Bring Me the Disco King

"Bring Me the Disco King"
Song by David Bowie from the album Reality
Recorded	between March and December 1992 at either Mountain Studios, Switzerland; or at 38 Fresh Recordings, L.A.; or at the Hit Factory, NYC.
Genre	Alternative rock, blue-eyed soul, jazz
Length	7:45 (album version) 6:06 (Lohner remix)
Writer(s)	David Bowie
Producer(s)	David Bowie, Tony Visconti
Reality track listing
"Reality" (10) "Bring Me the Disco King" (11)

"Bring Me the Disco King" is a song written by David Bowie in the early 1990s. It was first recorded for Black Tie White Noise in 1993^[1] and then for Earthling in 1997, but never made it to the final release of these albums. Nile Rodgers, who produced Black Tie White Noise with Bowie, would remember he wrote it as "a spoof on the whole disco thing from the seventies, one hundred and twenty bpm, very funny. But it just sounded too trite."^[2]

In 2003, "Bring Me the Disco King" was recorded for the third time and then released on the album Reality.^[3] For this ultimate recording, he hoped to get it right. According to Bowie himself, "I stripped it down completely and just had Mike Garson playing piano. We did it at half the tempo as the original, and now it works brilliant. This poor little orphan Annie thing seems to have a home now."^[4] The track also features Matt Chamberlain on the drums.

Rejecting the raucous guitar-led assault of Reality's title track and the other songs, "Bring Me the Disco King" has a rhythm that often resembles samba, tango and mostly jazz,^[5] and according to Nicholas Pegg, "Initially seems incongruous, but its stately presence succeeds in binding the album together".^[6] In fact, literally the song is similar to the concept of the whole album, with David Bowie reflecting on the past of his career and looking at his old age and his imminent death. As James E. Perone wrote, "The vague references suggest a look back at a lifetime of wasted moments. [...] The somewhat tired-sounding approach Bowie takes on the song works perfectly within the context of the album's focus on aging."^[7]

Remix version

The song was remixed by ex-Nine Inch Nails bass player/keyboardist Danny Lohner for the soundtrack to the 2003 film Underworld. Maynard James Keenan, Milla Jovovich, Josh Freese and John Frusciante also contributed to the remixed track.

Personnel

• David Bowie: Vocals
• Mike Garson: Piano
• Tony Visconti: Bass
• Matt Chamberlain: Drums (looped)

Live versions

• It was played during the 2003 A Reality Tour.
• A live version was recorded at the Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, London, on September 8, 2003 and released on the Tour Edition of Reality.
• Another version was recorded live during Bowie's concerts at the The Point, Dublin, Ireland on November 22 and 23, 2003, and released on the live DVD A Reality Tour in 2004 and included on the A Reality Tour album released in 2010.

Cover versions

• Donna Lewis - Brand New Day(2015)

References

1. "Bowie's Wedding Album" by David Wild, Rolling Stone magazine, 21 January 1993, page 14
2. Quote in Dave Thompson, Hallo Spaceboy: The Rebirth of David Bowie, p.96. ECW Press, 28/05/2006. ISBN 1-55022-733-5
3. Song Facts
4. Dave Thompson, Hallo Spaceboy: The Rebirth of David Bowie, p.271.
5. Dave Thompson, Hallo Spaceboy: The Rebirth of David Bowie, p.166
6. Pegg, The Complete David Bowie, p.43. Reynolds & Hearn, 01/10/2006.
7. Perone, The words and music of David Bowie, p.141. Greenwood Publishing Group, 30/06/2007. ISBN 0-275-99245-4

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics