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Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980)

Where the lyrics of Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) take you, and where it was really made.

Bowie aimed for a more commercial record after the Berlin Trilogy, and the album went to No. 1 in the UK, his first chart-topper since Diamond Dogs.

Key places

Recording begins at the Power Station (1980)

Recording site Power Station Studio — Recording for the album began here in February 1980, with the sessions led by Bowie and Visconti. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Sessions resume at Good Earth Studios (1980)

Recording site Good Earth Studios — The sessions resumed in April 1980 at this London studio, which was Visconti's own studio at the time. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps): 14th studio album by David Bowie
• Released 12 September 1980 on RCA Records
• First album after the Berlin Trilogy (Low, "Heroes" and Lodger)
• Bowie aimed for a more commercial record after the trilogy succeeded artistically but less so commercially
• Co-produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti
• Cover: large-scale collage with Bowie in a Pierrot costume
• Topped the UK Albums Chart and restored Bowie's commercial standing in the US

Background

• Berlin Trilogy recorded 1976 to 1979 with Brian Eno and Tony Visconti
• Trilogy was highly influential but less successful commercially
• Lodger's sales were hindered by artists influenced by the Berlin releases, such as Gary Numan
• Biographer David Buckley says Numan's fame indirectly led Bowie to a more commercial direction

Recording

• Recording began at the Power Station in New York City in February 1980
• Bowie told returning producer Visconti the record would be more commercial than his previous releases
• Eno did not return after Lodger
• Robert Fripp came back in place of Lodger guitarist Adrian Belew
• Chuck Hammer was hired as an additional guitarist
• Pete Townshend guest-appeared on "Because You're Young"
• Bowie wrote lyrics and melodies in advance, unlike the improvised prior releases
• Sessions resumed in April 1980 at Good Earth Studios in London, Visconti's own studio at the time

Cover

• Cover artwork by Edward Bell, using photographs by Brian Duffy
• Pierrot costume designed by Natasha Korniloff, tied to Bowie's mime work with Lindsay Kemp in 1968

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

• Record Mirror: seven stars out of five
• Smash Hits: 9 out of 10, called it "possibly his most consistently effective long player of all"
• Melody Maker: called it "an eerily impressive stride into the '80s"
• Billboard: predicted it would be the most accessible and commercially successful Bowie LP in years
• Rolling Stone (Debra Rae Cohen): called it a "clarification" of Bowie's collaborations with Eno
• NME (Charles Shaar Murray): gave a more mixed assessment, calling it the "realist's" Bowie record
• The New York Times (John Rockwell): found it lacking appeal for rock listeners, but a "fine record of its particular type"
• The Boston Globe (Jim Sullivan): found side two weaker than side one

Reappraisal

• AllMusic (Stephen Thomas Erlewine): saw it as a culmination of Bowie's 1970s works
• Stereogum (Ryan Leas, 2020): called it "the less-heralded classic of Bowie's career"
• Several publications have counted it among the greatest albums of all time
• Q (2000): ranked 30th in "100 Greatest British Albums Ever"
• Pitchfork (2018): ranked 53rd in its 200 best albums of the 1980s
• Rolling Stone (2020): ranked 443rd in its 500 greatest albums of all time
• Rolling Stone 2013 readers' poll: ranked Bowie's seventh greatest album

Records

• UK Albums Chart: No. 1, his first No. 1 since Diamond Dogs, 32 weeks on chart
• US Billboard Top LPs & Tape: No. 12, 27 weeks on chart
• Lead single "Ashes to Ashes" reached No. 1 in the UK, Bowie's fastest-selling single
• Remastered in 2017 for the A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982) box set

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Bowie hired guitarist Chuck Hammer after hearing him play with Lou Reed in London the year before.
• "Crystal Japan" was first meant to close the album, but was dropped in favour of a reprise of "It's No Game".
• Bowie decided not to support the album on a concert tour.
• On release, Bowie dedicated "Because You're Young" to his then nine-year-old son Duncan Jones.
• Duffy was reportedly upset by the final cover artwork, as he felt the cartoon demeaned his photographs.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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