Pin Ups

Pin Ups
yes
Studio album by David Bowie
Released 19 October 1973 (1973-10-19)
Recorded 8 July – August 1973[1]
Studio Château d'Hérouville, Hérouville, France
Genre
Length 33:42
Label RCA
Producer
David Bowie chronology
Aladdin Sane
(1973)Aladdin Sane1973		 Pin Ups
(1973)		 Diamond Dogs
(1974)Diamond Dogs1974
Singles from Pin Ups
  1. "Sorrow"
    Released: 28 September 1973
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[5]
MusicHound3/5[6]
Pitchfork5.9/10[7]
Robert ChristgauB–[8]
Rolling Stoneunfavourable[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]
Select[11]

Pin Ups (also referred to as PinUps) is the seventh studio album by David Bowie, containing cover versions of songs, released in 1973 on RCA Records.

Pin Ups entered the UK chart on 3 November 1973 (coincidentally the same day as Bryan Ferry's covers album These Foolish Things) and stayed there for 21 weeks, peaking at No. 1. It re-entered the chart on 30 April 1983, this time for fifteen weeks, peaking at No. 57. In July 1990, it again entered the chart, for one week, at No. 52.

A version of The Velvet Underground's "White Light/White Heat" was recorded during the sessions. It was never released; Bowie donated the backing track to Mick Ronson for his 1975 album Play Don't Worry.

Concept

According to co-producer Ken Scott, the LP was originally conceived as "a complete opposite of [Bowie's] other albums", consisting of all cover songs except one original composition, and mainly turned towards the US market since "he wanted to do songs that weren't known as well in the States as they were in England", yet eventually the plan was dropped.[12] Pin Ups was the first of two "1960s nostalgia" albums that Bowie had planned to release. The second, which was planned to be called "Bowie-ing Out," would have contained Bowie covering his favourite American artists, but was never recorded.[13] Bowie also apparently considered making a Pin Ups sequel: he had compiled a list of songs he wanted to cover, some of which showed up on his later releases of Heathen (2002) and Reality (2003).[14]

In the album booklet, Bowie, writing in his own hand,[15] describes Pin Ups as:

These songs are among my favourites from the '64–67' period of London. / Most of the groups were playing the Ricky-Tick (was it a 'y' or an 'i'?) -Scene club circuit (Marquee, eel pie island la-la). / Some are still with us. / Pretty Things, Them, Yardbirds, Syd's Pink Floyd, Mojos, Who, Easybeats, Merseys, The Kinks. / Love-on ya!

Cover

The woman on the cover with Bowie is 1960s supermodel Twiggy in a photograph taken by her then-manager Justin de Villeneuve.[16] It was shot in Paris for Vogue magazine, but at Bowie's request was used for the album instead.[16]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Rosalyn" (Originally recorded by The Pretty Things)Jimmy Duncan, Bill Farley2:27
2."Here Comes the Night" (Notably recorded by Them)Bert Berns3:09
3."I Wish You Would" (Notably recorded by The Yardbirds)Billy Boy Arnold2:40
4."See Emily Play" (Originally recorded by Pink Floyd)Syd Barrett4:03
5."Everything's Alright" (Originally recorded by The Mojos)Nicky Crouch, John Konrad, Simon Stavely, Stuart James, Keith Karlson2:26
6."I Can't Explain" (Originally recorded by The Who)Pete Townshend2:07
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Friday on My Mind" (Originally recorded by The Easybeats)George Young, Harry Vanda3:18
8."Sorrow" (Notably recorded by The Merseys)Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein, Richard Gottehrer2:48
9."Don't Bring Me Down" (Originally recorded by The Pretty Things)Johnnie Dee2:01
10."Shapes of Things" (Originally recorded by The Yardbirds)Paul Samwell-Smith, Jim McCarty, Keith Relf2:47
11."Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" (Originally recorded by The Who)Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend3:04
12."Where Have All the Good Times Gone" (Originally recorded by The Kinks)Ray Davies2:35
Bonus Tracks (1990 Rykodisc/EMI)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Growin' Up" (Previously unreleased; from the early Diamond Dogs sessions. Originally recorded by Bruce Springsteen)Bruce Springsteen3:26
2."Port of Amsterdam" (B-side of the Sorrow single; originally recorded in French by Jacques Brel, English translation by Mort Shuman)Jacques Brel, Mort Shuman3:19

Personnel

Additional personnel

Production personnel

  • David Bowie – producer
  • Ken Scott – producer
  • Dennis MacKay – engineer
  • Dr. Toby Mountain – mastering engineer (1990)
  • Jonathan Wyner – mastering assistant (1990)
  • Peter Mew – mastering engineer (1999)
  • Nigel Reeve – mastering engineer (1999)

Charts

Album

Year Chart Peak position
1973 Finnish album Charts 1
1973 UK Album Charts 1[18]
1973 Billboard Pop Albums 23[19]
1973 Norwegian album Charts 8
1973 Australian Kent Report album Charts 4

Single

Year Single Chart Peak position
1973 "Sorrow" UK Singles Chart 3[18]

Certifications and sales

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
France (SNEP)[20] 131,000 [21]*
United Kingdom (BPI)[22] Gold 100,000^


References

  1. ↑ Thompson, Dave (2006). Hallo Spaceboy: The Rebirth of David Bowie. ECW Press. p. 313. ISBN 9781550227338.
  2. ↑ Perrone, Pierre (16 August 2013). "Cover albums: The best and worst releases in the genre". The Independent. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  3. ↑ Lariviere, Aaron. "David Bowie Albums From Worst To Best: Pin Ups". Stereogum. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  4. ↑ Eder, Bruce. "allmusic ((( Pin Ups > Review )))". allmusic. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
  5. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press.
  6. ↑ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 151. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
  7. ↑ Wolk, Douglas (1 October 2015). "David Bowie: Five Years 1969–1973". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  8. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "David Bowie". Creem. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
  9. ↑ Shaw, Greg (19 July 1973). "Pin Ups". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  10. ↑ "David Bowie: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on 30 May 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  11. ↑ Griffiths, Nick (August 1990). "Stardust Memories". Select. p. 116. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  12. ↑ Scott, Ken (2012), Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust: Off-the-record with The Beatles, Bowie, Elton, and so much more. (1st ed.), Alfred Music Publishing Co.
  13. ↑ Kamp, Thomas (1985), David Bowie: The Wild-Eyed Boy 1964–1984 (1st ed.), O'Sullivan, Woodside & Co.
  14. ↑ Buskin, Richard (October 2003), "David Bowie & Tony Visconti Recording Reality", Sound on Sound, retrieved 30 July 2013
  15. ↑ "Image". Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  16. 1 2 Phillips, Sarah (16 May 2012). "Justin de Villeneuve's best photograph: David Bowie and Twiggy". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  17. 1 2 3 "allmusic ((( Pin Ups > Credits )))". allmusic. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
  18. 1 2 "UK Top 40 Hit Database". Retrieved 15 July 2008.
  19. ↑ "allmusic ((( Pin Ups > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
  20. ↑ "French album certifications – David Bowie – Pin Ups" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  21. ↑ Lesueur, InfoDisc, Daniel Lesueur, Dominic Durand,. "InfoDisc : Les Meilleurs Ventes d'Albums "Tout Temps" (33 T. / Cd / Téléchargement)". infodisc.fr. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  22. ↑ "British album certifications – David Bowie – Pin Ups". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Pin Ups in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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