“They’ll never clone ya...“
(ANCIANT = A New Career In A New Town)
One of the very best 45s of all time (and another Top Ten hit for David Bowie in the UK) was the first single from 1979’s Lodger, Boys Keep Swinging. And it was accompanied by an equally brilliant video.
The Bowie/Visconti produced tongue in cheek ode to the joys of gender stability, was a breath of fresh air in a musical landscape dominated by folk taking themselves a little too seriously.
Both the humour and the role reversal of the recording (Guitarist Carlos Alomar played drums and drummer Dennis Davis played bass), transferred perfectly to the David Mallet-directed video (Mallet’s first in a string of classic Bowie promos, as you will see), with Bowie taking on the guise of his own female backing singers.
If you’ve not had the pleasure yet, go and enjoy Boys Keep Swinging now.
The players...
DAVID BOWIE – vocals, guitar
DENNIS DAVIS – bass
TONY VISCONTI – bass
CARLOS ALOMAR – drums
ADRIAN BELEW – guitar
SIMON HOUSE – violin
BRIAN ENO – piano
DAVID BOWIE and TONY VISCONTI – backing vocals
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