Boys Keep Swinging

"Boys Keep Swinging" is a single by David Bowie, originally released of his album Lodger in the UK on 27 April 1979.

About the song
The song was recorded during the Lodger sessions with Bowie wanting 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".

"Boys Keep Swinging" has exactly the same chord sequence as "Fantastic Voyage", from the same album - Fantastic Voyage was the B-side to the single release of Boys Keep Swinging. The lyrics of Boys Keep Swinging 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, such as:

"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". Bowie would perform the track on Saturday Night Live in April 1979, joined by Klaus Nomi as backing singer, (during which NBC censors muted the "other boys check you out" line).

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

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

Production credits

 * Record_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 and Vision (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
Blur's 1997 track "M.O.R." heavily borrowed the rhythm and harmonic structure of the song, and after legal intervention, was credited to "Blur/Bowie/Eno".
 * A Camp - 'Colonia' (Feb 2009)/'Love Has left The Room' (EP) (May 2009)
 * AFX - Ashes to Ashes: A Tribute to David Bowie (1998)
 * Aspyg - Spiders from Venus: Indie Women Artists and Female-Fronted Bands Cover David Bowie (2003)
 * 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). This version is included on Starman: Rare and Exclusive Versions of 18 Classic David Bowie Songs, CD premium from the March 2003 issue of Uncut magazine.
 * The Dambuilders - Crash Course for the Ravers - A Tribute to the Songs of David Bowie (1996)
 * 88's
 * The Gay Sportscasters - Only Bowie (1995)
 * Lorette Velvette - Lost Part Of Me (1997)
 * Mr Russia - .2 Contamination: A Tribute to David Bowie (2006)
 * The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower - INRI (2006)
 * Sarah Harding - St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold (Original Soundtrack) (2009)
 * Screamfeeder - Home Age (1999)
 * Shihad - Single
 * Slinky Vagabond - Hero: The Main Man Records Tribute to David Bowie (2007)
 * Susanna Hoffs - When You're a Boy (1991) and David Bowie Songbook