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 "Ziggy Stardust"
Released 24 November 1972
Format 7" single
Recorded RCA Studios, New York
6 October 1972
Genre Glam rock
Length 4:02
Label RCA Records
2303
Producer Ken Scott, David Bowie
David Bowie singles chronology
"John, I’m Only Dancing"
(1972)		 "The Jean Genie"
(1972)		 "Drive-In Saturday"
(1973)
Aladdin Sane track listing
"Let's Spend the Night Together"
(8)		 "The Jean Genie"
(9)		 "Lady Grinning Soul"
(10)

"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 was once quoted as saying that this was "subconscious... but it's probably there, yes".[3]

"The Jean Genie" was composed and recorded in New York City, where Bowie spent time hanging out with the Warhol set's Cyrinda Foxe. In 2005 the singer described its genesis thus: "Starting out as a lightweight riff thing I had written one evening in NY for Cyrinda’s enjoyment, I developed the lyric to the otherwise wordless pumper and it ultimately turned into a bit of a smorgasbord of imagined Americana ... based on an Iggy-type persona ... The title, of course, was a clumsy pun upon Jean Genet".[5]

[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. Bowie wanted the video to depict "Ziggy as a kind of Hollywood street-rat" with a "consort of the Marilyn brand". This led to Foxe's casting, and she flew from New York to San Francisco especially for the shoot.[5]

[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 "Block Buster!".[1][6] 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 "Block Buster!", which made #73). Though the song has its detractors, biographer David Buckley for instance describing it as "derivative, plodding, if undeniably catchy",[7] it remains one of Bowie's signature tunes, and has often been played at his concerts since its release.

[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"; this track appears as "Jean Baltazaarrr" on the compilation BowieMania: Mania, une collection obsessionelle de Beatrice Ardisson (2007)
  • Van Halen - Live recording
  • The Dandy Warhols - Come on Feel the Dandy Warhols
  • Paco Volume - BowieMania: Mania, une collection obsessionelle de Beatrice Ardisson (2007)

[edit] Appearances in popular culture

  • The song is featured in the BBC television series Life on Mars (after another famous David Bowie song) and is mentioned by DCI Gene Hunt, who frequently refers to himself as 'The Gene Genie'. In the episode "A Conflict of Interests" it is playing as they enter the club; in a later scene, while they escort Stephen Warren from his club, Sweet's "Block Buster!", with its comparable riff, is played.

[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. ^ a b David Bowie & Mick Rock (2005). Moonage Daydream: pp.140-146
  6. ^ Mark Blake (Ed.) (2007). "Future Legend", MOJO 60 Years of Bowie: pp.74-75
  7. ^ David Buckley (1999) Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story: p.184

[edit] References

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David Bowie
Studio albums
With Tin Machine
Live albums
Soundtracks
Compilations
Concert videos
Promotional films
and compilations
Tours
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