"Blue Jean" is a song written and recorded by the English singer-songwriter

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

for his sixteenth studio album ''

Tonight Tonight may refer to: Television * ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC * ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...

'' (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 in the United States, peaking at No. 8, becoming his 5th and last top 10 hit with no features. The song is loosely inspired by

Eddie Cochran Ray Edward Cochran ( ; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. His songs, such as " Twenty Flight Rock", " Summertime Blues", " C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire in ...

Composition and reception

Interviewed in 1987 and asked to compare a track like "

Time Will Crawl "Time Will Crawl" is a song recorded by the English singer David Bowie, serving as the second single for his seventeenth album, ''Never Let Me Down'' (1987). It was written by Bowie and produced by him and David Richards (record producer), Dav ...

" to "Blue Jean," Bowie said "'Blue Jean' is a piece of sexist rock 'n roll. aughsIt's about picking up birds. It's not very cerebral, that piece.""David Bowie – The Interview" 1987, EMI America (Album) Track 24

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

reviewer Chris Jones criticised the song in his appraisal of ''

Best of Bowie ''Best of Bowie'' is a greatest hits album by English recording artist David Bowie. Released in October 2002, four months after the critical and commercial success of the '' Heathen'' album, the songs range from his second album, ''David Bowi ...

'' in 2002, arguing "'Blue Jean' barely exists, so formulaic is it." 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."Chris O'Leary (2019). ''Ashes to Ashes: The Songs of David Bowie, 1976–2016'': p. 207 ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that it "features the dynamics of classic Bowie which range from the smooth and sultry verse to the exploding chorus."

Promotion

Following the commercial success of Bowie's previous album, '' Let's Dance'', its singles and the

Serious Moonlight Tour The Serious Moonlight Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the English musician David Bowie, launched in May 1983 in support of his album '' Let's Dance'' (1983). The tour opened at the Vorst Forest Nationaal, Brussels, on 18 May 1983 and ended ...

, "Blue Jean" was launched with a 21-minute short film, '' Jazzin' for Blue Jean'', directed by

Julien Temple Julien Temple (born 26 November 1953) is a British film, documentary and music video director. He began his career with short films featuring the Sex Pistols, and has continued with various off-beat projects, including ''The Great Rock 'n' Roll ...

. The song performance segment from this was also used as a more conventional music video. The film won the

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for " Best Video, Short Form", later renamed "Best Music Video", which proved to be the only competitive

Bowie won during his lifetime for over three decades, although Bowie posthumously won four Grammys for his album '' Blackstar'' (2016). Two shorter promotional videos of "Blue Jean" also exist: a three-minute version edited from the full ''Jazzin' for Blue Jean'' video and an alternate version recorded for

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

in England that has no relation to the other videos. Both of these videos, plus the original ''Jazzin' for Blue Jean'', are available on the DVD release of ''

'' (2002).

Live performances

"Blue Jean" was part of Bowie's live repertoire for the rest of his career, being performed on his

Glass Spider Tour The Glass Spider Tour was a 1987 worldwide concert tour by the English musician David Bowie, launched in support of his album ''Never Let Me Down'' and named for that album's track "Glass Spider". It began in May 1987 and was preceded by a two ...

(1987), released on the ''

Glass Spider ''Glass Spider'' is a concert film by English singer David Bowie. The release was sourced from eight shows during the first two weeks of November 1987 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in Australia during the last month of the Glass Spider To ...

'' DVD and CD in 1988, the 1990

Sound+Vision Tour In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

and his 2004

A Reality Tour A Reality Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie in support of his 2003 album ''Reality''. The tour began on 7 October 2003 at the Forum Copenhagen, Denmark, continuing through Europe, North America, Asi ...

Other releases

"Blue Jean" has appeared on a variety of compilation albums, including ''

Changesbowie ''Changesbowie'' is a compilation album by English rock musician David Bowie, released by Rykodisc in the US and by EMI in the UK in 1990. The compilation was part of Rykodisc's remastered Bowie reissue series, replacing the deleted RCA Record ...

'' (1990), '' The Singles Collection'' (1993), ''

'' (2002), '' The Platinum Collection'' (2005), ''

The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987 ''The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987'' is a compilation album by English singer-songwriter David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as o ...

'' (2007), ''

Nothing Has Changed ''Nothing Has Changed'' (stylised as ''Nothing has changed.'') is a compilation album by English musician David Bowie. It was released on 18 November 2014 through Parlophone in the United Kingdom, and Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings in t ...

'' (2014) (3-CD and 2-CD editions), and ''

Bowie Legacy ''Legacy (The Very Best of David Bowie)'' (also known as ''Legacy'') is a greatest hits album by English musician David Bowie, released on 11 November 2016 through Sony Music Entertainment in the US and Warner Music Group in the UK and several t ...

'' (2016) (2-CD edition). A remastered version of the song was released on ''

Loving the Alien (1983–1988) ''Loving the Alien (1983–1988)'' is a box set by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, released on 12 October 2018. A follow-up to the compilations '' Five Years (1969–1973)'', '' Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976)'', and '' A New Career in ...

'' (2018).

Track listing

7": EMI America / EA 181 (UK)

# "Blue Jean" – 3:08 # "Dancing with the Big Boys" – 3:32 * Some versions of the 7" single were released on blue vinyl

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

# "Blue Jean" (Extended Dance Mix) – 5:15 # "Dancing with the Big Boys" (Extended Dance Mix) – 7:28 # "Dancing with the Big Boys" (Extended Dub Mix) – 7:15 * "Blue Jean" (Extended Dance Mix) remixed by John "Jellybean" Benitez at Sigma Sound – NYC – Engineer: Jay Mark. * "Dancing with the Big Boys" remixes produced by Arthur Baker.

Personnel

–

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

Carlos Alomar Carlos Alomar (born 7 May 1951) is a Puerto Rican guitarist. He is best known for his work with David Bowie from the mid-1970s to the early 2000s, having played on more Bowie albums than any other musician. History The son of a Pentecostal mi ...

–

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

Carmine Rojas Carmine Rojas (born February 14, 1953) is an American bass guitarist, musical director and composer. His musical styles include rock, R&B, funk, and jazz. Music career Early years, as sideman Born in Brooklyn, Rojas toured the world with David ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

; keyboards *

Omar Hakim Omar Hakim (born February 12, 1959) is an American drummer, producer, arranger and composer. His session work covers jazz, jazz fusion, and pop music. He has worked with Weather Report, David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Chic, Sting, Madonna, Dire S ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Lenny Pickett –

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

;

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common Soprano clarinet, soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays no ...

* Stanley Harrison –

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

* Steve Elson –

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...

* Guy St. Onge –

marimba The marimba ( ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the mari ...

* Curtis King –

* George Simms –

Robin Clark Robin Clark is an American vocalist known for her work as a vocalist on David Bowie's 1975 album ''Young Americans'' and Simple Minds' 1985 album ''Once Upon a Time''. Clark was born in New York. In 1967, when Clark was 17, she and future s ...

–

Sammy Figueroa Sammy Figueroa (born November 16, 1948) is an American percussionist. At 18, he joined the band of bassist Bobby Valentín and also co-led the Brazilian/Latin fusion group Raíces. He is known as an extremely prolific session player, having pl ...

–

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

Production * David Bowie – producer * Derek Bramble – producer *

Hugh Padgham Hugh Charles Padgham (born 15 February 1955) is an English record producer and audio engineer. He has won four Grammy Awards, for Producer of the Year and Album of the Year for 1985, Record of the Year for 1990, and Engineer of the Year for 199 ...

– producer

Charts

Certifications

References

* Pegg, Nicholas, ''The Complete David Bowie'', Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2000, {{authority control 1984 songs 1984 singles British rock-and-roll songs David Bowie songs Songs written by David Bowie Song recordings produced by David Bowie Song recordings produced by Hugh Padgham EMI America Records singles