"Ghost Rider" is a song by the protopunk band Suicide appearing on their 1977 debut album Suicide. The song is based on the Marvel Comics Ghost Rider character, which vocalist Alan Vega said "was my favorite comic because it had all these religious, metaphysical things going on in it."
In 1981, Suicide's lead vocalist Alan Vega re-recorded the song for his second solo album, Collision Drive. Vega later expressed his wish that the original version of the song would be used in the 2007 Ghost Rider film based on the comic, but that did not happen.https://www.theguardian.com/culture/musicblog/2015/feb/17/suicide-interview-punk-rock-martin-rev-alan-vega?
Reception The Atlantic said, "Vega gibbers and swoons over a filthy, driving three-note electronic riff: America, America is killin' its youth. What can you do but follow this trail of incineration across the sky?"
Accolades Year Publication Country Accolade Rank 2006 Les Inrockuptibles France 1000 Indispensable Songs * 2010 Rolling Stone Germany The 50 Best Songs of the 1970s * 2012 NME United Kingdom 100 Best Songs of the 1970s 71 2014 Robert Dimery United States 1,001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die * 2016 Pitchfork United States The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s 92
(*) designates unordered lists.
Personnel Adapted from the Suicide liner notes.
Suicide Martin Rev – keyboards, drum programming Alan Vega – vocals
Production and additional personnel Larry Alexander – engineering Craig Leon – production Marty Thau – production
References