Released 1987 Recorded 1987 | Format 7", 12", CD single | |
Writer(s) Bryan Ferry, Johnny Marr Producer(s) Bryan Ferry, Chester Kamen, Patrick Leonard | ||
"The Right Stuff" is a song by Bryan Ferry, the former lead vocalist for Roxy Music. It was released as the first single from his seventh album Bête Noire in late 1987, being Ferry's twenty-fifth single. It was the album's only Top 40 hit in the U.K., peaking at No. 37.
Background
The song was co-written by Johnny Marr and adapted from The Smiths' instrumental B-side to "Bigmouth Strikes Again" ("Money Changes Everything"). When Marr was asked about the collaboration in an 1989 interview with Sonics he said "He [Ferry] didn’t know who I was. But he was looking for co-writers and someone suggested me to him. Someone played him some Smiths records and he went 'Oh, this guy plays guitar all right!' So he invited me down to the studio. Bryan Ferry was an old hero of mine and it was great to work with him, but the end result was…he’s a bit blow-waved." Guy Pratt, who played bass with Ferry during this period tells it differently in his book. Ferry heard "Money Changes Everything" and had the genius idea of putting vocals on it to have a hit. Their then guitar player Chester, "could play the intro, but couldn't play it" and so Ferry enlisted Johnny Marr himself to play on the track.