Back Chat

"Back Chat"
UK single picture sleeve
Single by Queen
from the album Hot Space
B-side"Staying Power"
Released
  • 9 August 1982 (UK)
  • 23 November 1982 (US)
Recorded1981 – 1982
Genre
Length
  • 4:31 (album version)
  • 4:10 (single version)
  • 6:55 (12" extended version)
Label
SongwriterJohn Deacon
Producers
Queen singles chronology
"Staying Power"
(1982)
"Back Chat"
(1982)
"Radio Ga Ga"
(1984)
Music video
"Back Chat" on YouTube

"Back Chat", written by the bass guitarist John Deacon, is the track most influenced by funk on the 1982 Queen album Hot Space. The song is a prime example of how Deacon was strongly pulling the band into dance orientated genres such as R&B, disco, and funk. It reached #40 on the UK Singles Chart, #18 in South Africa and a #19 entry in Ireland.

The track was performed on the Hot Space Tour at a faster tempo, with a more rock-oriented arrangement. "Back Chat", the title, is an English idiom referring to "impertinent or impudent replies, especially to a superior". In a Rolling Stone album review, critic John Milward described the musical style of the song as: "a hot rock-funk tune, with guitar tracks as slick as an icy dance floor."