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* [[George Murray (musician)|George Murray]] – bass
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* [[Michel Santangeli]] – drums
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Revision as of 10:23, 21 March 2014

"China Girl"
Song
B-side"Baby"
"China Girl"
Song
B-side"Shake It"

"China Girl" is a song co-written by David Bowie and Iggy Pop during their years in Berlin, first appearing on Pop's album The Idiot (1977).

It became more widely known when it was rerecorded and released by Bowie on his album Let's Dance (1983). Paul Trynka, the author of David Bowie's biography, Starman, claims the song was inspired by Iggy Pop's infatuation with Kuelan Nguyen, a beautiful Vietnamese woman.[2]

The UK single release reached No. 2 for one week on 14 June 1983, behind "Every Breath You Take" by The Police. The US release reached No. 10.

Track listing (Bowie remake)

7": EMI America / EA 157 (UK)

  1. "China Girl [Edit]" (Bowie, Pop) – 4:14
  2. "Shake It" (Bowie) – 3:49

12": EMI America 75038 / 12EA 157 (UK)

  1. "China Girl" (Bowie, Pop) – 5:32
  2. "Shake It [Re-Mix]" (Bowie) – 5:21
  • On the US 12", "Shake It" is called the "Long Version," although it's identical to the UK's "Re-Mix"
  • The UK 12" single's cover was slightly different from the US cover (they're mirrors of each other), and the flip side of the UK 12" includes dates for the 1983 Serious Moonlight Tour in the UK (specifically the London, Birmingham, Edinburgh, and Milton Keynes shows).

Music video (Bowie remake)

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", Bowie described the video as a "very simple, very direct" statement against racism.[3] Although the video consciously parodies Asian female stereotypes, it was nevertheless criticised by Ellie Hisama for failing to give the female character a personality and voice.[4] The original video release includes the two lying naked in the surf (a visual reference to the film From Here to Eternity),[5][6] though versions of the video included on subsequent video and DVD compilations are slightly censored to remove the nudity. The original video went on to win an MTV video award for Best Male Video.[7]

Live performances

The song was a regular for Bowie's live shows for the rest of the 1980s (appearing on concert videos in 1983 and 1988 as Serious Moonlight and Glass Spider, respectively). It was rehearsed for his appearance at the 1985 London Live Aid concert but along with the songs "Fascination" and "Five Years" was eventually dropped due to time constraints. Additional live versions of the song appear on 2009's release of a 1999 performance for VH1 Storytellers and a 2010 release of Bowie's 2003 concert, entitled A Reality Tour.

Chart performance (Bowie remake)

Chart (1983) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart 15
Austrian Singles Chart 2
Canadian Singles Chart 2
Dutch Singles Chart 5
Irish Singles Chart 2
German Singles Chart 6
Norwegian Singles Chart 7
Swedish Singles Chart 5
Swiss Singles Chart 1
U.K. Singles Chart 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 10
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play
(charted together with "Shake It") 		51
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 3

Production credits (Pop original)

Musicians

Production credits (Bowie remake)

Producer

Musicians

Other releases

Cover versions

References

  1. ^ Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Let's Dance - David Bowie | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  2. ^ China Girl by David Bowie, retrieved 1983 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help),Album: Let's Dance, U.S.A Charted=10, U.K. Charted=2
  3. ^ Loder, Kurt (12 May 1983), "Straight Time", Rolling Stone magazine, no. 395, pp. 22–28, 81
  4. ^ Hisama, Ellie (May 1993), "Postcolonialism on the Make: The Music of John Mellencamp, David Bowie, and John Zorn" (PDF), Popular Music: 91–104
  5. ^ Jenkins, Mark (31 December 1993). "Bowie's Changes In Single Fashion". Washington Post. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
  6. ^ Caroline Stanley (30 March 2010). "The Evolution of Nudity in Music Videos (NSFW) – Flavorwire". Flavorwire.com. Retrieved 15 March 2014. a rather tame (and brief!) glimpse at Bowie's butt during a beach makeout session
  7. ^ China Girl: David Bowie: VMA Playlist: All-Time Best Male Videos, MTV, retrieved 30 November 2010
  8. ^ Bill Cummings (18 March 2013). "Ashes To Ashes: A Compilation of David Bowie Covers by Various Artists | God Is In The TV". Godisinthetvzine.co.uk. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  • Pegg, Nicholas, The Complete David Bowie, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2000, ISBN 1-903111-14-5
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