"Burning Car" is a song by John Foxx, released as a single in 1980. It was his third solo single, following "Underpass" and "No-One Driving" earlier in the year. The track was not included on Foxx's debut solo album Metamatic, post-dating its January 1980 release, but has been included as a bonus track on the 2001 and 2007 CD reissues. It was Foxx's last 1980s record in a hard-edged electronica style (his next single, "Miles Away", featured acoustic drums and a somewhat warmer production).
"Burning Car" developed the futurist style of Metamatic and was pacier than most of the album's material. Its staccato introduction was reminiscent of the metallic guitar notes that kicked off the track "Some of Them" from Systems of Romance, Foxx's last album with former band Ultravox. The title came from a chapter in J. G. Ballard's SF novel Concrete Island and its automobile reference was shared by a number of tracks on Metamatic. The B-side, "20th Century", was used as the theme for the London Weekend Television arts and music show 20th Century Box.
The songs were recorded in the same "eight-track cupboard in Islington"[1] as Metamatic, and again engineered by Gareth Jones. No instrumental credits appeared on the original single, however Foxx's studio equipment at the time included ARP Odyssey and Minimoog synthesizers, an Elka 'String Machine', a Roland CR-78 drum machine, an ARP Analog Sequencer and various phasing and flanger units. The recording of "Burning Car" features a prominent use of the "metal beat" hi-hat sound from the CR-78; Foxx used the name MetalBeat for his own record label.
The single made #35 in the UK charts and was also released in picture disc form with a different image to the original cover. "Burning Car" appears on the John Foxx compilations Assembly (1992), Modern Art (2001) and Metatronic (2010), and both the A- and B-sides are included on the 2001 and 2007 reissue of Metamatic (the 1993 edition had featured only "20th Century"). Extended live versions of both songs appear on Foxx's album Subterranean Omnidelic Exotour (1998) with Louis Gordon (reissued in 2002 as the second of a 2-disc set, The Golden Section Tour + The Omnidelic Exotour). "Burning Car"'s style and subject matter have been echoed in Foxx's recent original albums with Louis Gordon: Shifting City, Pleasures of Electricity and Crash and Burn.
An "early version" of "Burning Car" is included on the 2010 Metatronic compilation.
The song remains a John Foxx standard and is regularly performed live, also by the new formation of John Foxx and the Maths featuring additional violin played by Hannah Peel as documented on the 2010 live performance Analogue Circuit CD/DVD (issued 2013).
^"Metamatic". Archived from the original on 2011-12-10.
"BurningCar" is a song by John Foxx, released as a single in 1980. It was his third solo single, following "Underpass" and "No-One Driving" earlier in...
by using a water scrubber. Running wood gas in an unmodified gasoline-burning internal combustion engine may lead to problematic accumulation of unburned...
Green Car Crash (Green BurningCar I) is a painting by the American artist Andy Warhol. On May 16, 2007 at 7 P.M, it sold for $71.7m (£42.3m) at auction...
involved in a car accident outside his Brentwood home. The driver had been able to escape, but the passenger was trapped in the burningcar. Dawber telephoned...
British couple who went off-grid between 5 January 2023, when their burningcar was found abandoned near Bolton, until the date of their arrest on 27...
buildings, performances, and art cars, among other media. These contributions are inspired by a theme chosen annually by the Burning Man Project. The event has...
the car, and reverses it, crushing Nick's legs. Millie desperately tries to shoot him but Rudy rams the burningcar into her. He dives out as the car and...
lists the people who have been fatally injured in American Championship car racing during testing, practice, qualifying, or races since 1916, categorized...
deal with a burningcar that had gas cylinders inside. The abduction had happened about 24 hours after an arson attack that had destroyed a car. A house...
line at General Motors. In September 2016, he was found shot dead in a burningcar. St. Louis County Police are investigating his death as a homicide; they...
mistakenly identified Purley as the driver of the crashed car, and therefore thought the burningcar to be empty, none of them stopped to help and the race...
2018, a 49-year-old man named Brian Christ was found dead inside a burningcar near Disney's Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf Course in the park's resort...
the body of Melissa James was found bound and gagged in the trunk of a burningcar in the desert. Law enforcement was able to extinguish the fire early...
In June 1980, Foxx released a single with new songs on both sides, "BurningCar" b/w "20th Century", making #35. He issued one more single-only release...
his son wanted him to read, Michael witnesses the car explode, throws his valuables into the burningcar and flees with Timmy's help. At a U-North board...
fellow British driver Roger Williamson trapped in his overturned and burningcar, Purley abandoned his own race and attempted to save Williamson, who...
girl uses 'crazy strength' to lift burningcar off dad". USA TODAY. Retrieved 30 October 2023. "FL Man Lifts Car Off of Pinned State Trooper". POLICE...
sits down at the drums, Tyler Joseph rises from below the stage onto a burningcar and begins singing "Jumpsuit" followed by "Levitate". During "Fairly...
Mississippi Burning is a 1988 American crime thriller film directed by Alan Parker and written by Chris Gerolmo that is loosely based on the 1964 murder...
as burning through one full tank of petrol. The growth in popularity of the car allowed cities to sprawl, therefore encouraging more travel by car, resulting...
or gases on roads. The largest such vehicles are similar to railroad tank cars, which are also designed to carry liquid loads. Many variants exist due to...
Global Information