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| "Absolute Beginners" | ||||
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| Single byDavid Bowie | ||||
| from the albumAbsolute Beginners: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | ||||
| B-side | "Absolute Beginners" (dub mix) | |||
| Released | 3 March 1986 (1986-03-03) | |||
| Recorded | June 1985,[1] August 1985[2] | |||
| Studio | ||||
| Length |
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| Label | Virgin | |||
| Songwriter | David Bowie | |||
| Producers |
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| David Bowie singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Absolute Beginners", "David Bowie Impersonates..." Mark Saunders, January 22, 2016. onYouTube | ||||
"Absolute Beginners" is a song written and performed by the English singer-songwriterDavid Bowie. Recorded in August of 1985, and released on 3 March 1986, it was the theme song to the 1986film of the same name (itself an adaptation of the bookAbsolute Beginners). Although the film was not a commercial success, the song was a big hit, reaching No. 2 on theUK singles chart. It also reached the top 10 on the main singles charts inten other countries. In the US, it peaked at No. 53 on theBillboard Hot 100.
Bowie performed "Absolute Beginners" live on his 1987Glass Spider Tour, his 2000"Mini" Tour, and his 2002Heathen Tour. The song has been included on a number of Bowie's compilation and "Best-of" releases, and was included as a bonus track on the 1995 re-release ofTonight (1984).
Bowie was a friend of the film's director,Julien Temple (who had worked with him in 1984 on theJazzin' for Blue Jean short film). Bowie agreed to Temple's request to write music for the film if he could also play the part of Vendice Partners.
The song was recorded atClive Langer andAlan Winstanley's Westside Studios, Shepherds Bush, London in the summer of 1985. One of the musicians, Kevin Armstrong, said that after only twenty minutes of trying various things, they had a structure and shape that seemed to please Bowie. He took a pen and paper and started jotting down lyrics.
The sessions were completed rapidly, but the song was delayed due to the problems with completing the film.Virgin wanted the release to tie in with the film's opening. The song featuredRick Wakeman on piano, who had previously performed on Bowie's "Space Oddity" single andHunky Dory studio album. Shortly after the sessions wrapped,Mick Jagger flew in to record the charity cover of "Dancing in the Street" with Bowie, which used many of the same musicians. Bowie recorded the lead vocal of "Absolute Beginners" at Westside Studios in August.[2]
AllMusic described "Absolute Beginners" as "the gem of his post-Let's Dance '80s output, a big, breathtaking ballad allowing him to indulge the[Frank] Sinatra croon that's driven many of his best performances".[3] It was chosen by Jeremy Allen inThe Guardian as one of Bowie's "ten of the best" songs.[4] BiographerPaul Trynka described "Absolute Beginners" as "Bowie's last great composition of the 1980s",[5] while rock critic Chris O'Leary described it as "gorgeous and valedictory," with "one of the great Bowie melodies" in its refrain.[6]Don Weller's saxophone solo has been described bymusicOMH as "perhaps the best" saxophone solo in a Bowie song. They characterised it as "the sound of one man trying to violently expel his innards through the bell of his instrument" and "one of the most heartbreaking things put to record".[7]
"Absolute Beginners" was the second song played onAbsolute Radio after officially rebranding from Virgin Radio on 29 September 2008, afterthe Beatles' "A Day in the Life", and on 19 January 2023, it became the last song to be played on the station's AM frequencies, as part of a tribute to the 1215khz frequency, withChristian O'Connell's DJ intro to the song from 2008 also included.
Julien Temple shot the music video, which echoed the 1950s style of the film. The video was a homage to an old British advert forStrand cigarettes. The ill-fated advertising tagline "You're never alone with a Strand" is quoted by Partners in the film. The video also uses footage from the film.
In 2016,Entertainment Weekly chose it as one of Bowie's 20 best music videos. They stated the video "does a far better job of expressing the noirish romanticism" of MacInnes' novel than the film did and also praised the "great dance-fighting scene at the end".[8]
Bowie performed the song live during his 1987Glass Spider Tour (released onGlass Spider (1988/2007)), a 25 June 2000 performance of the song at theGlastonbury Festival was released in 2018 onGlastonbury 2000, and another live version recorded atBBC Radio Theatre, London, two days later was released on the bonus disc accompanying the first release ofBowie at the Beeb in 2000. The song was performed live on several occasions on the 2002Heathen Tour as a duet with bassistGail Ann Dorsey.[citation needed]
In 1995, the full-length version appeared as a bonus track on theVirgin Records rerelease of Bowie's 16th studio albumTonight (1984). The 5:36 single version has appeared on the following compilations:Bowie: The Singles 1969–1993 (1993),The Singles Collection (1993),Best of Bowie (2002) (most editions),The Platinum Collection (2005),The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987 (2007), andNothing Has Changed (2014) (3-CD and vinyl editions). A 4:46 edit, released to promote the single in 1986, was included on the 1-CD and 2-CD editions ofNothing Has Changed and the 2-CD version ofBowie Legacy (2016).
All tracks are written by David Bowie, except where noted.
3-inch CD: Virgin CDT 20 (UK)
CD: Virgin CDF 20 (UK)
7-inch: Virgin VS 838 (UK)
12-inch: Virgin VSG 838–12 (UK)
12-inch: EMI America SPRO 9623 (US)
Download: EMI iVS 838 (UK)
Download: Amazon.com (US)
Producers
Musicians
Gil Evans sings the refrain of the song in the film.
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
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| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[43] | Silver | 250,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
