Up the Hill Backwards

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"Up the Hill Backwards”

Single by David Bowie
From the album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
B-side	”Crystal Japan”
Released	March 1981
Format	7" single
Recorded	Power Station, New York, February; Good Earth Studios, London, April 1980
Genre	Rock
Length	3:13
Label	RCA BOW 9
Producers	David Bowie, Tony Visconti
Chart positions	#32 (UK)
David Bowie singles chronology
"Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" 1981	"Up the Hill Backwards” 1981	"Under Pressure" 1981

"Up the Hill Backwards" is a track on David Bowie's Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps). It was also released as the fourth single from that album in 1981.

The lyric is often interpreted as a commentary on the public coverage of his divorce from Angie, one of several tracks on the album that muse over the double-edged sword of celebrity.

On the B-side was “Crystal Japan”, an instrumental recorded in 1980 for a Japanese commercial for the sake Crystal Jun Rock, which also featured an appearance from Bowie. It was originally going to close the Scary Monsters album, until replaced by “It’s No Game (Part 2)”. “Teenage Wildlife” was originally slated as the B-side for “Up the Hill Backwards” until Bowie found out the prices fans were paying for the import single of “Crystal Japan”, and insisted the track got a UK release.

The uncommercial nature of “Up the Hill Backwards”, combined with the track having been available on the album for the past six months, saw the single stall at #32 in the UK chart. The 12-inch version of the single was distributed with a set of 36 stamps.

1 Track listing
2 Production credits
3 Other releases
4 References

[edit] Track listing

"Up the Hill Backwards" (Bowie) – 3:13
"Crystal Japan" (Bowie) – 3:08

[edit] Production credits

Producers:
- Tony Visconti
- David Bowie

Musicians:
- David Bowie: Vocals, Keyboards
- Robert Fripp: Guitar
- George Murray: Bass
- Dennis Davis: Drums
- Tony Visconti: Acoustic guitar on “Up the Hill Backwards”
- Roy Bittan: Piano on “Up the Hill Backwards”

[edit] Other releases

It was released as the B-side of the France release of the single "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" in January 1981.
The Sound + Vision box set featured the song.