Absolute Beginners

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Lore & Background

Bowie was a friend of the film's director, Julien Temple, who had worked with him in 1984 on the 'Jazzin' for Blue Jean' short film. Bowie agreed to Temple's request to write music for the film if he could also play the part of Vendice Partners. The song was recorded at Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley's Westside Studios in Shepherd's Bush, London, in the summer of 1985. Musician Kevin Armstrong said that after only twenty minutes of trying various things, they had a structure and shape that seemed to please Bowie, who then took a pen and paper and started jotting down lyrics. The sessions were completed rapidly, but the song was delayed due to problems with completing the film, as Virgin wanted the release to tie in with the film's opening. The song featured Rick Wakeman on piano, who had previously performed on Bowie's 'Space Oddity' single and 'Hunky Dory' studio album. Shortly after the sessions wrapped, Mick Jagger flew in to record the charity cover of 'Dancing in the Street' with Bowie, which used many of the same musicians.

In Their Own Story

Bowie recorded the lead vocal of 'Absolute Beginners' at Westside Studios in August. The song was the second song played on Absolute Radio after officially rebranding from Virgin Radio on 29 September 2008, after the Beatles' 'A Day in the Life'. On 19 January 2023, it became the last song to be played on the station's AM frequencies, as part of a tribute to the 1215 kHz frequency, with Christian O'Connell's DJ intro to the song from 2008 also included. Julien Temple shot the music video, which echoed the 1950s style of the film and was a homage to an old British advert for Strand cigarettes. The ill-fated advertising tagline 'You're never alone with a Strand' is quoted by Partners in the film. In 2016, Entertainment Weekly chose it as one of Bowie's 20 best music videos, stating the video 'does a far better job of expressing the noirish romanticism' of MacInnes' novel than the film did and also praised the 'great dance-fighting scene at the end'.

Reader's Guide

Bowie performed 'Absolute Beginners' live on his 1987 Glass Spider Tour, his 2000 'Mini' Tour, and his 2002 Heathen Tour. The song has been included on a number of Bowie's compilation and 'Best-of' releases, and was included as a bonus track on the 1995 re-release of 'Tonight' (1984). The 5:36 single version has appeared on compilations including 'Bowie: The Singles 1969–1993' (1993), '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). A 4:46 edit was included on the 1-CD and 2-CD editions of 'Nothing Has Changed' and the 2-CD version of 'Bowie Legacy' (2016). The full-length version appeared as a bonus track on the Virgin Records rerelease of 'Tonight' (1984). Live versions include the 1987 Glass Spider Tour (released on 'Glass Spider'), a 25 June 2000 performance at the Glastonbury Festival (released in 2018 on 'Glastonbury 2000'), and a version recorded at BBC Radio Theatre, London, two days later (released on the bonus disc of 'Bowie at the Beeb'). On the 2002 Heathen Tour, the song was performed as a duet with bassist Gail Ann Dorsey.

Did You Know?

• The song was recorded at Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley's Westside Studios in Shepherd's Bush, London.
• Rick Wakeman, who played piano on the track, had previously performed on Bowie's 'Space Oddity' single and 'Hunky Dory' studio album.
• Shortly after the sessions wrapped, Mick Jagger flew in to record the charity cover of 'Dancing in the Street' with Bowie, using many of the same musicians.
• The music video was a homage to an old British advert for Strand cigarettes, whose tagline 'You're never alone with a Strand' is quoted in the film.
• On 19 January 2023, the song became the last to be played on Absolute Radio's AM frequencies.