Under Pressure

The bouncing, repeated bass riff came out of a jam between Queen and David Bowie at Mountain Studios in Montreux; accounts differ on whether John Deacon or Bowie deserves the credit for it, but Deacon plays it. Its clean, staccato pulse is the heartbeat under Freddie Mercury and Bowie's escalating duet. Try following only the bass: it barely changes while everything above it explodes.