Fashion (David Bowie song)

1980 song by David Bowie

"Fashion" is a song by the English musician David Bowie from his 14th studio album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980). Co produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti and recorded from February to April 1980 at New York and London, it was the last song completed for the album. Originating as a reggae parody titled "Jamaica", "Fashion" is a post punk, dance and funk track structurally similar to Bowie's "Golden Years". King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp contributed lead guitar. Lyrically, "Fashion" acts as both a celebration of fashion trends and Bowie's critique of the individuals who mandate strict observance to those trends, who are labelled fascists and the "goon squad". Its accompanying music video, directed by David Mallet, reflects the lyrical themes, depicting Bowie and his musicians as street thugs interspersed with shots of dancers rehearsing and a parade of New Romantic individuals. Like "Ashes to Ashes", it was critically praised. Released by RCA Records in edited form as the second single from the album on 24 October 1980, "Fashion" charted at No. 5 in the UK and No. 70 in the US. Bowie performed the song during his concert tours, which have appeared on live concert videos. In subsequent decades, the song has appeared on lists of Bowie's best songs, on compilation albums and been covered by several artists.

The sessions for David Bowie's Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) commenced at the Power Station in New York City in February 1980, with production by Bowie and longtime collaborator Tony Visconti. "Fashion" began as a basic reggae parody under the working title "Jamaica". The band, like Bowie's four previous albums, consisted of Carlos Alomar on rhythm guitar, George Murray on bass and Dennis Davis on drums. Roy Bittan, a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band who were recording The River (1980) in the adjacent studio, played piano. King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp, who played guitar on "Heroes" (1977), played lead on "Fashion". The backing tracks were recorded without lyrics or melodies pre written. Unlike his recent Berlin Trilogy, wherein Bowie wrote lyrics almost immediately after the backing tracks were finished, he wanted to take time writing melodies and lyrics for the Scary Monsters songs; he and Visconti reconvened at the latter's own Good Earth Studios in London in April 1980 for vocals and overdubs. Bowie initially struggled to write words for "Fashion" and considered scrapping it entirely, before Visconti intervened: "I implored him to write a lyric because this was probably the most modern and commercial sounding track on the album. He returned the next day announcing, 'I've got it! "Fashion" was the last song completed during the Scary Monsters sessions, and mixing started the same evening. Session keyboardist Andy Clark contributed what biographer Nicholas Pegg calls the track's "distinctive 'whoop whoop' intro", which was a reference signal on Clark's synthesiser. Visconti later said: "It ended up as a kind of reggae upstroke for most of the song." Aspects of the track came from past, unreleased material. The recurring "beep beep" Bowie had first used in a 1970 composition called "Rupert the Riley", while the phrase "people from bad homes" came from the title of a track off a 1973 album he recorded with the Astronettes.

"Fashion" first appeared in its full, almost five minute long form on Scary Monsters, released on 12 September 1980, as the final track on side one of the original LP, following "Ashes to Ashes". A month later on 24 October, RCA Records issued it in edited form as the second single from the album, with the catalogue number RCA BOW 7 and album track "Scream Like a Baby" as the B side; this single edit cuts an entire guitar solo. The UK sleeve design was adapted for the cover art of the 1980 compilation The Best of Bowie. Debuting on the UK Singles Chart at No. 20, it peaked at No. 5. NME ranked "Fashion" the eighth best song of 1980. Deemed by one of the finest songs on Scary Monsters by AllMusic's Dave Thompson, publications who have ranked "Fashion" one of Bowie's best songs include Mojo (No. 18), The Guardian (No. 21), Consequence of Sound (No. 23) and NME (No. 36). In 2016, Ultimate Classic Rock placed the single at number 20 in a list ranking every Bowie single from worst to best in 2016.

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). He also sang the song with Frank Black for his fiftieth birthday concert in 1997. According to Pegg, this version featured "an aggressively visceral bassline" and was accompanied by "a shocking set of skin flick back projections". As a live song, Thompson says that the song turned into one of Bowie's "most reliably malleable numbers."

"Fashion" has made appearances on compilation albums. Its single edit was included on Changestwobowie (1981), Best of Bowie (2002), The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987 (2007) and the two disc version of Bowie Legacy (2016); an entirely new single edit, which Pegg refers to as an "alarmingly slapdash effort", appeared on the extended two disc and three disc versions of Nothing Has Changed (2014). Its full length album version was included on Changesbowie (1990) and The Singles Collection (1993). Both edits were also remastered and included in the A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982) compilation in 2017. Several artists have covered "Fashion" since its release. In 1998, Glamma Kid released a rap version titled "Fashion '98", which was a minor UK hit. In 2003, the Dandy Warhols sampled on the song for their Welcome to the Monkey House track "I Am a Scientist"; Bowie received a co writing credit. Three years later, a cover by MGA Entertainment's Bratz line of fashion dolls, titled "Ooooh Fashion" with a new verse melody and lyrics ("We are the Bratz and now we're coming to town"), was included on the album Forever Diamondz (2006). Additionally, the Spice Girls performed "Fashion" on their 2008 comeback tour, and the cast of Glee covered it for Vogue magazine in 2011. Trent Reznor, Mariqueen Maandig and Atticus Ross also covered it for Mike Garson's 2021 Bowie tribute event A Bowie Celebration: Just For One Day. Bowie's original recording appeared in the soundtracks for the films Clueless (1995) and Raising Helen (2004). "Fashion" was also used for a tribute to the British fashion industry during the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics. Pegg remarks that the event "either ignored or was unaware of the song's scathing sense of irony".