Description

Us pressing

Twilight Zone was released as single on the 2nd of March 1981. The song did not appear on the original release of Killers (1981), but was included in the US release. At the time of its release, it was the band’s second-most successful single, peaking at no. 31 in the UK Singles Chart. The single was notable as, although it was the first single from Killers, it wasn’t released prior to the album, instead going out a month later in the middle of the band’s UK tour. The song was originally intended to be a B-side, but the band felt it was so strong that it deserved to be on the A-side. The single’s other song, Wrathchild, was also given ‘A-side’ status because, according to Steve Harris, “we had a live version of us doing ‘Wrathchild’ at the Rainbow, before Christmas, on video that we could use. We couldn’t afford to pay for another video for ‘Twilight Zone’, so we did a double A-side, because we knew we were gonna be off touring a lot and, if by any chance they wanted us on Top of the Pops again, at least we’d got a video for ‘Wrathchild’ we could give them. Like their two previous single covers, the artwork for “Twilight Zone” was subject to criticism in the press, where it was interpreted as “gratuitous sexism.” The media were offended by what appeared to be the band’s mascot, Eddie, spying on a young girl in her bedroom. Garry Bushell points out that the critics were mistaken, as the song lyrics and picture on the girl’s dressing table insinuate that Eddie is dead and contacting his lover (“Charlotte”) from beyond the grave, thus making it the band’s first love song.

Track listing:
1. Twilight Zone
2. Wrathchild