White Light/White Heat (Bowie)

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"White Light/White Heat"

Single by David Bowie
from the album Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture
B-side(s)	"Cracked Actor"
Released	November 1983
Format	7" single
Recorded	Hammersmith Odeon, London 3 July 1973
Genre	Glam rock
Length	4:06
Label	RCA Records 372
Producer(s)	David Bowie, Tony Visconti
Chart positions
#46 (UK)
David Bowie singles chronology
"Without You" (1983)	"White Light/White Heat" (1983)	"Blue Jean" (1984)

"White Light/White Heat" is a song regularly performed live by David Bowie. It was originally written and recorded by The Velvet Underground in 1968 (see "White Light/White Heat"). In 1983, it was released as a single to promote Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture.

Bowie, a long-time Velvets fan, had been performing “White Light/White Heat" since 1971. It had featured throughout the Ziggy Stardust tour (including a performance with Velvets member Lou Reed on 8 July 1972), been recorded by Bowie for two BBC sessions, and been slated for inclusion on Pin Ups (the backing track from this session was later recorded as a solo version by Mick Ronson in 1975). Despite this, the Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture project would be the first time the song had been issued on a Bowie record, and as such it was released as a single.

With Bowie at the peak of his global stardom thanks to Let's Dance, "White Light/White Heat" was considered an unusual turn for the pop audience he had attracted, and reached only #46 in the UK. The song has continued to feature in Bowie’s live repertoire.