Fight the Power (Part I)

“Fight the Power” (sometimes titled as “Fight the Power (Part 1 and Part 2)”) is a song recorded by the Isley Brothers, who released the song as the first single off their landmark album, The Heat Is On. The song is notable for the usage of the word bullshit, which was censored during radio airplay.

The song was sparked in a 1975 recording session in which guitarist Ernie Isley, inspired by the news, wrote two songs: “Fight the Power” and an anti-poverty ballad titled “Harvest for the World”. The group ended up recording both songs on the same day and eventually picked “Fight the Power” as the song to release first. “Harvest” would be featured on the album of the same name and would be released as the first single off that album.

The song was released in May 1975 and became one of the group’s most popular recordings, reaching number 1 on the R&B singles chart and crossed over to the pop charts reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Due to its strong dance flavor, the song was played heavily at dance clubs helping the song to land at number 13 on Billboard’s dance chart. “Fight the Power” gave the brothers their first song to peak in the top 20 on three different charts.