Released as the second single from The Motels' self-titled debut album, "Total Control" is one of their most well-known and enduring tracks.
The band's lead singer Martha Davis and guitarist Jeff Jourard wrote "Total Control." Davis' lyrics are open to interpretation, but they appear to explore themes of desire, control, and independence, hinting at a complex relationship dynamic.
"I have no control whatsoever over lyric writing," Davis told Uncut magazine. "I am complete stream of consciousness. I call it spew and edit and my advice to old song writers is to get out of your own way. My Mum loved their modernist writers, our bedtime stories were Henry Miller, Virginia Woolf and James Joyce. When you hear James Joyce read out loud the lyricism is profound, and it means more for me to have the lyrics sing then to have them make sense."
Martha Davis originally wrote "Total Control" as a straight-ahead punk song inspired by her relationship with former guitarist Dean Chamberlain. But guitarist Jeff Jourard slowed it down and persuaded his younger brother Marty to join on keys and saxophone.
"When I wrote it originally, it was a punk rock song. It was very fast and very angry. I was mad. I had just had my heart broken and I was angry," Davis told Uncut. "Then Jeff started playing this minimal rhythm. When I put those same lyrics over it, that's where the power comes from. Nothing happens... but there is a whole lot of stuff going on.
Jeff Jourard took inspiration from English rock band Be-Bop Deluxe's 1978 song, "Panic in the World," which he was infatuated with. "I loved how unadorned it was, pounding those two chords without any decoration," he said, "so I approached 'Total Control' that way. I slowed it down. Then I slowed it down more and more and more until it was like a machine pounding nails. At that speed, it turned into something really dramatic.
"I added some stops and builds and changed the title. It was originally called 'Complete Control' because Martha likes alliteration, but I suggested 'Total Control."'
Released on September 17, 1979, "Total Control" didn't crack the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #9 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. It was especially popular in Australia and New Zealand, where it peaked at #7 and #11 on their respective charts.
Artists who have covered the song include:
1985 Tina Turner for USA for Africa's We Are the World, a superstar compilation album for famine relief efforts in Ethiopia
1993 British singer-songwriter Belouis Some for his Living Your Life album
2018 American rock band Cults for Motels, an EP collection of Motels covers
2022 Australian singer Missy Higgins for her 2022 mini album Total Control
"Total Control" is one of 49 songs that plays during Jonathan Demme's 1986 action comedy movie Something Wild, although it's not on the film's soundtrack album.
John Carter, an A&R executive at Capitol Records, signed The Motels to the label and produced this song, along with the rest of the album.
Carter began working with Tina Turner in the mid 1980s (he produced "
Private Dancer" and her version of "Total Control").
"I didn't meet Tina Turner, but Carter invited me to a playback," said Davis. "I remember sitting at the console and as soon as it had finished, I started crying. I was so touched. It's like having God cover your song."
Looking back at "Total Control" in 2023, Martha Davis concluded:
"That song could be more potent now than it ever was. It's a song about powerlessness and that is a universal feeling. Humans are the only animals that know we are going to die, so you don't even have control over that. Money creates fear and that fear has taken over the world and turned us into bad animals. The ones with no power are terrified because they are just going to burn everything down."
