| "D.J." | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single byDavid Bowie | ||||
| from the albumLodger | ||||
| B-side | "Repetition" | |||
| Released | 29 June 1979 (1979-6-29) | |||
| Recorded | September 1978; March 1979 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | New wave[1] | |||
| Length |
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| Label | RCA | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) |
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| David Bowie singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "D.J." onYouTube | ||||
"D.J." is a song by English musicianDavid Bowie, released on 29 June 1979 as the secondsingle from his 1979 albumLodger. It was written by Bowie,Brian Eno andCarlos Alomar and recorded inMontreux and New York City in September 1978 and March 1979. A cynical comment on the cult of theDJ, the track includes a guitar solo byAdrian Belew, which was recorded in multiple takes, and then mixed back together for the album track. Bowie mimicsDavid Byrne ofTalking Heads in his vocal performance. Its accompanyingmusic video, directed byDavid Mallet, features Bowie casually walking down London'sEarl's Court Road as passersby recognise him and follow him, interjected with Bowie as the tortured DJ destroying his studio. The single charted at number 29 in the UK and has received positive reviews.
"D.J." was written byDavid Bowie, multi-instrumentalistBrian Eno and guitaristCarlos Alomar during the sessions forLodger (1979);[2] its original working title was "I Bit You Back".[3][4] Co-produced by Bowie andTony Visconti, the backing track was recorded atMountain Studios inMontreux, Switzerland in September 1978, while vocals andoverdubs were completed at theRecord Plant in New York City in March 1979.[5][6] The sessions saw Bowie and Eno utilise techniques from Eno'sOblique Strategies cards.[7] According to biographer Chris O'Leary, these cards were "part-fortune cookie, part-Monopoly 'Chance' cards", intended to spark creative ideas. Eno and Bowie used them previously to create some of the instrumentals for"Heroes" (1977).[8][9] FutureKing Crimson guitaristAdrian Belew contributed lead guitar, which was composited from multiple takes.[3] He later told biographer David Buckley that it "goes through a whole mismatch of different guitar sounds almost like you're changing channel on the radio and each channel has a different guitar solo on it."[10]
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"D.J." takes a sardonic look at the world of thedisc jockey. On the song, the DJ is looked at solely for what he is on the outside: "I am a DJ, I am what I play".[10] Swiftly compared by biographers toElvis Costello's "Radio Radio" (1978),[3][11] writer Ian Mathers described the song as "a horror story about a human being reduced to nothing more than work."[4] Bowie described the song in a 1979 radio interview: "This is somewhat cynical but it's my natural response todisco. The DJ is the one who is having ulcers now, not the executives, because if you do the unthinkable thing of putting a record on in a disco not in time, that's it. If you have thirty seconds' silence, your whole career is over."[3] BiographerNicholas Pegg and authorPeter Doggett note that the song has the same initials as Bowie's actual name—David Jones.[3][11]
The song's primarykey is inA minor, with a "neurotic compulsion" to move toA major. In the song's original mix, the bass, drums and rhythm guitar parts are noticeably pushed to the background, the last being encased with an Envelope phaser. The violin copies the vocal part in the first verse, after which it is run through, and at times replaced by, an EMS synthesiser.[4] According to Doggett, the track makes allusions to other musical artists, fromthe Rolling Stones andNeil Young tothe Beach Boys andTalking Heads; Bowie mimics the last'sDavid Byrne in his vocal performance.[4][11][12] In his bookBowie in Berlin (2008), author Thomas Jerome Seabrook compares "D.J." to Bowie's own "TVC 15" (1976) or "Be My Wife" (1977), in that it is a "seemingly straightforward, punch-drunk rock'n'roller that [is] then gleefully perverted [in] some way or the other".[13] Bryan Wawzenek ofUltimate Classic Rock highlighted "D.J." as a "danceable gem".[14]
"D.J." first appeared onLodger on 25 May 1979,[15] sequenced as the first track on side two of the original LP.[5]RCA issued the song in slightly edited form as the secondsingle from the album. In the UK, it was released on 29 June 1979, with album track "Repetition" as theB-side; in the US, it was released on 2 July, backed by "Fantastic Voyage".[16] Initially available only on limited-edition green vinyl,[3] the single charted at number 29 on theUK Singles Chart, number 98 on the Australian Top 100 and number 106 on the USBillboardBubbling Under the Hot 100 chart.[17][18] Several biographers agreed that it was an odd choice for a single, with Pegg describing it as "boldly uncommercial".[3][4][19]
Its accompanying music video was directed byDavid Mallet. It features Bowie casually walking down London'sEarl's Court Road as passersby recognise him and follow him. The sequences were unrehearsed and unannounced so the passersby's reactions were genuine; Bowie is kissed by both men and women.[a][3][4] These scenes—what Pegg calls "naturalistic reflections on celebrity"—are interjected with Bowie as the tortured DJ destroying his studio; in a re-enactment of the closing scene ofDavid Lean'sGreat Expectations (1946), the artist tears down the curtains to let the light in.[3][4]
Bowie only performed "D.J." live during his 1995Outside Tour.[19] In November 2005, the song was featured in a television commercial titledLost for the AmericanXM Satellite Radio station, which boasted anensemble cast including rapperSnoop Dogg, comedianEllen DeGeneres, country singerMartina McBride, baseball playerDerek Jeter and Bowie himself. Four years later, an unlicensed remix by club producerBenny Benassi was cleared by Bowie's estate and released as a digital download throughPositiva Records.[3]
On release, "D.J." was deemed one of the album's best tracks by several reviewers.[20][21] Retrospective reviews have been positive. Writing forThe Rolling Stone Album Guide in 2004,Rob Sheffield commented on the "razor-sharp musical corners" and "new layers of wit and generosity in the songwriting" onLodger, highlighting "Boys Keep Swinging", "D.J." and "Fantastic Voyage".[22] In his review of the album,Stephen Thomas Erlewine ofAllMusic wrote that "D.J.", along with "Look Back in Anger" and "Boys Keep Swinging", contain "strong melodic hooks that are subverted and strengthened by the layered, dissonant productions".[23] The same publication'sDave Thompson called "D.J." one of the album's highlights—"a remarkable performance on a number of layers"—and a "lost gem" in Bowie's catalogue.[19]
In a 2015 list compiling Bowie's best songs byMojo magazine, the song was voted number 76.[24] One year later,Ultimate Classic Rock placed the single at number 16 in a list ranking every Bowie single from worst to best.[1]
"D.J.", both in its single edit and full-length form, has appeared on severalcompilation albums, includingChangestwobowie (1981),[25]The Singles Collection (1993),[26]The Best of David Bowie 1974/1979 (1998),[27]Best of Bowie (US/Canada 2002),[28] andThe Platinum Collection (2006).[29] The song, along with the rest of its parent album, was remastered in 2017 forParlophone'sA New Career in a New Town (1977–1982)box set,[30][31] which also featured a newremix by Visconti. The new mix brings the rhythm section more up to the forefront.[4] InPopMatters, Chris Gerard gave the most acclaim to "D.J.", writing that its new mix gives the track "more punch and clarity".[32] O'Leary calls it one of the best remixed tracks.[4]
According to Chris O'Leary:[4]
Production
| Chart (1979) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Top 100 (Kent Music Report)[18] | 98 |
| UK Singles Chart[17] | 29 |
| USBillboardBubbling Under the Hot 100[17] | 106 |
