David Bowie Blue Jean – Dancing With The Big Boys (1984 Italy) estimated value € 7,00

“Blue Jean” was released as a single ahead of the album Tonight and charted in the Top Ten in both the UK and the United States, reaching No. 6 and No. 8 respectively. The song is loosely inspired by Eddie Cochran.

Following the commercial success of Bowie’s previous album Let’s Dance, its singles and the Serious Moonlight Tour, “Blue Jean” was launched with a 21-minute short film, Jazzin’ for Blue Jean, directed by Julien Temple. The performance segment was also issued as a conventional music video. The film won the 1985 Grammy Award for “Best Video, Short Form” (later renamed “Best Music Video”), remaining Bowie’s only competitive Grammy Award.

The song stayed in Bowie’s live repertoire for the rest of his career and was performed on tours in 1987, 1990 and 2004.

Composition

Interviewed in 1987, Bowie described “Blue Jean” as “a piece of sexist rock ’n’ roll… it’s about picking up birds. It’s not very cerebral.” BBC reviewer Chris Jones later criticised the song as formulaic in his 2002 appraisal of Best of Bowie.

Tracklist

Side A – Blue Jean – 3:08

Side B – Dancing with the Big Boys – 3:32

Description

Media Condition

Media: Very Good (VG)
Sleeve: Good (G)
Ring wear: Yes
All three seams looking perfect: Yes
Picture sleeve looks near mint: No
Creases or folds: No
Stamps or writing: No

 

 

Some versions of the 7" single were released on blue vinyl.

12" – EMI America / 12EA 181 (UK)
“Blue Jean” (Extended Dance Mix) – 5:15
“Dancing with the Big Boys” (Extended Dance Mix) – 7:28
“Dancing with the Big Boys” (Extended Dub Mix) – 7:15
“Blue Jean” remix by John “Jellybean” Benitez at Sigma Sound, NYC (Engineer: Jay Mark).
“Dancing with the Big Boys” remixes produced by Arthur Baker.

Production credits

Producer:
David Bowie

Musicians:
David Bowie – vocals
Carlos Alomar – guitar
Carmine Rojas – bass guitar, keyboards
Omar Hakim – drums
Lenny Pickett – tenor sax, bass clarinet
Stanley Harrison – alto sax
Steve Elson – baritone sax
Guy St. Onge – marimba
Sammy Figueroa – percussion

Other releases

The song appears on numerous Bowie compilations, including Changesbowie (1990), The Singles Collection (1993), Best of Bowie (2002), The Platinum Collection (2005), The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987 (2007) and Nothing Has Changed (2014).

Video versions

Three video versions exist:

– The full 21-minute short film Jazzin’ for Blue Jean

– A 3-minute performance edit taken from the short film

– An alternate MTV version filmed in England, later released on the Best of Bowie DVD in 2002