Andy Warhol (song)

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"Andy Warhol"
Song by David Bowie
from the album Hunky Dory
Released17 December 1971
RecordedSummer 1971
StudioTrident, London
GenreGlam rock, art rock, psychedelic folk
Length3:56
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)David Bowie
Producer(s)Ken Scott, David Bowie

"Andy Warhol" is a song written by English singer-songwriter David Bowie in 1971 for the album Hunky Dory. It is an acoustic song about one of Bowie's early artist inspirations, the American pop artist Andy Warhol.

Background[]

The album track opens with a series of strange electronic tones which fades into studio chatter in which producer Ken Scott mispronounces Warhol's name and Bowie repeatedly demonstrates how to say it properly. Scott then solemnly reintroduces the take with the correct pronunciation, and Bowie asks if the tape is rolling. Upon realising he is indeed being recorded, Bowie bursts into laughter and the song proper begins.

The song is memorable for a distinctive repeated riff played by Mick Ronson on acoustic guitar.

Originally the song was written for Dana Gillespie, who recorded it in 1971, but her version of the song was not released until 1973 on her album . Both versions feature Mick Ronson on guitar.

Warhol's reaction[]

Bowie, an admirer of Warhol, sent the artist an advanced copy of Hunky Dory and performed "Andy Warhol" for him in person at Warhol's The Factory in New York in September 1971, before the album had been released. But due to Warhol's typically minimal reaction, Bowie was never sure if he liked it or not.[1] Tony Zanetta, who had brought Bowie to the Factory and would later portray Warhol in the artist's first play, Pork, maintained that Warhol "didn't say anything but absolutely hated it."[2]

Other releases[]

The song was released as the B-side of the single "Changes" in January 1972.[3] It also appeared on the Japanese compilation The Best of David Bowie from 1974. An edited version, with the dialogue in the introduction cut, as it was on the US single version, is included on Re:Call 1, part of the 2015 boxed set Five Years (1969–1973).

Live versions[]

A performance sung by Dana Gillespie was recorded for BBC Radio's In Concert strand on 3 June 1971, presented by John Peel and first broadcast on June 20 that year.[4] Bowie played this song at BBC's Sounds of the 70s with Bob Harris on May 23, 1972. This was broadcast on June 19, 1972, and in 2000 was released on the Bowie at the Beeb album. A performance recorded at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on October 20, 1972 has been released on Santa Monica '72 and Live Santa Monica '72. The song was a 1972 regular performance, but it was not played again until the 1995 Outside Tour with Nine Inch Nails.[5] One live performance from 1995 was released in 2020 on the live album Ouvre le Chien (Live Dallas 95). A November 1996 tour rehearsal recording of the song, which originally aired on a BBC radio broadcast in 1997, was released in 2020 on the album ChangesNowBowie.[6]

Personnel[]

  • David Bowie: lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar, electronic sounds
  • Mick Ronson: acoustic guitar, percussion

References[]

  1. ^ TheBestOfVoxPop (25 February 2013). "David Bowie: On Andy Warhol (Interview - 1987)" – via YouTube.
  2. ^ "The moment David Bowie embarrassed himself in front of Andy Warhol". 18 November 2020.
  3. ^ "Changes" (Single liner notes). David Bowie. UK: RCA Victor. 1972. RCA 2160.CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. ^ "11/01/2016, Marc Riley - BBC Radio 6 Music". BBC. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
  5. ^ "Andy Warhol: David Bowie". Retrieved May 5, 2011.
  6. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (25 April 2020). "ChangesNowBowie – David Bowie". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 29 April 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.

External links[]

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