Blue Jean

"Blue Jean"
Single by David Bowie
from the album Tonight
B-side "Dancing with the Big Boys"
Released 1 September 1984
Format
Recorded Le Studio, Morin-Heights, Quebec, Canada, May 1984
Genre
Length 3:08
Label EMI America – EA181
Songwriter(s) David Bowie
Producer(s)
David Bowie singles chronology
"White Light/White Heat"
(1983)		 "Blue Jean"
(1984)		 "Tonight"
(1984)

"Blue Jean" is a song written and recorded by David Bowie for his sixteenth studio album Tonight. One of only two tracks on the album to be written entirely by Bowie, it was released as a single ahead of the album and charted within the Top 10 in the UK and the United States, peaking at No. 6 and No. 8, respectively. The song is loosely inspired by Eddie Cochran.[2]

Following the commercial success of Bowie's previous album, Let's Dance, its singles and the Serious Moonlight Tour, "Blue Jean" was launched with a 21-minute short film, Jazzin' for Blue Jean, directed by Julien Temple.[2] The song performance segment from this was also used as a more conventional music video. The film won the 1985 Grammy Award for "Best Video, Short form", later renamed "Best Music Video", which proved to be the only competitive Grammy Award Bowie won during his lifetime for over three decades, although Bowie posthumously won four Grammies for his album Blackstar (2016).[3]

"Blue Jean" would remain in Bowie's live repertoire for the rest of his career, being performed on his Glass Spider Tour (1987), Sound+Vision Tour (1990) and A Reality Tour (2004).

Composition

Interviewed in 1987 and asked to compare a track like "Time Will Crawl" to "Blue Jean," Bowie said "'Blue Jean' is a piece of sexist rock 'n roll. [laughs] It's about picking up birds. It's not very cerebral, that piece."[4] BBC reviewer Chris Jones criticised the song in his appraisal of Best of Bowie in 2002, arguing "'Blue Jean' barely exists, so formulaic is it."[5]

Track listing

7": EMI America / EA 181 (UK)

  1. "Blue Jean" – 3:08
  2. "Dancing with the Big Boys" – 3:32
  • Some versions of the 7" single were released on blue vinyl

12": EMI America / 12EA 181 (UK)

  1. "Blue Jean" (Extended Dance Mix) – 5:15
  2. "Dancing with the Big Boys" (Extended Dance Mix) – 7:28
  3. "Dancing with the Big Boys" (Extended Dub Mix) – 7:15

Personnel

Production team

Other releases

The cover of the VHS single release of "Jazzin' for Blue Jean".
The VHS single cover

Video versions

There are 3 versions of the video:

  1. The full 21-minute version entitled Jazzin' for Blue Jean
  2. The 3-minute version of the performance of the title track, edited from the full Jazzin' for Blue Jean video. The video is available to download for the Xbox 360 karaoke game Lips.
  3. An alternate version recorded for MTV in England that has no relation to the other videos. This alternate version was not popularly available until the DVD release of Best of Bowie in 2002.

Cover versions

Chart performance

Chart (1984) Peak
position
Australian Kent Report Singles Chart[6] 12
Austrian Singles Chart 16
Canadian Singles Chart[7] 6
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[8] 11
French Singles Chart 22
German Singles Chart 21
Irish Singles Chart 3
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[9] 7
Norwegian Singles Chart 3
Poland (LP3)[10] 9
Swedish Singles Chart 5
Spain (Los 40 Principales)[11] 1
Swiss Singles Chart 14
UK Singles Chart 6
US Billboard Hot 100 8

Certifications

Country/Region Sales Certification
Canada >40,000 Gold[12]

References

  • Pegg, Nicholas, The Complete David Bowie, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2000, ISBN 1-903111-14-5
  1. ↑ Inskeep, Thomas (2005-07-12). "On Second Thought: David Bowie - Tonight". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  2. 1 2 Murray, Charles Shaar (25 October 1984), "Let's Talk, A Conversation with David Bowie", Rolling Stone magazine (433): 14, 18, 74
  3. ↑ http://video.canoe.com/archive/david-bowie-won-5x-more-grammys-in-1-night-than-in-50-year-career/5321106970001
  4. ↑ "David Bowie - The Interview" 1987, EMI America (Album) Track 24
  5. ↑ Jones, Chris. "David Bowie Best Of Review". BBC. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  6. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  7. ↑ Library and Archives Canada: Top Singles, 27 October 1984, retrieved 12 February 2016
  8. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava.
  9. ↑ "Charts.nz – David Bowie – Blue Jean". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  10. ↑ "BLUE JEAN – David Bowie" (in Polish). LP3. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  11. ↑ "LOS 40 PRINCIPALES Y M80 RADIO OFRECEN HOY UNA PROGRAMACIÓN ESPECIAL EN HOMENAJE A DAVID BOWIE". Los 40 Principales (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  12. ↑ "Gold/Platinum - Music Canada". Music Canada. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
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