Lodger (album)
Encyclopedia
Lodger is an album by British singer-songwriter David Bowie
, released in 1979. The last of the 'Berlin Trilogy
' recorded in collaboration with Brian Eno
(though in fact produced in Switzerland
and New York), it was more accessible than its immediate predecessors Low and "Heroes", having no instrumentals and being somewhat lighter and more pop-oriented. However it was still an experimental record in many ways and was not, by Bowie's standards, a major commercial success. Indifferently received by critics on its initial release, it is now widely considered one of Bowie's most underrated albums.
, as on "Heroes", but by Fripp's future King Crimson
bandmate, Adrian Belew
, whom Bowie had "poached" while the guitarist was touring with Frank Zappa
. Much of Belew's work on the album was composited from multiple takes played against backing tracks of which he had no prior knowledge, not even the key. Other experiments on the album included using old tunes played backwards, employing identical chord sequences for different songs, and having the musicians play unfamiliar instruments.
Eno felt that the trilogy had "petered out" by Lodger, and Belew also observed Eno's and Bowie's working relationship closing down: "They didn't quarrel or anything uncivilised like that; they just didn't seem to have the spark that I imagine they might have had during the "Heroes" album." An early plan to continue the basic pattern of the previous records with one side of songs and the other instrumentals was dropped, Bowie instead adding lyrics that foreshadowed the more worldly concerns of his next album, Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
.
, inspired by a trip to Kenya
; its musical textures have been cited as presaging the popularity of world music
, Bowie considering it a forerunner of the sounds developed by Brian Eno and David Byrne
for My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
(1981). "Move On" was lyrically Bowie's ode to his own wanderlust, sonically his earlier classic "All the Young Dudes
" played backwards. "Yassassin
" was an unlikely reggae
song with a Turkish flavour. "Red Sails" was inspired in part by the ambient
motorik
of German band Neu!
; for Bowie, it combined "a German new music feel" with "a contemporary English mercenary-cum-swashbuckling Errol Flynn
" to produce "a lovely cross-reference of cultures".
Of the album's critiques, "Boys Keep Swinging
", the first single, was seen partly as a witty riposte to the Village People
but also, combined with its cross-dressing video clip, a comment on ideas of masculinity; musically it was notable for guitarist Carlos Alomar
and drummer Dennis Davis
in the unfamiliar roles of drummer and bass player, respectively. According to Tony Visconti
, the song featured the "exact same chord changes and structure, even the same key" as "Fantastic Voyage
", Bowie's take on the possibility of nuclear war
. The second single, "D.J.
", took a sardonic look at the world of the disc jockey. "Repetition", Bowie's exploration of a wife-basher's mentality, was sung in a deliberately unemotional tone that highlighted the lyric and the unnatural slur of the bass guitar. "Red Money" added new words to a Bowie/Alomar tune that had originally appeared as "Sister Midnight", with lyrics by Iggy Pop
, on the latter's album The Idiot
.
on the cover design
. The original gatefold album sleeve featured a full-length shot of Bowie as an accident victim, heavily made up with an apparently broken nose. For effect, the image was deliberately of low resolution, taken with a Polaroid SX-70 type camera. The inside of the gatefold included pictures of Che Guevara
's corpse, Mantegna’s
Lamentation over the Dead Christ
, and Bowie being readied for the cover photo. These images were not reproduced in the Rykodisc
CD reissue in 1991.
calling it "one of his weakest ... scattered, a footnote to "Heroes", an act of marking time", and Melody Maker
finding it "slightly faceless". It was also criticised for having a thinner, muddier mix than Bowie's previous albums. Lodger peaked at #4 in the UK charts and #20 in America at a time when the artist was being "out-Bowied" commercially by his New Wave
"children" such as Gary Numan
.
Soon after its release, NME
editors Roy Carr
and Charles Shaar Murray
predicted that Lodger would "have to 'grow in potency' over a few years, but eventually it will be accepted as one of Bowie's most complex and rewarding projects". While biographer Christopher Sandford calls it a "slick, calculatedly disposable record", author David Buckley contends that "its stature grows with each passing year", and Nicholas Pegg
sums up, "undervalued and obscure practically from the moment of its release, its critical re-evaluation is long overdue".
; all music composed by David Bowie and Brian Eno
except where noted.
Side one
Side two
(featuring 24-bit digitally remastered sound and no bonus tracks); subsequent editions are merely repackagings of the current EMI edition.
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, released in 1979. The last of the 'Berlin Trilogy
Berlin Trilogy
The Berlin Trilogy is a series of David Bowie albums recorded in collaboration with Brian Eno in the 1970s. The three albums are Low, "Heroes" and Lodger....
' recorded in collaboration with Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
(though in fact produced in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and New York), it was more accessible than its immediate predecessors Low and "Heroes", having no instrumentals and being somewhat lighter and more pop-oriented. However it was still an experimental record in many ways and was not, by Bowie's standards, a major commercial success. Indifferently received by critics on its initial release, it is now widely considered one of Bowie's most underrated albums.
Production
Originally to be titled either Planned Accidents or Despite Straight Lines, Lodger was largely recorded between legs of Bowie's 1978 world tour and featured the same musicians, along with Brian Eno. Lead guitar was played not by Robert FrippRobert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
, as on "Heroes", but by Fripp's future King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
bandmate, Adrian Belew
Adrian Belew
Adrian Belew is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer...
, whom Bowie had "poached" while the guitarist was touring with Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
. Much of Belew's work on the album was composited from multiple takes played against backing tracks of which he had no prior knowledge, not even the key. Other experiments on the album included using old tunes played backwards, employing identical chord sequences for different songs, and having the musicians play unfamiliar instruments.
Eno felt that the trilogy had "petered out" by Lodger, and Belew also observed Eno's and Bowie's working relationship closing down: "They didn't quarrel or anything uncivilised like that; they just didn't seem to have the spark that I imagine they might have had during the "Heroes" album." An early plan to continue the basic pattern of the previous records with one side of songs and the other instrumentals was dropped, Bowie instead adding lyrics that foreshadowed the more worldly concerns of his next album, Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
Scary Monsters is an album by David Bowie, released in September 1980 by RCA Records. It was Bowie's final studio album for the label and his first following the so-called Berlin Trilogy of Low, "Heroes" and Lodger . Though considered significant in artistic terms, the trilogy had proved less...
.
Style and themes
Though missing the songs/instrumentals split that characterised Low and "Heroes", Lodger has been interpreted as dividing roughly into two major themes, that of travel (primarily Side One) and critiques of Western civilisation (primarily Side Two). The final track on "Heroes", "The Secret Life of Arabia", anticipated the mock-exotic feel of Lodger’s travel songs. "African Night Flight" was a tribute to the music and culture of the veldVeld
The term Veld refers primarily to the wide open rural spaces of South Africa or southern Africa and in particular to certain flatter areas or districts covered in grass or low scrub...
, inspired by a trip to Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
; its musical textures have been cited as presaging the popularity of world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
, Bowie considering it a forerunner of the sounds developed by Brian Eno and David Byrne
David Byrne (musician)
David Byrne is a musician and artist, best known as a founding member and principal songwriter of the American new wave band Talking Heads, which was active between 1975 and 1991. Since then, Byrne has released his own solo recordings and worked with various media including film, photography,...
for My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (album)
The album was recorded entirely with analogue technology, before the advent of digital sequencing and MIDI. The sampled voices were synchronized with the instrumental tracks via trial and error, a practice that was often frustrating, but which also produced several happy accidents.Also according to...
(1981). "Move On" was lyrically Bowie's ode to his own wanderlust, sonically his earlier classic "All the Young Dudes
All the Young Dudes (song)
"All the Young Dudes" is a song written by David Bowie, originally recorded and released as a single by Mott the Hoople in 1972. NME editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray have described the track as "one of that rare breed: rock songs which hymn the solidarity of the disaffected without...
" played backwards. "Yassassin
Yassassin
"Yassassin " is a song written by David Bowie in 1979 for the album Lodger. "Yassassin" is an incongruous reggae song with a Turkish flavour, and the third single to be released from Lodger, but only in the Netherlands and Turkey.The actual Turkish verb used to wish someone a long life is spelled...
" was an unlikely reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
song with a Turkish flavour. "Red Sails" was inspired in part by the ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
motorik
Motorik
Motorik is a term coined by music journalists to describe the 4/4 beat often used by "Krautrock" bands such as Neu! and Kraftwerk...
of German band Neu!
Neu!
Neu! was a German band formed by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother after their split from Kraftwerk in the early 1970s...
; for Bowie, it combined "a German new music feel" with "a contemporary English mercenary-cum-swashbuckling Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
" to produce "a lovely cross-reference of cultures".
Of the album's critiques, "Boys Keep Swinging
Boys Keep Swinging
"Boys Keep Swinging" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was released as a single from the album Lodger on 27 April 1979.-Recording and release:...
", the first single, was seen partly as a witty riposte to the Village People
Village People
Village People is a concept disco group that formed in the United States in 1977, well known for their on-stage costumes depicting American cultural stereotypes, as well as their catchy tunes and suggestive lyrics....
but also, combined with its cross-dressing video clip, a comment on ideas of masculinity; musically it was notable for guitarist Carlos Alomar
Carlos Alomar
Carlos Alomar is an American guitarist, composer and arranger best known for his work with David Bowie, having played on more Bowie albums than any other musician...
and drummer Dennis Davis
Dennis Davis
Dennis Davis is an American drummer and session musician best known for his work with David Bowie.He was born and raised in Manhattan, New York City and studied with the late drummers Max Roach and Elvin Jones. He met guitarist Carlos Alomar when they were both playing with Roy Ayers...
in the unfamiliar roles of drummer and bass player, respectively. According to Tony Visconti
Tony Visconti
Anthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer and sometimes a musician or singer.Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers; his lengthiest involvement with any artist is with David Bowie: intermittently from Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity to 2003's Reality, Visconti...
, the song featured the "exact same chord changes and structure, even the same key" as "Fantastic Voyage
Fantastic Voyage (David Bowie song)
"Fantastic Voyage" is a song written by David Bowie and Brian Eno in 1979 for the album Lodger."Fantastic Voyage" has exactly the same chord sequence as "Boys Keep Swinging", from the same album.Musicians...
", Bowie's take on the possibility of nuclear war
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
. The second single, "D.J.
DJ (song)
"DJ" was a single by David Bowie. It was taken from the album Lodger in the UK, being released on June 29, 1979.A cynical comment on the cult of the DJ, the track is noted for Adrian Belew's guitar solo, which was recorded in multiple takes, and then mixed back together for the album track...
", took a sardonic look at the world of the disc jockey. "Repetition", Bowie's exploration of a wife-basher's mentality, was sung in a deliberately unemotional tone that highlighted the lyric and the unnatural slur of the bass guitar. "Red Money" added new words to a Bowie/Alomar tune that had originally appeared as "Sister Midnight", with lyrics by Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
, on the latter's album The Idiot
The Idiot (album)
The Idiot is the debut solo album by American rock singer Iggy Pop. It was the first of two LPs released in 1977 which Pop wrote and recorded in collaboration with David Bowie...
.
Packaging
Bowie collaborated with British pop artist Derek BoshierDerek Boshier
Derek Boshier is a British pop artist works in various media including painting, drawing, collage, photography, film and sculpture....
on the cover design
Cover art
Cover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...
. The original gatefold album sleeve featured a full-length shot of Bowie as an accident victim, heavily made up with an apparently broken nose. For effect, the image was deliberately of low resolution, taken with a Polaroid SX-70 type camera. The inside of the gatefold included pictures of Che Guevara
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
's corpse, Mantegna’s
Andrea Mantegna
Andrea Mantegna was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son in law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g., by lowering the horizon in order to create a sense of greater monumentality...
Lamentation over the Dead Christ
The Lamentation over the Dead Christ (Mantegna)
The Lamentation of Christ is a c. 1480 painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna. While the dating of the piece is debated, is generally believed to have been completed between 1475 and 1501. It portrays the body Christ supine on a marble slab. He is watched over by the Virgin...
, and Bowie being readied for the cover photo. These images were not reproduced in the Rykodisc
Rykodisc
Rykodisc Records is an American record label. It is owned by Warner Music Group, operates as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance.-Company history:...
CD reissue in 1991.
Release and aftermath
Lodger received relatively poor reviews on its original release, Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
calling it "one of his weakest ... scattered, a footnote to "Heroes", an act of marking time", and Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
finding it "slightly faceless". It was also criticised for having a thinner, muddier mix than Bowie's previous albums. Lodger peaked at #4 in the UK charts and #20 in America at a time when the artist was being "out-Bowied" commercially by his New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
"children" such as Gary Numan
Gary Numan
Gary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician, most widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars". His signature sound consisted of heavy synthesizer hooks fed through guitar effects pedals.Numan is considered a pioneer of commercial electronic music...
.
Soon after its release, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
editors Roy Carr
Roy Carr
Roy Carr is an English music journalist. He joined the New Musical Express in the late 1960s and has edited NME, VOX and Melody Maker magazines...
and Charles Shaar Murray
Charles Shaar Murray
Charles Shaar Murray is an English music journalist. His first experience in journalism came 1970 when he was asked to contribute to the satirical magazine Oz...
predicted that Lodger would "have to 'grow in potency' over a few years, but eventually it will be accepted as one of Bowie's most complex and rewarding projects". While biographer Christopher Sandford calls it a "slick, calculatedly disposable record", author David Buckley contends that "its stature grows with each passing year", and Nicholas Pegg
Nicholas Pegg
Nicholas Pegg is a British actor, director and writer.A graduate of the University of Exeter, Pegg trained at the Guildford School of Acting. His acting work in the theatre includes productions for Nottingham Playhouse, Scottish Opera, Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Theatre Royal, Plymouth...
sums up, "undervalued and obscure practically from the moment of its release, its critical re-evaluation is long overdue".
Track listing
All lyrics written by David BowieDavid Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
; all music composed by David Bowie and Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
except where noted.
Side one
- "Fantastic VoyageFantastic Voyage (David Bowie song)"Fantastic Voyage" is a song written by David Bowie and Brian Eno in 1979 for the album Lodger."Fantastic Voyage" has exactly the same chord sequence as "Boys Keep Swinging", from the same album.Musicians...
" – 2:55 - "African Night FlightAfrican Night Flight"African Night Flight" is a song written by David Bowie and Brian Eno in 1979 for the album Lodger. It is a surreal and exuberant tribute to the music and culture of the veldt.Musicians on this song:* David Bowie: Piano, Vocals...
" – 2:54 - "Move OnMove On (David Bowie song)"Move On" is a song written by David Bowie and Brian Eno in 1979 for the album Lodger. "Move On" was lyrically Bowie's ode to his own wanderlust, musically his earlier classic "All the Young Dudes" played backwards.Musicians on this song:...
" (Bowie) – 3:16 - "YassassinYassassin"Yassassin " is a song written by David Bowie in 1979 for the album Lodger. "Yassassin" is an incongruous reggae song with a Turkish flavour, and the third single to be released from Lodger, but only in the Netherlands and Turkey.The actual Turkish verb used to wish someone a long life is spelled...
" (Bowie) – 4:10 - "Red SailsRed Sails"Red Sails" is a song written by David Bowie and Brian Eno in 1979 for the album Lodger. The song is a swashbuckling epic inspired in part by the ambient motorik of German band Neu!.Musicians on this song:* David Bowie: Vocals...
" – 3:43
Side two
- "D.J.DJ (song)"DJ" was a single by David Bowie. It was taken from the album Lodger in the UK, being released on June 29, 1979.A cynical comment on the cult of the DJ, the track is noted for Adrian Belew's guitar solo, which was recorded in multiple takes, and then mixed back together for the album track...
" (Bowie, Eno, Carlos AlomarCarlos AlomarCarlos Alomar is an American guitarist, composer and arranger best known for his work with David Bowie, having played on more Bowie albums than any other musician...
) – 3:59 - "Look Back in AngerLook Back in Anger (song)"Look Back in Anger" is a song written by David Bowie and Brian Eno for the album Lodger . It concerns "a tatty 'Angel Of Death'", and features a guitar solo by Carlos Alomar....
" – 3:08 - "Boys Keep SwingingBoys Keep Swinging"Boys Keep Swinging" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was released as a single from the album Lodger on 27 April 1979.-Recording and release:...
" – 3:17 - "RepetitionRepetition (song)"Repetition" is a song written by David Bowie in 1979 for the album Lodger. In the song Bowie explores domestic violence from the abuser's point of view, sung in a deliberately unemotional tone that served to highlight the lyric and the unnatural slur of the bass guitar.Musicians on this song:*...
" (Bowie) – 2:59 - "Red MoneyRed Money"Red Money" is a song written by David Bowie and Carlos Alomar. The song had originally appeared on The Idiot as "Sister Midnight" with lyrics by Iggy Pop...
" (Bowie, Alomar) – 4:17
Reissues
Lodger has been re-released several times on CD. RCA issued CDs of the album in the 1980s, which existed in at least two separate editions: Japanese-sourced pressings and German-sourced pressings (at least some of the early Japanese discs are defective, with severe audio drop-outs throughout the album). Rykodisc (in the USA) and EMI (elsewhere) released a version with two bonus tracks in 1991. The most recent iteration appeared in 1999 on EMIEMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
(featuring 24-bit digitally remastered sound and no bonus tracks); subsequent editions are merely repackagings of the current EMI edition.
1991 reissue bonus tracks
- "I Pray, OléI Pray, Olé"I Pray, Olé" is a song written and recorded by David Bowie in 1979. This remained unreleased until 1991 when it appeared as a bonus track on the Rykodisc reissue of the album Lodger.Musicians on this song:* David Bowie: Vocals, Guitars...
" (Previously unreleased track recorded 1979) – 3:59 - "Look Back in Anger" (New version recorded 1988) – 6:59
Personnel
- David Bowie – vocals, backing vocals, piano, guitar, synthesiser, ChamberlinChamberlinThe Chamberlin is an electro-mechanical keyboard instrument that was a precursor to the Mellotron. It was developed and patented by Iowa, Wisconsin inventor Harry Chamberlin from 1949 to 1956, when the first model was introduced. Various models and versions of these Chamberlin music instruments...
, producer - Carlos AlomarCarlos AlomarCarlos Alomar is an American guitarist, composer and arranger best known for his work with David Bowie, having played on more Bowie albums than any other musician...
– guitar, drums - Dennis DavisDennis DavisDennis Davis is an American drummer and session musician best known for his work with David Bowie.He was born and raised in Manhattan, New York City and studied with the late drummers Max Roach and Elvin Jones. He met guitarist Carlos Alomar when they were both playing with Roy Ayers...
– percussion, bass - George MurrayGeorge Murray (musician)George Murray is an American bass guitarist best known for his work with David Bowie as a part of his regular ensemble , on a number of Bowie's albums released in the 1970s.-Selective Discography:Weldon Irvine...
– bass - Sean MayesSean MayesSean Mayes was a British pianist and writer.Born in Stone Allerton, Somerset, Mayes was schooled in Bristol. He won a place at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he obtained a degree in philosophy....
– piano - Simon HouseSimon HouseSimon House is a composer and classically trained violinist and keyboard player, perhaps best known for his work with space rock band Hawkwind. His arrival in 1974 introduced a new element to the band's style...
– violin, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single... - Adrian BelewAdrian BelewAdrian Belew is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer...
– guitar, mandolin - Tony ViscontiTony ViscontiAnthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer and sometimes a musician or singer.Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers; his lengthiest involvement with any artist is with David Bowie: intermittently from Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity to 2003's Reality, Visconti...
– backing vocals, guitar, mandolin, bass, producer, recording engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
, mixing engineerAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - Brian EnoBrian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
– synthesisers, ambient drone, prepared piano, cricket menace, guitar treatments, horse trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, eroica hornHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
, piano, backing vocals - Roger Powell – synthesiser
- Stan – saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
- David RichardsDavid Richards (record producer)David Richards is an English-born Swiss-based record producer, engineer and musician. In the Mountain Studios in Montreux, owned by the rock band Queen, and in Attalens he engineered and co-produced many albums by Queen, David Bowie and other artists. Richards also played keyboards on some records...
– recording engineer - Rod O'Brien – mixing engineer
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
4 |
| 1979 | Billboard Pop Albums | 20 |
| 1979 | Norway | 11 |
Single
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | "Boys Keep Swinging" | UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
7 |
| 1979 | "DJ" | UK Singles Chart | 29 |
| 1979 | "DJ" | Billboard Pop Singles | 106 |
Certifications
| Organization | Level | Date |
|---|---|---|
| BPI – UK | Gold | 8 June 1979 |