Blue Jean

"Blue Jean" is a song written and recorded by English singer-songwriter David Bowie for his sixteenth studio album Tonight (1984). 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]

This article is about the David Bowie song. For the trousers, see Jeans. For the bird, see Blue-grey tanager. For the supercomputer architecture, see Blue Gene.

"Blue Jean"
Single by David Bowie
from the album Tonight
B-side"Dancing with the Big Boys"
Released1 September 1984
Format
  • 7"
  • 12"
RecordedMay 1984
StudioLe Studio, Morin-Heights, Quebec, Canada
Genre
Length3:08
LabelEMI America – EA181
Songwriter(s)David Bowie
Producer(s)
David Bowie singles chronology
"White Light/White Heat"
(1983)		 "Blue Jean"
(1984)		 "Tonight"
(1984)

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 and reception

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] More positively, rock commentator Chris O'Leary, while locating "Blue Jean" firmly "in the pastiche lane," has described the song as "clever" and "catchy" and one of Bowie's "best second-rate hits."[6]

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 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[7] 12
Austrian Singles Chart 16
Canadian Singles Chart[8] 6
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[9] 11
French Singles Chart 22
German Singles Chart 21
Irish Singles Chart 3
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[10] 7
Norwegian Singles Chart 3
Poland (LP3)[11] 9
Spain (AFYVE)[12] 3
Spain (Los 40 Principales)[13] 1
Swedish Singles Chart 5
Swiss Singles Chart 14
UK Singles Chart 6
US Billboard Hot 100 8

Certifications
Country/Region Sales Certification
Canada >40,000 Gold[14]

References
  • Pegg, Nicholas, The Complete David Bowie, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2000, ISBN 1-903111-14-5
  1. Inskeep, Thomas (12 July 2005). "On Second Thought: David Bowie - Tonight". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  2. Murray, Charles Shaar (25 October 1984), "Let's Talk, A Conversation with David Bowie", Rolling Stone magazine (433): 14, 18, 74
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  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. Chris O'Leary (2019). Ashes to Ashes: The Songs of David Bowie, 1976-2016: p. 207
  7. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  8. Library and Archives Canada: Top Singles, 27 October 1984, retrieved 12 February 2016
  9. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava.
  10. "Charts.nz – David Bowie – Blue Jean". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  11. "BLUE JEAN – David Bowie" (in Polish). LP3. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  12. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959-2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  13. "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.
  14. "Gold/Platinum - Music Canada". Music Canada. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
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