Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
Encyclopedia
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
(1977–1979). Though considered significant in artistic terms, the trilogy had proved less successful commercially. With Scary Monsters, however, Bowie achieved what biographer David Buckley called "the perfect balance": as well as earning critical acclaim, the album peaked at #1 in the United Kingdom and restored Bowie's commercial standing in the United States.
, Bowie's method on Scary Monsters was somewhat less experimental and more concerned with achieving a commercially-viable sound than had been the case with his recent releases; to that end the composer spent more time on his own developing lyrics and melodies before recording, rather than improvising music in the studio and making up words at the last minute. Aside from one cover, Tom Verlaine
's "Kingdom Come", all tracks would be credited to Bowie alone, unlike the 'Berlin Trilogy' where he had increasingly relied on input from his collaborators. Bowie continued to develop songs using non-traditional methods: for "It's No Game Part 1," he challenged guitarist Fripp to "imagine he was playing a guitar duel with B.B. King where he had to out-B.B. B.B., but do it in his own way."
Among those collaborators, Brian Eno
was no longer present on Scary Monsters, but Chuck Hammer
added multiple textural layers deploying guitar synth and, following his absence from Lodger, Robert Fripp
returned with the distinctive guitar sound he had earlier lent to "Heroes". Bruce Springsteen
's pianist Roy Bittan
was back for his first Bowie album since Station to Station
(1976), while The Who
's Pete Townshend
guested on "Because You’re Young".
", which was released as a single one month prior to the album and made #1 in the UK. Built around a guitar synth theme by Chuck Hammer
, it revisited the character of Major Tom
from Bowie's early hit "Space Oddity". Aside from its critical and commercial success as a song, the accompanying music video set a benchmark for the art form.
Notwithstanding the lush textures of "Ashes to Ashes", Bowie's sound on the album was described by critics as being harsher—and his worldview more desperate—than anything he had released since Diamond Dogs
(1974). This was exemplified by such tracks as "It's No Game
(No. 1)", the hard-rocking opener featuring lead female vocals in Japanese; the careering title track
with its prominent percussion effects and Bowie’s mock-cockney
accent; the second single "Fashion", which seemed to draw parallels between style and politics and which had its own highly-regarded video; and "Scream Like a Baby
", a tale of political imprisonment
.
Aside from "Ashes to Ashes", "Teenage Wildlife" was perhaps the album’s most personal lyric. Against a musical backdrop that owed much to his song "Heroes", Bowie appeared to take aim squarely at New Wave
artists, particularly Gary Numan
:
costume worn in the "Ashes to Ashes" music video, rendered in a combination of Brian Duffy's photographs and a painting by Edward Bell
. The original vinyl album
's rear sleeve referred to four earlier albums, namely the immediately preceding 'Berlin Trilogy' and 1973's Aladdin Sane
, the latter also having been designed and photographed by Duffy. The cover images from Low, "Heroes", and Lodger—the last showing Bowie's torso superimposed on the figure from Aladdin Sanes inside gatefold picture—were portrayed in small frames to the left of the track listing. Their whitewash
ed look was reportedly designed "to symbolise the discarding of Bowie's old personae." These images were not reproduced on the Rykodisc
reissue in 1992, but were restored for EMI
/Virgin
's 1999 remastered edition.
and compact cassette
form. The album's final single, "Up the Hill Backwards
", was released in March of that year. Other songs from this period, released on CD by Rykodisc, included both sides of the single "Alabama Song" b/w "Space Oddity", the latter a stark remake that debuted New Year’s Eve 1979 on The Kenny Everett Video Show and served as a "ritualistic purification" of Bowie’s most famous number prior to its demolition with "Ashes to Ashes"; "Crystal Japan
", B-side of "Up the Hill Backwards" in the UK and an A-side b/w "Alabama Song" in Japan, where it was also used for a Sake commercial; and a new version of Aladdin Sane’s "Panic in Detroit
".
giving it a rating of seven stars out of five, while Melody Maker
called it "an eerily impressive stride into the '80s" and Billboard reported that it "should be the most accessible and commercially successful Bowie LP in years". The album's #1 placing in the UK charts was Bowie's first since Diamond Dogs in 1974, while its U.S. peak of #12 was his highest stateside showing since Low almost four years earlier.
Despite the worldwide megastardom and commercial success that Bowie would achieve in coming years, most notably with his next studio album Let's Dance in 1983, many commentators consider Scary Monsters to be "his last great album", the "benchmark" for each new release. Well-regarded later efforts such as Black Tie White Noise
, Earthling
, Heathen and Reality were cited as "the best album since Scary Monsters." In the latest edition of his musical biography of the singer, Strange Fascination, David Buckley suggested that "Bowie should pre-emptively sticker up his next album 'Best Since Scary Monsters and have done with it".
In 2000 Q magazine ranked Scary Monsters at #30 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2002 Pitchfork Media
placed it #93 in its Top 100 Albums of the 1980s.
except where noted.
Side one
Side two
(containing four bonus tracks), the third in 1999 by EMI
(featuring 24-bit digitally-remastered sound and no bonus tracks) and the last in 2003 by EMI as a SACD
(Super Audio Compact Disc).
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 September 1980 by RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
. It was Bowie's final studio album for the label and his first following the so-called 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....
of Low, "Heroes" and Lodger
Lodger (album)
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 , it was more accessible than its immediate predecessors Low and "Heroes", having no instrumentals and being somewhat lighter and more pop-oriented...
(1977–1979). Though considered significant in artistic terms, the trilogy had proved less successful commercially. With Scary Monsters, however, Bowie achieved what biographer David Buckley called "the perfect balance": as well as earning critical acclaim, the album peaked at #1 in the United Kingdom and restored Bowie's commercial standing in the United States.
Production
According to co-producer Tony ViscontiTony 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...
, Bowie's method on Scary Monsters was somewhat less experimental and more concerned with achieving a commercially-viable sound than had been the case with his recent releases; to that end the composer spent more time on his own developing lyrics and melodies before recording, rather than improvising music in the studio and making up words at the last minute. Aside from one cover, Tom Verlaine
Tom Verlaine
Tom Verlaine is a singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the frontman for the New York rock band Television.-Biography:...
's "Kingdom Come", all tracks would be credited to Bowie alone, unlike the 'Berlin Trilogy' where he had increasingly relied on input from his collaborators. Bowie continued to develop songs using non-traditional methods: for "It's No Game Part 1," he challenged guitarist Fripp to "imagine he was playing a guitar duel with B.B. King where he had to out-B.B. B.B., but do it in his own way."
Among those collaborators, 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,...
was no longer present on Scary Monsters, but Chuck Hammer
Chuck Hammer
Chuck Hammer is an American guitarist and Emmy nominated digital film composer, known for seminal guitar-synth with Lou Reed, David Bowie, and Guitarchitecture....
added multiple textural layers deploying guitar synth and, following his absence from Lodger, Robert Fripp
Robert 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...
returned with the distinctive guitar sound he had earlier lent to "Heroes". Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
's pianist Roy Bittan
Roy Bittan
Roy Bittan is an American keyboardist, best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, which he joined on August 23, 1974...
was back for his first Bowie album since Station to Station
Station to Station
Station to Station is the tenth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1976. Commonly regarded as one of his most significant works, Station to Station is also notable as the vehicle for Bowie's last great 'character', The Thin White Duke...
(1976), while The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
's Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
guested on "Because You’re Young".
Style and themes
The public's first taste of Scary Monsters was "Ashes to AshesAshes to Ashes (David Bowie song)
"Ashes to Ashes" is a single by David Bowie, released in 1980. It made #1 in the UK and was the first cut from the Scary Monsters album, also a #1 hit. As well as its musical qualities, it is noted for its innovative video, directed by Bowie and David Mallet...
", which was released as a single one month prior to the album and made #1 in the UK. Built around a guitar synth theme by Chuck Hammer
Chuck Hammer
Chuck Hammer is an American guitarist and Emmy nominated digital film composer, known for seminal guitar-synth with Lou Reed, David Bowie, and Guitarchitecture....
, it revisited the character of Major Tom
Major Tom
Major Tom is a fictional astronaut created by David Bowie, heard in his songs "Space Oddity," "Ashes to Ashes," and "Hallo Spaceboy." Bowie's own interpretation of the character evolved throughout his career. 1969's "Space Oddity" depicts an astronaut who casually slips the bonds of a crass and...
from Bowie's early hit "Space Oddity". Aside from its critical and commercial success as a song, the accompanying music video set a benchmark for the art form.
Notwithstanding the lush textures of "Ashes to Ashes", Bowie's sound on the album was described by critics as being harsher—and his worldview more desperate—than anything he had released since Diamond Dogs
Diamond Dogs
Diamond Dogs is a concept album by David Bowie, originally released by RCA Records in 1974. Thematically it was a marriage of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell and Bowie's own glam-tinged vision of a post-apocalyptic world...
(1974). This was exemplified by such tracks as "It's No Game
It's No Game
"It's No Game" is a song written by David Bowie for the 1980 album Scary Monsters , featuring lead guitar played by Robert Fripp...
(No. 1)", the hard-rocking opener featuring lead female vocals in Japanese; the careering title track
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (song)
"Scary Monsters " is the title track from David Bowie's 1980 album Scary Monsters . It was also issued as the third single from that album in January 1981...
with its prominent percussion effects and Bowie’s mock-cockney
Cockney
The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
accent; the second single "Fashion", which seemed to draw parallels between style and politics and which had its own highly-regarded video; and "Scream Like a Baby
Scream Like a Baby
"Scream Like a Baby" is a song written by David Bowie that appears on the 1980 album Scary Monsters .-Music and lyrics:The song focusses on a protagonist called Sam who is evidently being held, along with the track's narrator, in a political prison...
", a tale of political imprisonment
Political prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
.
Aside from "Ashes to Ashes", "Teenage Wildlife" was perhaps the album’s most personal lyric. Against a musical backdrop that owed much to his song "Heroes", Bowie appeared to take aim squarely at 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...
artists, particularly 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...
:
- A broken-nosed mogul are you
- One of the new wave boys
- Same old thing in brand new dragDrag (clothing)Drag is used for any clothing carrying symbolic significance but usually referring to the clothing associated with one gender role when worn by a person of another gender. The origin of the term "drag" is unknown, but it may have originated in Polari, a gay street argot in England in the early...
- Comes sweeping into view
- As ugly as a teenage millionaire
- Pretending it’s a whiz-kid world
Packaging
The cover artwork of Scary Monsters features Bowie in the PierrotPierrot
Pierrot is a stock character of pantomime and Commedia dell'Arte whose origins are in the late 17th-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne; the name is a hypocorism of Pierre , via the suffix -ot. His character in postmodern popular culture—in...
costume worn in the "Ashes to Ashes" music video, rendered in a combination of Brian Duffy's photographs and a painting by Edward Bell
Edward Bell (artist)
Edward Bell studied art at Brighton College of Art, graphic design at Chelsea School of Art and photography at the Royal College of Art. He worked as a freelance photographer and illustrator for Vogue, Tatler and Elle magazines. He was commissioned for portraits for album covers for David Bowie ...
. The original vinyl album
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
's rear sleeve referred to four earlier albums, namely the immediately preceding 'Berlin Trilogy' and 1973's Aladdin Sane
Aladdin Sane
Aladdin Sane is the sixth album by David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1973 . The follow-up to his breakthrough The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, it was the first album Bowie wrote and released as a bona fide rock star...
, the latter also having been designed and photographed by Duffy. The cover images from Low, "Heroes", and Lodger—the last showing Bowie's torso superimposed on the figure from Aladdin Sanes inside gatefold picture—were portrayed in small frames to the left of the track listing. Their whitewash
Whitewash
Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a very low-cost type of paint made from slaked lime and chalk . Various other additives are also used...
ed look was reportedly designed "to symbolise the discarding of Bowie's old personae." These images were not reproduced on 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:...
reissue in 1992, but were restored for EMI
EMI
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...
/Virgin
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
's 1999 remastered edition.
Singles and additional tracks
Following the release of "Ashes to Ashes" in August 1980, prior to the album, and "Fashion" in October, the title track was issued as a single in January 1981 in both vinyl recordGramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
and compact cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
form. The album's final single, "Up the Hill Backwards
Up the Hill Backwards
"Up the Hill Backwards" is a song from David Bowie's 1980 album Scary Monsters . It was also issued as the fourth and final single from the album in March 1981...
", was released in March of that year. Other songs from this period, released on CD by Rykodisc, included both sides of the single "Alabama Song" b/w "Space Oddity", the latter a stark remake that debuted New Year’s Eve 1979 on The Kenny Everett Video Show and served as a "ritualistic purification" of Bowie’s most famous number prior to its demolition with "Ashes to Ashes"; "Crystal Japan
Crystal Japan
"Crystal Japan" is an instrumental piece written by David Bowie and released as a single in Japan in 1980. It was recorded in 1979 and used in a Japanese commercial for the sake Crystal Jun Rock, which also featured an appearance by Bowie, although the composer said at the time that the track was...
", B-side of "Up the Hill Backwards" in the UK and an A-side b/w "Alabama Song" in Japan, where it was also used for a Sake commercial; and a new version of Aladdin Sane’s "Panic in Detroit
Panic in Detroit
"Panic in Detroit" is a song written by David Bowie for the album Aladdin Sane in 1973. Bowie based it on friend Iggy Pop's descriptions of revolutionaries he had known as a youth in Michigan. It is also interpreted as being written about the 1967 Detroit riots...
".
Release and aftermath
RCA released Scary Monsters in September 1980 with the promo line "Often Copied, Never Equalled", seen as a direct reference to the New Wave acts Bowie had inspired over the years. It was highly praised by critics, Record MirrorRecord Mirror
Record Mirror was a British weekly pop music newspaper, founded by Isadore Green and featured, news articles, interviews, record charts, record reviews, concert reviews, letters from readers and photographs. The paper became respected by both mainstream pop music fans and serious record collectors...
giving it a rating of seven stars out of five, while 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...
called it "an eerily impressive stride into the '80s" and Billboard reported that it "should be the most accessible and commercially successful Bowie LP in years". The album's #1 placing in the UK charts was Bowie's first since Diamond Dogs in 1974, while its U.S. peak of #12 was his highest stateside showing since Low almost four years earlier.
Despite the worldwide megastardom and commercial success that Bowie would achieve in coming years, most notably with his next studio album Let's Dance in 1983, many commentators consider Scary Monsters to be "his last great album", the "benchmark" for each new release. Well-regarded later efforts such as Black Tie White Noise
Black Tie White Noise
Black Tie White Noise is an album by David Bowie. Released in 1993, it was his first solo release in the 1990s after spending time with his hard rock band Tin Machine, retiring his old hits on his Sound+Vision Tour, and marrying supermodel Iman Abdulmajid. This album featured his old guitarist from...
, Earthling
Earthling (album)
Earthling is an album by David Bowie released in February 1997 via BMG. The album showcases an electronica-influenced sound partly inspired by the Industrial and drum and bass culture of the 1990s.-Album background and development:...
, Heathen and Reality were cited as "the best album since Scary Monsters." In the latest edition of his musical biography of the singer, Strange Fascination, David Buckley suggested that "Bowie should pre-emptively sticker up his next album 'Best Since Scary Monsters and have done with it".
In 2000 Q magazine ranked Scary Monsters at #30 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2002 Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
placed it #93 in its Top 100 Albums of the 1980s.
Track listing
All songs 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...
except where noted.
Side one
- "It's No Game (No. 1)" – 4:15
- "Up the Hill BackwardsUp the Hill Backwards"Up the Hill Backwards" is a song from David Bowie's 1980 album Scary Monsters . It was also issued as the fourth and final single from the album in March 1981...
" – 3:13 - "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (song)"Scary Monsters " is the title track from David Bowie's 1980 album Scary Monsters . It was also issued as the third single from that album in January 1981...
" – 5:10 - "Ashes to AshesAshes to Ashes (David Bowie song)"Ashes to Ashes" is a single by David Bowie, released in 1980. It made #1 in the UK and was the first cut from the Scary Monsters album, also a #1 hit. As well as its musical qualities, it is noted for its innovative video, directed by Bowie and David Mallet...
" – 4:23 - "Fashion" – 4:46
Side two
- "Teenage WildlifeTeenage Wildlife"Teenage Wildlife" is a song written by David Bowie in 1980 for the album Scary Monsters . Running at almost seven minutes, the song was the longest track on Scary Monsters, and Bowie's longest composition since "Station to Station" four years prior in 1976.Aside from "Ashes to Ashes", "Teenage...
" – 6:51 - "Scream Like a BabyScream Like a Baby"Scream Like a Baby" is a song written by David Bowie that appears on the 1980 album Scary Monsters .-Music and lyrics:The song focusses on a protagonist called Sam who is evidently being held, along with the track's narrator, in a political prison...
" – 3:35 - "Kingdom ComeKingdom Come (song)"Kingdom Come" is a song written and performed by Tom Verlaine in 1979 for his debut album Tom Verlaine.-David Bowie cover:David Bowie recorded a version of the song for his Scary Monsters album in 1980...
" (Tom VerlaineTom VerlaineTom Verlaine is a singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the frontman for the New York rock band Television.-Biography:...
) – 3:42 - "Because You're YoungBecause You're Young"Because You're Young" is a song written by David Bowie in 1980 for the album Scary Monsters . The song features The Who's Pete Townshend on guitar.-Other releases:...
" – 4:51 - "It's No Game (No. 2)" – 4:22
Reissues
The album has been rereleased four times to date on CD, the first being in 1984 by RCA, the second in 1992 by RykodiscRykodisc
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:...
(containing four bonus tracks), the third in 1999 by EMI
EMI
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) and the last in 2003 by EMI as a SACD
Super Audio CD
Super Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard...
(Super Audio Compact Disc).
1992 reissue bonus tracks
- "Space Oddity" (single B-sideA-side and B-sideA-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
, re-recorded acoustic version 1979) – 4:47 - "Panic in DetroitPanic in Detroit"Panic in Detroit" is a song written by David Bowie for the album Aladdin Sane in 1973. Bowie based it on friend Iggy Pop's descriptions of revolutionaries he had known as a youth in Michigan. It is also interpreted as being written about the 1967 Detroit riots...
" (re-recorded version 1979, previously unreleased) – 3:00 - "Crystal JapanCrystal Japan"Crystal Japan" is an instrumental piece written by David Bowie and released as a single in Japan in 1980. It was recorded in 1979 and used in a Japanese commercial for the sake Crystal Jun Rock, which also featured an appearance by Bowie, although the composer said at the time that the track was...
" (Japanese single A-side 1979) – 3:08 - "Alabama SongAlabama SongThe "Alabama Song" was originally published in Bertolt Brecht's Hauspostille . It was set to music by Kurt Weill for the 1927 "Songspiel" Mahagonny and used again in Weill's and Brecht's 1930 opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny...
" (Bertolt BrechtBertolt BrechtBertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
, Kurt WeillKurt WeillKurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
) (UK single A-side, recorded 1978) – 3:51
Personnel
- David BowieDavid BowieDavid 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...
– vocals, keyboards, backing vocals, 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... - 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 - 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 - 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...
– guitars
Additional musicians
- Chuck HammerChuck HammerChuck Hammer is an American guitarist and Emmy nominated digital film composer, known for seminal guitar-synth with Lou Reed, David Bowie, and Guitarchitecture....
– guitar synthesizer on "Ashes to Ashes" and "Teenage Wildlife" - Robert FrippRobert FrippRobert 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...
– guitar on "Fashion", "It's No Game", "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)", "Kingdom Come", "Up the Hill Backwards" and "Teenage Wildlife" - Roy BittanRoy BittanRoy Bittan is an American keyboardist, best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, which he joined on August 23, 1974...
– piano on "Teenage Wildlife", "Ashes to Ashes" and "Up the Hill Backwards" - Andy ClarkAndy Clark (musician)Andrew Clark is an English rock composer and performer who is best known for his work on keyboards and synthesizer in the 1970s, playing and recording alongside Mick Hutchinson, in Clark Hutchinson, alongside Jeff Beck with his involvement in Upp and on the album Wired, and alongside guitarist...
– synthesiser on "Fashion", "Scream Like a Baby", "Ashes to Ashes" and "Because You're Young" - Pete TownshendPete TownshendPeter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
– guitar on "Because You're Young" - 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...
– acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
on "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" and "Up the Hill Backwards", backing vocals - Lynn Maitland – backing vocals
- Chris Porter – backing vocals
- Michi Hirota – voiceHuman voiceThe human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...
on "It's No Game (No. 1)"
Production
- David Bowie, Tony Visconti – production and engineeringAudio 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...
- Larry Alexander, Jeff Hendrickson – engineering assistance
- Peter Mew, Nigel Reeve – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Australian Kent Music Report Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998... Albums Chart |
1 |
| 1980 | 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... |
1 |
| 1980 | Billboard Pop Albums | 12 |
| 1980 | Norway Albums Chart | 3 |
| 1980 | Austrian Albums Chart | 20 |
| 1980 | Swedish Albums Chart | 4 |
Single
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | "Ashes to Ashes" | 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 ... |
1 |
| 1980 | "Ashes to Ashes" | Australia | 3 |
| 1980 | "Ashes to Ashes" | Norway | 3 |
| 1980 | "Ashes to Ashes" | Billboard Pop Singles | 101 |
| 1980 | "Fashion" | UK Singles Chart | 5 |
| 1980 | "Fashion" | Billboard Pop Singles | 70 |
| 1980 | "Fashion" | Norway | 9 |
| 1981 | "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" | UK Singles Chart | 20 |
| 1981 | "Up the Hill Backwards" | UK Singles Chart | 32 |
Certifications
| Organization | Level | Date |
|---|---|---|
| BPI – UK | Gold | 17 September 1980 |