Bowie’s brilliant ‘Boys Keep Swinging’ was built on an identical chord sequence as ‘Fantastic Voyage’, a point noticed by very few people when the two were paired as a single in 1979.
Over time it has become common knowledge that the first single from Lodger (1979), and its B-side, used the same chords. However now with the wonders of modern technology, we can clearly hear that they are exactly the same song, both musically and structurally.
Listen to the dramatic vocals of ‘Boys Keep Swinging’ set to the seductive grandeur of ‘Fantastic Voyage’. The musical elements of the album’s brooding opener, induced by dual pianos and three mandolins, are in contrast to Bowie’s edgy, weirdly blank vocal take and gender-bending lyrics, with background singers. It could be a completely different song.
Its counterpart, ‘Fantastic Voyage’ similarly has a majestic vocal paired with the ‘Boys Keep Swinging’ backing track.
Bowie’s band had famously swapped instruments to record the number creating something of a wild swagger. Carlos Alomar appeared in the unfamiliar role of drummer, and Dennis Davis did his best with the bass, helped out by some overdubs from Tony Visconti on the more difficult parts, while Adrian Belew created sonic textures on his Stratocaster.
It’s all very clever. Can someone send me the link to the Marvin Gaye estate’s lawyers?
Further Reading:
♥ Didn’t Know It Was A Cover | David Bowie’s Red Sails
♥ Didn’t Know It Was a Cover | Steve Miller Band’s Jet Airliner
♥ Didn’t Know It Was a Cover | Kiss’ King of the Night Time World
♥ Didn’t Know It Was A Cover | Elvis Costello’s Shipbuilding
♥ Didn’t Know It Was A Cover | The Flying Burrito Brothers’ Wild Horses
♥ Didn’t Know It Was A Cover | David Gilmour’s There’s No Way Out Of Here
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These two songs are so 1979 rock and roll!
They sure are Dennis. Thanks for reading buddy
That was a great idea… I like the switching instruments to give everything a different texture.
Absolutely Max. An interesting tidbit
Love the songs, love that album. It’s usually minored behind the two other monuments from the false berliner trilogy, but lodger is clearly a very good shot, preparing the eighties.
I’m a huge fan of Lodger. Had it on cassette for years. Thanks for checking in princec
Fun post! Honestly, I had not been aware of the musical similarity between these two tunes. From “Lodger”, I only knew “D.J.” and “Boys Keep Swinging”. Both are on a Bowie greatest hits compilation I own. It’s similar with a good number of other Bowie albums where I only know a tune or two rather than the entire album. The one exception is “Ziggy Stardust,” which I know in and out. Bowie glam rock period is my favorite phase, and I literally love every tune on that album.
Yes Ziggy is probably my favourite album all things considered. Thanks for reading mate.
Enlightening ! Thank you very much.
Could you please explain the Marvin Gaye reference in your last sentence ? I don’t get it…
Just a subtle dig at some red headed acoustic guy being taken to court for ripping off Marvin Gaye songs recently. Thanks for reading JC and taking the time to comment.
Nice review!
Thank you, and thanks for reading
OMG, these are Bowie classics!!! One of my all time favorite Bowie albums was Lodger! ❤
Thanks for reading Tiffany and taking the time to comment. They are a couple of my favourites as well and Lodger is one of his best. Interesting to hear them like this.
Haha – and then Blur nicked both of them for ‘M.O.R.’!
They certainly did.
Fantastic analysis!!
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I loved the edgy playfulness of the instrument-swap sound on this track.
It’s an underrated Bowie classic in my book. One of my favourite songs.
Oh yeah, it’s a fabulous track. A really innovative album really closely connected with a time when I was pondering a big life move from the prairies to the west coast of Canada, though I didn’t do it and that worked out fine. Thanks for your post!
Lodger is underrated and very innovative Steve. Never a dull moment on that record, one of my favourites. Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment.
My pleasure! Top album, yeah.
Steve I am commenting on your Downtown Train post but not appearing in the comments (this is a common problem for me). Do you have a filter on?
Thanks for letting me know; I’ve gone in and pulled those out. The spam filter is usually pretty good but once in a while captures legit comments. Yours is only the second or third time in over 880 posts.
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