37 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[10] 46 Poland (LP3)[11] 1 US Billboard Adult Contemporary[2] 2 US Billboard Hot 100[2] 2 US Billboard Top Rock Tracks[2] 1 US Cash Box[12] 3

Year-end charts Chart (1985) Position Canada (RPM Top 100 Singles)[13] 57 US Billboard Hot 100[14] 30 US Cash Box[15] 34

References in popular culture

• The song was featured in, and indeed written specifically for, the Miami Vice episode "Prodigal Son".
• A 1985 Pepsi commercial featuring Frey and Miami Vice star Don Johnson used a version with product-specific lyrics. Johnson's co-star Philip Michael Thomas did not appear in the commercial alongside them due to prior obligations to a Sunkist Grape commercial.
• The rapper/record producer Jay-Z sampled part of "You Belong to the City" for his single, "The City Is Mine".^[16]
• The song was used in a video tribute to the 1986 World Champion New York Mets at Shea Stadium in August 2006; it was again used by the Mets in August 2010 when members of the 1986 team were inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame at Citi Field. It is also featured on the team's 1986 highlight film.
• An instrumental version of the song was used on an episode of the Fox television series Married... with Children, when Al and Steve went out looking for a Barbie doll they accidentally sold which belonged to Marcy.
• Except for import versions of Frey's 1985 album The Allnighter, the song was not available on a Frey album in the US until his Solo Collection was released in 1995.
• This song was used at the end of a Drawn Together episode "A Very Special Drawn Together After School Special".
• The song was used in the Hello Ladies episode "The Date."

References

1. Gordon, Allen S. (1998). "Jay-Z: In My Lifetime". Rap Pages (L.F.P. Incorporated) 7: 233. For strictly hard-core rappers, using a white/new wave 1980s pop tune like Glen Frey's "You Belong to the City" would be considered treading on thin ice
2. "Glenn Frey – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
3. "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – CHART POSITIONS PRE 1989, part 2". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
4. CHART NUMBER 1506 – Saturday, November 02, 1985 at the Wayback Machine (archived July 29, 2007). CHUM. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
5. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 9414." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
6. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0599." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
7. "InfoDisc : Tous les Titres par Artiste" (in French). InfoDisc. Select "Glenn Frey" from the artist drop-down menu. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
8. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – You Belong to the City". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
9. "Dutchcharts.nl – Glenn Frey – You Belong To The City" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
10. "Charts.org.nz – Glenn Frey – You Belong To The City". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
11. "YOU BELONG TO THE CITY – Glenn Frey" (in Polish). LP3. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
12. CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending NOVEMBER 23, 1985 at the Wayback Machine (archived October 1, 2012). Cash Box magazine. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
13. "Top Singles – Volume 43, No. 16, December 28, 1985". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
14. "Top 100 Hits for 1985". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
15. The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1985 at the Wayback Machine (archived October 1, 2012). Cash Box magazine. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
16. "Jay Z feat. Blackstreet's The City Is Mine sample of Glenn Frey's You Belong to the City". WhoSampled. Retrieved August 1, 2013.

External links

• "You Belong to the City" lyrics
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics