Maps of Music

Black Tie White Noise (1993)

Where the lyrics of Black Tie White Noise take you, and where it was really made.

The title came from Bowie's own wedding and a comment on the racial mix of his marriage to Iman, and the album then debuted at number one in the UK.

Key places

Recorded at Mountain Studios, Montreux (1993)

Recording site Mountain Studios — Recording for the album alternated between Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland, and the Hit Factory in New York City, between April and November 1992. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at the Hit Factory, New York City (1993)

Recording site The Hit Factory — Rodgers worked on the tracks at the Hit Factory in New York City, turning beats Bowie sent from Los Angeles into songs during the 1992 sessions. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Beats composed at 38 Fresh, Los Angeles (1993)

Recording site 38 Fresh — Bowie composed beats and patterns at 38 Fresh in Los Angeles, which he then sent to Rodgers in New York to be transposed into songs. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Black Tie White Noise: 18th studio album by David Bowie
• Released 5 April 1993 through Savage Records in the United States and Arista Records in the United Kingdom
• Co-produced by Bowie and Nile Rodgers, his Let's Dance collaborator
• Lyrically split mainly into two themes: racial harmony and Bowie's marriage to Iman
• Lead single 'Jump They Say'; the title track is a duet with Al B. Sure!
• Released amid the rise of Britpop in the UK

Background

• Conceived after Bowie's marriage to the model Iman and the disbandment of his rock band Tin Machine
• Married 24 April 1992 in a private ceremony in Lausanne, Switzerland
• Five days later the couple returned to Los Angeles on the day the 1992 Los Angeles riots began
• Bowie was inspired to write the title track after witnessing the riots from a hotel
• First song recorded with Rodgers was 'Real Cool World' for the animated film Cool World
• Album was his first solo record since Never Let Me Down, six years earlier

Recording

• Recorded between April and November 1992
• Sessions alternated between Mountain Studios in Montreux and the Hit Factory in New York City
• Additional recording was done at 38 Fresh in Los Angeles
• Bowie composed beats and patterns at 38 Fresh and sent them to Rodgers to turn into songs
• Bowie signed a record deal with Savage Records during the sessions

Cover

• Cover artwork was taken by photographer Nick Knight
• Inlay photo shows Bowie in attire from the 'Never Let Me Down' music video (1987)

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life

• Born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 in Brixton, London.
• Studied art, music and design; took up saxophone in 1961.
• Adopted the stage name David Bowie in 1966 to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees.

Career

• Breakthrough with "Space Oddity" in 1969, reaching the UK top five.
• Glam rock success in 1972 with the Ziggy Stardust persona and album.
• Berlin Trilogy (Low, "Heroes", Lodger) with Brian Eno and Tony Visconti in the late 1970s.
• Greatest commercial success with Let's Dance in 1983.
• Fronted the hard rock band Tin Machine from 1988 to 1992 before resuming a solo career.
• Final studio album Blackstar was released two days before his death in 2016.

Legacy

• Sold over 100 million records worldwide.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
• Widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Received generally favourable reviews from critics on release
• Critics praised its experimentation but criticised its lack of cohesion
• Q magazine's David Sinclair: said it picks up where Scary Monsters left off
• Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker: called it stultifying yet annoying, apart from two tracks
• Rolling Stone's Paul Evans: hailed it as one of the smartest records of a very smart career

Reappraisal

• Critical standing in later decades has been mixed
• Critics agree it was his best since Scary Monsters at the time, but remain divided on its cohesion
• BBC Music's David Quantick: saw it as a continuation of Scary Monsters
• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine: called it an interesting first step in Bowie's creative revival
• Ultimate Classic Rock's Bryan Wawzenek: ranked it 25th of Bowie's 26 studio albums in a 2016 retrospective

Records

• Debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, dethroning Suede's debut album
• Each of its three singles reached the UK top 40
• Final UK number one album until The Next Day in 2013
• Charted at number 39 on the US Billboard 200
• US promotion was hurt when Savage Records filed for bankruptcy shortly after release
• Reissued by EMI in 2003 and remastered in 2021 for the box set Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001)

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The lead single 'Jump They Say' alludes to Bowie's step-brother Terry, who died in 1985
• Bowie did not tour for the album; he released an accompanying film of the same name instead
• The 1994 interactive CD-ROM based on the album was developed by ION and released by MPC
• The lyrics of 'Pallas Athena' were not explained by Bowie, who told NME he didn't know what the song was about
• Bowie had wanted to work with trumpeter Lester Bowie throughout the 1980s before this album

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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