Writer: Peter Gabriel
Producers: Daniel Lanois and Peter Gabriel
Recorded: 1985 at Real World Studios in Bath, England
Released: May 1986
| Players: | Peter Gabriel — vocals, keyboards David Rhodes — guitar Simon Clark — bass, organ Tony Levin — drumstick bass Jerry Marotta — drumstick bass Daniel Lanois — guitar Stewart Copeland — drums Jimmy Bralower — Linn drum Wayne Jackson — trumpet Mark Rivera — saxophone Don Mikkelsen — trombone P.P. Arnold, Coral Gordon, Dee Lewis — backing vocals |
| Album: | So (Geffen, 1986) |
“Big Time” was the third single from Peter Gabriel's multi-platinum So album, following “Sledgehammer” and “In Your Eyes.”
The song features some notable guest musicians, including former Police drummer Stewart Copeland, former King Crimson bassist Tony Levin, Stax trumpet player Wayne Jackson, and saxophonist Mark Rivera, whose credits include Billy Joel, Hall & Oates, and Ringo Starr's All-Starr Bands.
“Big Time” was promoted by an innovative, stop-action video similar to that for So's first single, “Sledgehammer.”
The song's lyric — “Big time/I'm on my way, I'm making it!” — was prophetic. So was a commercial monster, selling more than four million copies and earning Gabriel a pile of BRIT and MTV Video Music awards.
So hit Number Two on the Billboard 200 and Number One in the U.K.
