RETURN OF THE QUEEN: After a decade as persona non grata among classic rock hits, "Under Pressure" is back. The 1982 collaboration between Queen and David Bowie may have been one of the strongest singles of its era, but the song's legacy was significantly crippled in the early '90s when it was sampled in one of the most embarrassing pop songs in history, Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby." That song and the subsequent backlash against it served to ruin "Under Pressure" for an entire generation of rock fans, who had no choice but to associate the beat with Mr. Van Winkle's non-masterpiece.
But just as another Queen song, "Bohemian Rhapsody," was rehabilitated a decade ago by its inclusion in "Wayne's World," "Under Pressure"'s undergoing a renaissance now. It was included in the trailers for last year's Josh Hartnett movie "40 Days, 40 Nights" and for the new "Adaptation," as well as commercials for the failed TV show "girl's club." And it was brought up repeatedly on tonight's episode of "Scrubs." Plus, a whole new generation of rock fans have discovered it through both the various Queen greatest hits packages as well as the new "Best of Bowie" compilation. Glad to see we could give the song another chance, just like we "give love, give love, give love...."