Suffragette City
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Suffragette City" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by David Bowie | ||
| from the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars | ||
| B-side(s) | Stay | |
| Released | 9 July 1976 | |
| Format | 7" single | |
| Recorded | Trident Studios, London, January 1972 | |
| Genre | Glam Rock | |
| Length | 3:25 | |
| Label | RCA 2726 |
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| Producer(s) | David Bowie, Ken Stott | |
| David Bowie singles chronology | ||
| "TVC 15" 1976 |
"Suffragette City” 1976 |
"Sound and Vision" 1977 |
| The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars track listing | ||
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"Suffragette City" is a single by David Bowie.
Originally recorded towards the end of the Ziggy Stardust sessions, "Suffragette City" is a trademark piece of early 1970s Bowie glam, with a piano riff heavily influenced by Little Richard, a lyrical reference to A Clockwork Orange (the word "droogie") and the sing-a-long hook "Wham bam thank you ma'am!" the song had become a fixture of Bowie’s live shows, and one of his best known album cuts.
The song is about how a man would rather have sexual encounters with women than help his friends. The word "suffragette" is often seen as a pejorative term from its origins in the early twentieth century, separate from the more positive, all-encompassing term "suffragist." In the song, this usage could reflect the singer's attitudes towards women as purely sexual and without any other significant value. Given the context of its original album, this interpretation seems to make sense.
In 1976, it was issued as a single to promote the Changesonebowie compilation in the UK, with the US single edit of "Stay" on the B-side. The single failed to chart.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
- "Suffragette City" (Bowie) – 3:25
- "Stay” (Bowie) – 3:21
[edit] Production credits
- Musicians:
- David Bowie: Vocals, Guitar on "Suffragette City"
- Mick Ronson: Guitar, piano, ARP synthesizer on "Suffragette City"
- Trevor Bolder: Bass on "Suffragette City"
- Mick Woodmansey: Drums on "Suffragette City"
- Carlos Alomar, Earl Slick: Guitar on "Stay"
- George Murray: Bass on "Stay"
- Dennis Davis: Drums on "Stay"
- Roy Bittan: Piano on "Stay"
[edit] Trivia
- Bowie's own style of saxophone playing couldn't produce the raunchy effect he wanted for the song, so an ARP synthesizer was used instead, imitating a saxophone sound.
- Was featured in an episode of "Gilmore Girls" in which Jess and his estranged father listen to it and both mouth the words to the line "Wham, bam, thank you ma'am."
- This song was featured in Driver: Parallel Lines.
[edit] Other releases
- It was released as the B-side of the singles "Starman" in April 1972 and "Young Americans" in February 1975.
- A picture disc release appeared in the RCA Life Time picture disc set.
- It also appeared on the following compilations:
- The Best of David Bowie (Japan 1974)
- ChangesOneBowie (1976)
- Changesbowie (1990)
- Bowie: The Singles 1969-1993 (1993)
- The Singles Collection (1993)
- RarestOneBowie (Japan 1995)
- The Best of 1969/1974 (1997)
[edit] Live versions
- Bowie recorded the song for the BBC radio program "Sounds of the 70s: John Peel", and this was broadcast May 23rd, 1972. In 2000 this recording was released on the Bowie at the Beeb album.
- A live version recorded at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 20 October 1972 was released on Santa Monica '72.
- The version played at the famous concert at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, July 3 1973 was released on Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture.
- A recording from the 1974 tour was released on David Live. This version was also released in the Sound + Vision box set. Another live recording from the 1974 tour was released on the semi-legal A Portrait in Flesh.
[edit] Cover versions
- Mr. Big - Live Recording on "Live at Budokan" (1997)
- Alice in Chains - Sweet Alice (1989)
- Toni Basil - Live At The Roxy
- Big Audio Dynamite - F-Punk (1995)
- Embarrassing Wednesday
- Boo Hoos - Rock For Real
- Boy George - Live in Detroit, Michigan, 1995 and on the album The Unrecoupable One Man Bandit (1999)
- Corpus Delicti - Goth Oddity - A Tribute to David Bowie (1999)
- Duran Duran - Live recording - 1980 Birmingham Christmas Show
- Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Single (1989)
- Golden Delicious - Crash Course for the Ravers - A Tribute to the Songs of David Bowie (1996)
- The Get Up Kids - Eudora (2001)
- The Hooded Crow - Live Recording 4/2/96
- Identity Crisis - Live Recording: At The Nines 4/11/91
- Steve Jones - Fire and Gasoline (1989)
- Seu Jorge recorded a Portuguese version for the film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. (2004)
- Killer Nannies In America - Ashes To Ashes: A Tribute To David Bowie (1998)
- Kyosuke Himuro – Single (1988)
- L.A. Guns – Cuts (1992)
- Hazel O'Connor – Single
- Red Hot Chili Peppers – Single (1996)
- Rose of Victory – Single (1983)
- Andy Taylor – Single
- Turbonegro – Single (1998)
- V.O.A. - Philboard Top 20
- Wakefield - New York Minute soundtrack (2004)
- Wounded Turkey - Only Bowie (1995)
- Nerve Agents - Kill your Idols / Nerve Agents Split
- Storm Large ft. Dave Navarro - Rock Star: Supernova
- Vixen - Live And Learn (2006)
- Aiz Lynch - Upcoming Covers Album (200?)
- Franz Ferdinand & Scissor Sisters V Festival (2005)
- Tara Slone - Just Look Pretty and Sing (2007)
[edit] References
- Pegg, Nicholas, The Complete David Bowie, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2000, ISBN 1-903111-14-5
