Blue Jean

This article is about the David Bowie song. For the trousers, see jeans. For the bird, see Blue-gray 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

Released

September 1984

Format

7"/12" single

Recorded

Le Studio, Morin Heights, Quebec, May 1984

Genre

Rock
pop^[1]

Length

3:08

EMI America - EA181

David Bowie
Hugh Padgham
Derek Bramble

David Bowie singles chronology

7" Single Cover
"White Light/White Heat" (1983)	"Blue Jean" (1984)	"Tonight" (1984)

7" Blue Vinyl Pressing

Music video
"Blue Jean" on YouTube "Blue Jean" (alternate ver. for MTV) on YouTube

"Blue Jean" is a song written and recorded by David Bowie for the 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 in the Top Ten in the UK and the United States, reaching 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 Bowie's only competitive Grammy Award during his career.

The song would remain in Bowie's live repertoire for the rest of his career, being performed on tours in 1987, 1990 and 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."^[3] 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."^[4]

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.

Production credits

Producers

David Bowie

Musicians

David Bowie: Vocals
Carlos Alomar: Guitar
Carmine Rojas: Bass Guitar, Keyboards
Omar Hakim: Drums
Lenny Pickett: Tenor Sax, Bass Clarinet
Stanley Harrison: Alto Sax
Steve Elson: Baritone Sax
Guy St. Onge: Marimba
Sammy Figueroa: Percussion

Other releases

It appears on the following compilations:
- Changesbowie (1990)
- Bowie: The Singles 1969-1993 (1993)
- The Singles Collection (1993)
- Best of Bowie (2002)
- The Platinum Collection (2005)
- The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987 (2007)
- Nothing Has Changed (2014)

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:

The full 21-minute version entitled Jazzin' for Blue Jean
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.
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

Example 2 - Ashes to Ashes: A Tribute to David Bowie (1998)
Gallery of Fear - The Dark Side of David Bowie: A Tribute to David Bowie (1997)
Pennywise
Trench - Hero: The Main Man Records Tribute to David Bowie (2007)
Papercranes - We Were So Turned On: A Tribute to David Bowie (2010)

Charts

Chart (1984)	Peak position
Australian Kent Report Singles Chart	12
Austrian Singles Chart	16
Canadian Singles Chart	6^[5]
French Singles Chart	22
German Singles Chart	21
Irish Singles Chart	3
Norwegian Singles Chart	3
Swedish Singles Chart	5
Swiss Singles Chart	14
UK Singles Chart	6
US Billboard Hot 100	8

References

↑ Inskeep, Thomas (2005-07-12). "On Second Thought: David Bowie - Tonight". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
1 2 Murray, Charles Shaar (25 October 1984), "Let's Talk, A Conversation with David Bowie", Rolling Stone magazine (433): 14, 18, 74
↑ "David Bowie - The Interview" 1987, EMI America (Album) Track 24
↑ Jones, Chris. "David Bowie Best Of Review". BBC. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
↑ Library and Archives Canada: Top Singles, 27 October 1984, retrieved 12 February 2016

Pegg, Nicholas, The Complete David Bowie, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2000, ISBN 1-903111-14-5

External links

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

David Bowie singles

1960s

1964	"Liza Jane"

1965	"I Pity the Fool" "You've Got a Habit of Leaving"

1966	"Can't Help Thinking About Me" "Do Anything You Say" "I Dig Everything" "Rubber Band"

1967	"The Laughing Gnome" "Love You till Tuesday"

1969	"Space Oddity" "Ragazzo solo, ragazza sola"

1970s

1970	"The Prettiest Star" "Memory of a Free Festival"

1971	"Holy Holy" "Moonage Daydream" "Hang On to Yourself"

1972	"Changes" "Starman" "John, I'm Only Dancing" "The Jean Genie"

1973	"Drive-In Saturday" "Time" "Life on Mars" "Let's Spend the Night Together" "Sorrow"

1974	"Rebel Rebel" "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" "Diamond Dogs" "Knock on Wood" "Rock 'n' Roll with Me"

1975	"Young Americans" "Fame" "Golden Years"

1976	"TVC 15" "Suffragette City" "Stay"

1977	"Sound and Vision" "Be My Wife" "'Heroes'"

1978	"Beauty and the Beast" "Breaking Glass"

1979	"Boys Keep Swinging" "DJ" "Yassassin" "Look Back in Anger" "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)"

1980s

1980	"Alabama Song" "Crystal Japan" "Ashes to Ashes" "Fashion"

1981	"Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)" "Up the Hill Backwards" "Under Pressure" "Wild Is the Wind" "The Drowned Girl"

1982	"Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy"

1983	"Let's Dance" "China Girl" "Modern Love" "Without You" "White Light/White Heat"

1984	"Blue Jean" "Tonight"

1985	"This Is Not America" "Loving the Alien" "Dancing in the Street"

1986	"Absolute Beginners" "Underground" "As the World Falls Down" "Magic Dance" "When the Wind Blows"

1987	"Day-In Day-Out" "Time Will Crawl" "Never Let Me Down"

1989	"Under the God" "Heaven's in Here" "Tin Machine" / "Maggie's Farm (live)" "Prisoner of Love"

1990s

1990	"Fame '90"

1991	"You Belong in Rock n' Roll" "Baby Universal" "One Shot"

1992	"Real Cool World"

1993	"Jump They Say" "Black Tie White Noise" "Miracle Goodnight" "The Buddha of Suburbia"

1994	"Ziggy Stardust"

1995	"The Hearts Filthy Lesson" "Strangers When We Meet" / "The Man Who Sold the World (live)"

1996	"Hallo Spaceboy" "Telling Lies"

1997	"Little Wonder" "Dead Man Walking" "Seven Years in Tibet" "Pallas Athena" "I'm Afraid of Americans" "I Can't Read"

1999	"Without You I'm Nothing" "Thursday's Child" "The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell"

2000s

2000	"Survive" "Seven"

2002	"Slow Burn" "Everyone Says 'Hi'" "I've Been Waiting for You" "Shadow Man"

2003	"New Killer Star" "Just for One Day (Heroes)"

2004	"Never Get Old" "Rebel Never Gets Old"

2006	"Arnold Layne" (David Gilmour version)

2010s

2011	"Golden Years - David Bowie vs KCRW"

2013	"Where Are We Now?" "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" "The Next Day" "Valentine's Day" "Love Is Lost"

2014	"'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)"

2015	"Blackstar" "Lazarus"

2016	"I Can't Give Everything Away"

Discography
Book:David Bowie Book:Bowie singles and songs
Category:David Bowie

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