Actors - Boys Keep Swinging

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	Actors - Boys Keep Swinging

”Boys Keep Swinging” was a single by David Bowie. It previewed his album Lodger
in the UK, being released on 27 April 1979.

During the Lodger
sessions Bowie had wanted to capture a garage band style for the track, and decided the best way to achieve this sound was to get the band to swap instruments. Guitarist Carlos Alomar played drums and drummer Dennis Davis played bass. The final result had a post punk feel. Bowie later described the intention to suggest “young kids in the basement just discovering their instruments”.

The lyrics satirise machismo, something reinforced by the butch voice adopted by Bowie for the song, and several lines that recall the gender-bending of Bowie’s glam era, most notably: -

“When you’re a boy, other boys check you out”

When this was combined with David Mallet’s video, which featured a suited Bowie backed by three backing vocalists who were revealed to be the singer in drag, RCA decided against releasing the single in the US, choosing “Look Back in Anger” instead, though Bowie would perform the track on Saturday Night Live
in April 1979 (during which NBC censors muted the "other boys check you out" line). In Turkey, largely due to an attempt to cash in on the use of a Turkish-language title, “Yassassin” was issued as the first single from Lodger
.

The song reached #7 in the UK, returning Bowie to the top 10 of the Singles chart for the first time since “Sound and Vision” in February 1977. It has only been performed on one Bowie tour to date, the 1995 Outside Tour.

Track listing

# "Boys Keep Swinging" (Bowie, Eno) – 3:17 # "Fantastic Voyage” (Bowie) – 2:55

Production credits

Producers:
* Tony Visconti
* David Bowie

Musicians:
* David Bowie
: Vocals, Guitar on “Boys Keep Swinging”, Piano on “Fantastic Voyage”
* Adrian Belew: Guitar on “Boys Keep Swinging”, Mandolin on “Fantastic Voyage”
* Dennis Davis
: Bass on “Boys Keep Swinging”, Percussion on “Fantastic Voyage”
* Tony Visconti: Bass on “Boys Keep Swinging”, Backing vocals, Mandolin on “Fantastic Voyage”
* Carlos Alomar: Drums on “Boys Keep Swinging”
* Brian Eno: Piano on “Boys Keep Swinging”, Ambient Drone on “Fantastic Voyage”
* Simon House: Violin on “Boys Keep Swinging”, Mandolin on “Fantastic Voyage”
* Sean Mayes: Piano on “Fantastic Voyage”

Other releases

It appeared on the following compilations:
* Chameleon (Australia/New Zealand 1979)
* Best of Bowie (1980)
* Christiane F. soundtrack (1982)
* Sound + Vision box set (1989)
* Bowie: The Singles 1969-1993 (1993)
* The Singles Collection (1993)
* The Best of 1974/1979 (1998)
It was released as a picture disc in the Fashions Picture Disc Set.

Cover versions

AFX - Ashes to Ashes: A Tribute to David Bowie (1998)
The Associates - It was released as a single in 1979 without copyright permission as a publicity stunt (it worked, the band landing a record deal soon afterwards).
The Dambuilders - Crash Course for the Ravers - A Tribute to the Songs of David Bowie (1996)
88's
The Gay Sportscasters - Only Bowie (1995)
Susanna Hoffs
- When You're a Boy (1991) and David Bowie Songbook
Screamfeeders - Home Age (1999)
Shihad - Single.

Blur’s 1997 track “M.O.R.” heavily borrowed the rhythm of the song, too, and after legal intervention, was credited to “Blur/Bowie/Eno”.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Boys Keep Swinging ]

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