Underground (song)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Underground"

Single by David Bowie
from the album Labyrinth
B-side(s)	”Underground (Instrumental)”
Released	June 1986
Format	7”/12” single
Recorded	1985
Genre	Rock
Length	4:25
Label	EMI EA216
Producer(s)	David Bowie, Arif Mardin
Chart positions
#21 (UK)
David Bowie singles chronology
Absolute Beginners (1986)	Underground (1986)	When the Wind Blows (1986)

"Underground" is a song from the soundtrack of the film Labyrinth, performed by David Bowie.

The track was something of an experiment for Bowie, dabbling in gospel music to a small extent, helped by a large chorus of backing vocalists and blues guitarist Albert Collins, but retaining use of synthesizers.

Steve Barron directed the video clip for promoting the song, which featured images of Bowie’s most notable “roles”, including Ziggy Stardust, The Thin White Duke (Bowie’s 1975 persona, explicitly named during the title track of Station to Station, Thomas Newton (from The Man Who Fell to Earth), Jareth (from Labyrinth) and Baal, before Bowie dances with the puppet characters from the film and turns into a cartoon himself.

The single reached #21 in the UK charts. A video for “As the World Falls Down”, another track from the Labyrinth album, was mooted for a Christmas 1986 single release, with a 3:36 edit and another Steve Barron video made. However, this release was cancelled, for reasons that are still largely unknown. The video, comprising mainly of clips from the film, has since been released on Bowie collections. In January 1987, another track from the soundtrack, “Magic Dance”, was issued as an American 12”-only release.