American singer
Laura Branigan covered "Self Control" in 1984. It was released as the
lead single from her third same-titled studio album
Self Control, released the same year.
History Branigan's first major hit had also been co-written by Bigazzi: "
Gloria" (1982) was an English-language cover of the 1979 original Italian song recorded by
Umberto Tozzi. The following year, Branigan recorded another English song written over a Tozzi and Bigazzi song, "Mama", which was included on her 1983 album
Branigan 2. Branigan chose two more Italian songs for her third album: the first one, "
Ti Amo" with lyrics by
Diane Warren once again based on the original by Tozzi and Bigazzi that had been a 1977 single for Tozzi. The second one, "Self Control", became the title track to the album and her most successful single internationally. "Self Control" was the only one of the four Italian songs recorded by Branigan that was originally composed in English, and Branigan chose to record the song as written. Also, unlike the other songs, Branigan's version was contemporaneous with that of its co-writer. Branigan's recording was arranged by
Giorgio Moroder's protégé
Harold Faltermeyer with Robbie Buchanan and produced by Buchanan with
Jack White in West Germany and Los Angeles. A keyboard hook in Raf's version was changed to a guitar riff for Branigan's version and a vocal break was paired with a sharper and repeated percussive element.
Composition The song narrates the singer's slip into the world of
nightlife, the allure of which has her "livin' only for the night" and deeming herself to "live among the creatures of the night". Rather than actually invoking more
self-control, the singer addresses someone: "you take my self, you take my self-control". According to Bryan Buss of
AllMusic, the song is about "finding sex in the seamy side of town".
Chart performance In the United States, Branigan's cover became her third and last top 10 entry, peaking at No. 4. In Canada, the track reached No. 1 on both the pop and AC charts. Both the Raf original and Branigan's version of "Self Control" entered the
German top 20 in May 1984: on 25 June, Branigan's single attained the No. 1 position, where it remained for six weeks, while Raf's version occupied the No. 2 spot. "Self Control" also topped the charts in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Portugal, South Africa and Sweden, The video drew controversy, and
MTV requested some edits before it could air.
Entertainment Tonight aired a segment on the network's reaction to the clip, which was being played in late-night slots on other networks. Though Branigan resisted at first, her record company convinced her to allow a minor alteration and the video was aired on MTV, though by this time the single had peaked on the charts. Branigan would go on to be nominated for a
1985 American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Video Artist, losing to
Cyndi Lauper.
Live performances Branigan performed the song live in her debut on
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on 27 April 1984. She also promoted the song during appearances on
The Merv Griffin Show,
Solid Gold (12 May 1984),
Dick Clark's
American Bandstand (9 June 1984) and the syndicated Dick Clark television special
Rock Rolls On, which she also co-hosted.
Media usage In August 2025, "Self Control" was used as the soundtrack to a Virgin Media O2 television commercial. With an increase in attention, the song peaked at number 29 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart on 12 September 2025.
Track listings •
7-inch single • "Self Control" – 4:06 • "Silent Partners" – 3:55 •
12-inch maxi single • "Self Control" (extended version) – 5:04 • "Silent Partners" (extended version) – 4:10
Charts Weekly charts Monthly charts Year-end charts Certifications Re-releases Branigan's "Self Control" was paired with follow-up single "
The Lucky One" for an "oldies series" release in the US. In the UK, a similar release paired the song with her earlier single, "Gloria". In 1992, the original single mix of "Self Control" was re-released on CD single and 12-inch vinyl by Atlantic/WEA in Germany featuring two new remixes. One of those, the Classic Summer Mix, appeared on the European greatest hits album
The Very Best of Laura Branigan. In 1999, four new remixes of "Self Control" were commissioned for a South African collection called
Back in Control, on Atlantic/Gallo. "Self Control '99" was released as a CD single there. In the mid-2000s, several
trance music remixes featuring samples of various lengths from the 1984 Branigan original surfaced from various entities including Crooklyn Clan, Imperial Machine, and SK featuring Branigan. None of these mixes were done with Branigan's participation. As of 2010, the
Self Control album remains in print and the original version can also be heard on
The Best of Branigan (1993), and in remastered versions on
The Essentials: Laura Branigan (2002) and
The Platinum Collection (2006).
2004 version Branigan sought to reclaim her career after years away from the music industry first to take care of her ailing husband and then to mourn his loss. She re-recorded her two biggest club hits for the 20th anniversary of "Self Control" and they were released in a slew of remixes as "
Gloria 2004" and "Self Control 2004". The latter track reached the top 10 on the
Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales chart following Branigan's sudden death from an aneurysm in August of that year.
Track listings •
CD maxi single • "Self Control 2004" (Mindworkers Radio Mix) – 3:21 • "Self Control 2004" (Flip & Fill Remix) – 6:45 • "Self Control 2004" (Mindworkers Remix) – 7:07 • "Self Control 2004" (Force Four Remix) – 7:45 • "Self Control 2004" (Kenny Hayes Club Mix) – 6:07 • "Self Control 2004" (Mindworkers Instrumental) – 7:05
Charts ==Ricky Martin version==