The Jean Genie

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"The Jean Genie"
"The Jean Genie" cover
Single by David Bowie
from the album Aladdin Sane
B-side(s) "Ziggy Stardust"
Released 24 November 1972
Format 7" single
Recorded RCA Studios, New York
September 1972
Genre Glam rock
Length 4:02
Label RCA Records
2303
Producer(s) Ken Scott, David Bowie
Chart positions
  • #2 (UK)
  • #71 (US)
David Bowie singles chronology
"John, I’m Only Dancing"
(1972)		 "The Jean Genie"
1972		 "Drive-In Saturday"
1973

"The Jean Genie" is a single by David Bowie, released in November 1972. One of Bowie’s most famous songs, it was the lead single for the album Aladdin Sane (1973).

Contents

[edit] Music and lyrics

The song's chugging R&B riff is often compared to The Yardbirds[1][2] while the lyrics have been likened to the "stylised sleaze" of The Velvet Underground.[1] The subject matter was inspired in part by Bowie's friend Iggy Pop or, in Bowie's own words, "an Iggy-type character... it wasn't actually Iggy."[3] The line "He's so simple minded, he can't drive his module" would later give the band Simple Minds their name.[4] The title has long been taken as a pun on the name of the homosexual author Jean Genet.[1] Bowie has lately been quoted as saying that this was "subconscious... but it's probably there, yes".[3]

[edit] Video

Mick Rock directed a film clip to promote the song, mixing concert and studio footage of Bowie performing with the Spiders From Mars, along with location shots of the singer posing at the Mars Hotel, San Francisco, with Cyrinda Foxe.

[edit] Release and aftermath

There was some controversy in the UK following the song's release as it utilised a riff very similar to fellow RCA act The Sweet's "Blockbuster!".[1][5] Sweet's single, written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, and recorded and released slightly later than Bowie's song, made #1 in the UK charts while "The Jean Genie" occupied #2. All parties maintained that the similarity was, in Nicky Chinn's words, "absolute coincidence". Chinn described a meeting with Bowie at which the latter "looked at me completely deadpan and said 'Cunt!' And then he got up and gave me a hug and said, 'Congratulations...'"[3]

"The Jean Genie"'s 13 weeks in the UK charts, peaking at #2, made it Bowie's biggest hit to date. In the US it reached #71 (this time beating "Blockbuster!", which made #73). Though the song has its detractors, biographer David Buckley for instance describing it as "derivative, plodding, if undeniably catchy",[6] it remains one of Bowie's signature tunes, and has been regularly played in concert from the time it was released.

[edit] Track listing

  1. "The Jean Genie" (Bowie) – 4:02
  2. "Ziggy Stardust" (Bowie) – 3:13

The US release had "Hang on to Yourself" as the B-side, while the B-side of the Japanese release was "John, I'm Only Dancing".

[edit] Production credits

[edit] Live versions

  • A live version recorded at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on 20 October 1972 was released on Santa Monica '72. This version also appeared on the Japanese release of RarestOneBowie and on the bonus disc of the Aladdin Sane - 30th Anniversary Edition in 2003.
  • The song was played at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, on July 3, 1973 but was left off the Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture album. This particular version featured Jeff Beck on guitar.
  • A live version from the 1974 tour was released on David Live. Another live recording from the 1974 tour was released on the semi-legal album A Portrait in Flesh.
  • Billy Corgan performed the song live with David Bowie on Bowie's 50th Birthday Bash concert in January 1997.

[edit] Other releases

[edit] Cover versions

  • The Diamonds - Million Copy Hit Songs Made Famous by Elton John & David Bowie
  • Die Lady Di - Ashes to Ashes: A Tribute to David Bowie (1998)
  • Fernando - Crash Course for the Ravers - A Tribute to the Songs of David Bowie (1996)
  • Hothouse Flowers (& friends) - Live recording
  • The Rockridge Synthesiser Orchestra - Plays David Bowie Classic Trax
  • Arno & Beverly Jo Scott - La fille du père Noël meets Jean Genie
  • Van Halen - Live recording
  • The Dandy Warhols - Come On Feel The Dandy Warhols
  • Gustavo Cerati - Plays a few verses of the song while playing his own Paseo Inmoral live

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Bowie: An Illustrated Record: p.52
  2. ^ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide
  3. ^ a b c Nicholas Pegg (2000). The Complete David Bowie: pp.110-111
  4. ^ Simple Minds website FAQs
  5. ^ Mark Blake (Ed.) (2007). "Future Legend", MOJO 60 Years of Bowie: pp.74-75
  6. ^ David Buckley (1999) Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story: p.184

[edit] References

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