Fashion (David Bowie song)

According to co-producer Tony Visconti, "Fashion" was the last song completed in the Scary Monsters sessions, its bassline and some of the melody taking inspiration from Bowie's 1975 hit "Golden Years".[5] Guest guitarist Robert Fripp contributed a series of harsh, mechanical riffs to complement the band's funk/reggae arrangement.

The track was noted for its emotionally vacant choir effect, and the recurring onomatopoeia "beep beep" that Bowie had first used in an unreleased 1970 song called "Rupert the Riley".[7] Another phrase in the lyrics that Bowie borrowed from his past was "People from Bad Homes", the title track of a 1973 album he recorded with his protégés the Astronettes, which went unreleased until 1995.[8]

References to a "goon squad" coming to town provoked theories that the song actually concerns fascism ("the National Front invade the discos", inferred NME critics Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray).[4] However Bowie played down this interpretation in an interview shortly before the release of Scary Monsters, saying that what he was trying to do was "move on a little from that Ray Davies concept of fashion, to suggest more of a gritted teeth determination and an unsuredness about why one's doing it".[9] Biographer David Buckley believed the song "poked fun at the banality of the dance-floor and the style fascists" of the New Romantic movement.[7]

David Mallet shot a music video for the single "Fashion" in a famous nightclub owned by his friend Robert Boykin called Hurrah. The opening shot of the clip features David Bowie on the Hurrah stage which was draped in khaki canvas for this shoot. The faceted mirror walls surrounding the dance floor can be seen in the background of various shots, and all the band scenes are shot in this club setting. Other locations around Manhattan are intercut throughout the clip. Amid a series of facial contortions and other gestures, Bowie made use of a move he had employed in the "Ashes to Ashes" video: slowly crouching and bringing his arm down to the ground in a slow vertical arc. Record Mirror readers voted "Fashion" and "Ashes to Ashes" the best music videos of 1980.[5]

The video features Carlos Alomar, G.E. Smith (Hall & Oates), bassist John Kumnick, Khandi Alexander, Obba Babatundé, the guitarist Steve Love who plays drums in the video, John Kay, May Pang (later married to the song's producer Tony Visconti) and Alan Hunter, who became one of the first MTV VJs and also the first VJ to appear in a music video.

"Fashion" was the second single from Scary Monsters and the first issued after the album's September 1980 release. The edited 7" cut debuted in the UK charts at No. 20 and peaked at No. 5,[1] and by hitting No. 70 in America gave Bowie his first chart single there in almost four years. The UK sleeve design was adapted for the cover art on the 1980 compilation Best of Bowie.[4] It was featured in the movie Clueless. During the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, "Fashion" was used during a tribute to the British fashion industry in a parade that featured a number of top models from the UK.

Bowie performed the song on most of his tours after 1980, including the Serious Moonlight Tour (1983), Glass Spider Tour (1987), Sound+Vision Tour (1990), Earthling Tour (1997), Heathen Tour (2002), and A Reality Tour (2003–2004).[5] The song appears on two of his live concert videos: Serious Moonlight (1983) and Glass Spider (1988), and on the live album Look at the Moon! (Live Phoenix Festival 97) (2021).

The song was ranked among the top ten "Tracks of the Year" for 1980 by NME.[10]

All tracks written by David Bowie.[11]

1. "Fashion" – 3:23
2. "Scream Like a Baby" – 3:35

According to Chris O'Leary:[12]

Musicians

• David Bowie – lead and backing vocals
• Robert Fripp – lead guitar
• Carlos Alomar – rhythm guitar
• George Murray – bass guitar
• Dennis Davis – drums
• Andy Clark – synthesiser

Production

• Tony Visconti
• David Bowie

• The song appeared on the following compilations:
  • Changestwobowie (1981) – single edit
  • Golden Years (1983) – album version
  • Fame and Fashion (1984) – album version
  • ChangesBowie (1990) – album version
  • The Singles Collection (1993) – album version
  • Best of Bowie (2002) – single edit
  • The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987 (2007) – single edit
  • Nothing Has Changed (3-CD & 2-CD versions) (2014) – incorrectly edited "single version"
  • Bowie Legacy (2-CD version) (2016) – single edit
• The single edit of the song was also included on Re:Call 3, part of the A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982) compilation (2017).[13]

• Frank Black – live recording with Bowie for Bowie's 50th birthday party (1997)
• Glamma Kid – released as "Fashion '98" (1998)
• The Dandy Warhols – sampled on the song "Scientist" (2003)
• Bratz – covered on the album Forever Diamondz (2006)
• The Sunburst Band – covered on the album Moving with the Shakers (2008)
• Afghan Raiders – covered on the album We Were So Turned On: A Tribute to David Bowie (2010)
• Grum – covered on the album Heartbeats (2010)
• Glee – covered in a promotional music video for Vogue (2011)
• Trent Reznor, Mariqueen Maandig, and Atticus Ross – live performance as part of Mike Garson's Bowie tribute event A Bowie Celebration: Just For One Day (2021)[22]