"China Girl" is a song written by Iggy Pop and David Bowie during their years in Berlin, first appearing on Pop's debut solo album "The Idiot" (1977). The song became more widely known when it was re-recorded by Bowie, who released it as the second single from his most commercially successful album, "Let's Dance" (1983).
But on the other hand, they wrote the song together, so it's not really a cover. Bowie also produced Pop's version.
Paul Trynka, the author of the David Bowie biography, Starman, explains the song was inspired by Iggy Pop's infatuation with Kuelan Nguyen, a Vietnamese woman, as a metaphor for his STOOGES career.
Production-wise the original recording that appeared on "The Idiot" is raw and unpolished compared to Bowie's hit remake in 1983.
Nile Rodgers, the producer of David Bowie's 1983 version of the song, offered his own interpretation of the lyrics: "I figured China Girl was about doing drugs ... because China is China White which is heroin, girl is cocaine. I thought it was a song about speedballing. I thought, in the drug community in New York, coke is girl, and heroin is boy. So then I proceeded to do this arrangement which was ultra pop. Because I thought that, being David Bowie, he would appreciate the irony of doing something so pop about something so taboo. And what was really cool was that he said 'I love that!'.
The music video, featuring New Zealand model Geeling Ng, was directed by David Mallet and shot mainly in the Chinatown district of Sydney, Australia. Along with his previous single's video for "Let's Dance" with the critique of racism in Australia, Bowie described the video as a "very simple, very direct" statement against racism. The video consciously parodies Asian female stereotypes. It depicted as a hypermasculine protagonist in an interracial romance. The original video release includes the two lying naked in the surf (a visual reference to the film From Here to Eternity). Unedited versions were banned from New Zealand and some other countries at the time. The uncensored version was issued on the 1984 "Video EP" issued by Sony on Betamax, VHS and LaserDisc. Versions of the video included on subsequent video and DVD compilations (including EMI/Virgin's Best of Bowie) are censored to remove the nudity. The original video went on to win an MTV video award for Best Male Video.
Enjoy today's version of "China Girl", taken from Bowie's album "Let's Dance", the single was released 31 May 1983.
New Year, pretty quiet with new musical releases so far, so we will stick to 2020 for a while longer.
The English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello released his 31st studio album "Hey Clockface" on 30 October 2020 by Concord Records.
An pretty good release from Mr Costello, a fellow that I do like what his does and somehow he feels a little like the Swedish Thåström in terms that with age he gets better :)
The tune "No Flag" is his impassioned new single from "Hey Clockface", the single arrives accompanied by an animated lyric video which you can check out below.
An according to a statement, the song is fitting for the current frustrations plaguing the world. “No time for this kind of love/No flag waving high above,” Costello sings. “No sign for the dark place that I live/No God for the damn that I don’t give.”
Costello recorded the album in three days with a small jazz combo just before the pandemic, in Helsinki, Finland at Suomenlinnan Studio, which is just a 20-minute ferry ride away from the Finnish capital. “I wanted to go somewhere nobody knew me,” Costello said in a statement. “So, this is ‘The Helsinki Sound.’”
But for today we have a little special, for the canonized rock ‘n’ roll great and masterfully bitchy tune where mr, Costello doesn’t sing the lead vocal. Instead, his fellow quasi-punk hero Iggy Pop sings the song, and he sings it in French, how cool isn't that.
Costello and Pop recently sat down to have a Zoom conversation for Rolling Stone‘s current Musicians On Musicians series. In their conversation, Costello mentions that he meant “No Flag,” the ferociously queasy Hey Clockface single, as an homage to Pop’s old band the Stooges: “That should have been a clue right away. It shared one word and one letter with a famous song of yours "No Fun", but nobody spotted where it was drawing from, because nobody expects me to take a cue from you.”
There’s a reason why many consider Iggy Pop the godfather of punk – every single punk band of the past and present has either knowingly or unknowingly borrowed a thing or two from him and his late-’60s/early ’70s band, The Stooges. Widely acknowledged as one of the most dynamic stage performers of all time, Iggy Pop pre-figured both ‘70s punk and ‘90s grunge and has built a legendary career filled with both critical acclaim and fanatic cult success. Many say you should put seeing Iggy rock out on one’s “must see” list – his fans of all generations are the first to testify to that. This summer you will get the chance to cross him out on that list, as Iggy Pop will take his spectacular live show to Way Out West this summer.
Iggy Pop has released some 20 albums during his over 50 year long career. The first two of Iggy Pop’s solo albums after disbanding THE STOOGES were co-written and produced by David Bowie – collaboration widely discussed as one of the most epic musical alliances. Some of those albums produced anthemic sounds like The Passenger, commercially successful collaborations like Candy(with Kate Pierson) and hits featured in cult movies (Lust for Life, Repo Man and In the Death Car). His latest – Post Pop Depression – was released in 2016 and became a huge success. In 2010, Iggy and the Stooges were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His latest piece of new music was a collaboration between Jarvis Cocker of Pulp and himself, where they both recorded a magnificent cover version of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Red Right Hand for the TV-series Peaky Blinders.
Iggy Pop was performing in Slottsskogen on Thursday August 9.
Todays tune "Lust for Life" is a 1977 song performed by Iggy Pop and co-written by David Bowie, featured on the album of the same name.
"Post Pop Depression" is the seventeenth studio album by Iggy Pop, released on March 18, 2016, by Loma Vista Recordings. Produced by Josh Homme of QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, the album was recorded in secrecy and features contributions from QUEENS OF THE STONE AGEs Dean Fertita and ARCTIC MONKEYS drummer Matt Helders
Pop and Homme began working on the album in January 2015. Pop reached out to Homme by text message to ask if he was interested in writing music together. After they spoke by phone, Pop sent Homme some lyrics by mail, along with notes about Pop's time working with David Bowie. Three months later, Homme sent lyrics to Pop, and they agreed to work together on recording songs in a studio. They brought incomplete ideas as opposed to finished songs, so that they could work on them together. Pop described the album as discussing issues of what happens when your utility is at an end, and dealing with your legacy.
Consisting of nine songs, the album was recorded between January 12 and March 9, 2015 at Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree, California, over the course of two weeks, and another week at Pink Duck Studios in Burbank, California. Pop and Homme self-financed the album. Dean Fertita recorded guitar and keyboards, while Matt Helders recorded drum tracks. Homme stated that preparing Post Pop Depression was one thing that helped him cope with the aftermath of the November 2015 attack at the Bataclan.
The album was released on March 18, 2016, and Pop and Homme will embark on a short tour to support the album after its release (including two shows in Paris, France on May 15, 2016 at the Grand Rex and on August 26, 2016 at the "Rock en Seine" festival) In addition to Pop and Homme, the tour will include Fertita, Helders, Matt Sweeney playing bass guitar and Troy Van Leeuwen playing guitar.
Today's tune "Gardenia" is a song by American musician Iggy Pop. It was released as the lead single from his seventeenth studio album, "Post Pop Depression", on January 22, 2016. The song was premiered live on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on the day of the song's release.
Upcoming Tour Dates:
Mar 28 Paramount Theatre (w/ Noveller) Seattle, WA
Mar 29 Keller Auditorium (w/ Noveller) Portland, OR
Mar 31 The Masonic (w/ Noveller) San Francisco, CA
Apr 02 Ellie Caulkins Opera House (w/ Noveller) Denver, CO
Apr 04 Northrop Auditorium (w/ Noveller) Minneapolis, MN
Apr 06 Chicago Theatre (w/ Noveller) Chicago, IL
Apr 07 Fox Theater (w/ Noveller) Detroit, MI
Apr 09 Sony Centre For The Performing Arts (w/ US Girls) Toronto, Canada
Apr 11 Orpheum Theater (w/ Noveller) Boston, MA
Apr 12 United Palace Theatre (w/ Noveller) New York, NY
Apr 15 Academy of Music (w/ Noveller) Philadelphia, PA
Apr 19 The Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater (w/ Jacuzzi Boys) Miami Beach, FL
Apr 28 The Greek Theatre (w/ Bill Callahan) Los Angeles, CA May 04 Cirkus Stockholm, Sweden
May 05 Falconer Frederiksberg, Denmark
May 07 Tempodrom Berlin, Germany
May 08 Mehr! Theater Hamburg, Germany
May 10 Heineken Music Hall Amsterdam-Zuidoost, Netherlands
May 13 Royal Albert Hall London, United Kingdom
May 15 Le Grand Rex Paris, France
May 28 IGGY SOLO - Rockavaria Munchen, Germany
Jun 04 IGGY SOLO - Rock in Vienna Vienna, Austria
Jun 09 IGGY SOLO - Isle of Wight Festival Newport, United Kingdom
Jun 17 IGGY SOLO - Northside Aarhus, Denmark
Jun 19 IGGY SOLO - Rock The Ring Hinwil, Switzerland
Jun 30 Festivalpark Werchter, Belgium
Jul 01 IGGY SOLO - Mainsquare Festival Arras, France
Jul 03 IGGY SOLO Festivalpark Rotselaar, Belgium
Jul 06 IGGY SOLO - Jardin Public de Cognac Cognac, France
Jul 08 IGGY SOLO - Lost in Limoges Limoges, France
Jul 11 IGGY SOLO - C.C. RENCONTRE ABBAYE DE NEUMUNSTER Luxembourg,
Jul 15 IGGY SOLO - Super Bock Super Rock Festival Lisbon, Portugal
Jul 23 IGGY SOLO - Malakoff Rockfestival Nordfjordeid, Norway
Jul 29 IGGY SOLO - Festival Les Escales Saint-Nazaire, France
Aug 12 IGGY SOLO - Flow Festival Helsinki, Finland
Aug 14 IGGY SOLO - Fete Du Bruit Landerneau, France
Aug 26 Domaine national de Saint-Cloud Suresnes, France
Aug 28 Rock En Seine Boulogne-Billancourt, France
Nutmeg is a band from Sweden. They was formed 2000 in Örnsköldsvik. In 2006 Johan Bergqvist joined the roster on guitar. The band has toured throughout Sweden over the years, including prestigious gigs at Emmaboda Festival, the Rookie Festival in Hultsfred and Trästocksfestivalen.
Their debut album "The Trigger" was released in 2009 on the indie label Iconic Noise, and was rewarded 5/5 in Sweden's largest music magazine "Groove", which earned it a placed in the "Top 10 albums released 2009”. The second album is under production and will be released later this year.
Nutmeg is out on a mini tour with Hong Faux (A band that has recently been on Tune Of The Day). On Wednesday (earlier this week), they visited the Lilla Hotellbaren, Scandic Malmen here in Stockholm, first out was the Stockholm band Hong Faux who did a really awesome gig, was in my mind a bit tighter than last time, the band did pretty much everything on stage and went into the role of rock stars and offered a plate of fantastic rock with a wonderful groove. Waiting for full length album with excitement.
Nutmeg got on half hour after Hong Faux, Nutmeg, this is a band that is a new acquaintance of mine, so I stood there and waited for them to get up. Johan Bergqvist is bassist in Hong Faux had made a quick change of clothes to take on the guitar for Nutmeg.
The band kicked off with an interesting mix of rock, pop and hardcore, I must say that it was actually really good, nice groove and the live vocalist Henke gave everything and reminded at times of Iggy Pop on stage.
Here are some pictures from the evening, starting out a bit with Hong Faux and then Nutmeg.
Nutmeg
Todays tune "Space” is the first single from NUTMEG's second album Basement Riot.
Listen to ”Nutmeg - Space" on Spotify