"China Girl" is a song written by

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the " Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band The Stooges, who w ...

and

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

during their years in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

, first appearing on Pop's debut solo album ''

The Idiot ''The Idiot'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Идиот, Idiót) is a novel by the 19th-century Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published serially in the journal ''The Russian Messenger'' in 1868–69. The title is an ...

'' (1977). The song became more widely known when it was re-recorded by Bowie, who released it as the second single from his most commercially successful album, '' Let's Dance'' (1983). The UK single release of Bowie's version reached No. 2 for one week on 14 June 1983, while the US release reached No. 10.

Original recording

Paul Trynka Paul Trynka is a British rock journalist and author. He was the editor of the music magazine ''Mojo'' from 1999 to 2003, and has also worked as editorial director of '' Q'' and editor of ''International Musician''. In 2004, he edited publisher D ...

, the author of the David Bowie biography, ''Starman'', explains the song was inspired by Iggy Pop's infatuation with Kuelan Nguyen, a Vietnamese woman, as a metaphor for his Stooges career. As for production, the original recording that appeared on ''The Idiot'' is raw and unpolished compared to Bowie's hit remake in 1983.

Nile Rodgers Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, record producer and composer. The co-founder of Chic, Rodgers has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 500 million albums and 75 million ...

, the producer of David Bowie's 1983 version of the song, offered his own interpretation of the lyrics: "I figured China Girl was about doing drugs ... because China is China White which is heroin, girl is cocaine. I thought it was a song about

speedballing Speedball (or powerball) is a polydrug mixture of a stimulant (most often cocaine or amphetamine) with an opioid (heroin, morphine, and/or fentanyl) that may be taken intravenously or by nasal insufflation. Original speedball combinations used ...

. I thought, in the drug community in New York, coke is girl, and heroin is boy. So then I proceeded to do this arrangement which was ultra pop. Because I thought that, being David Bowie, he would appreciate the irony of doing something so pop about something so taboo. And what was really cool was that he said 'I love that!'."

Track listing

#"China Girl" (Edit) (David Bowie, Iggy Pop) – 3:26 #"Baby" (Bowie, Pop) – 3:24

David Bowie version

Music video

The music video, featuring New Zealand model Geeling Ng, was directed by David Mallet and shot mainly in the Chinatown district of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

, Australia. Along with his previous single's video for " Let's Dance" with the critique of racism in Australia, Bowie described the video as a "very simple, very direct" statement against racism. The video consciously parodies Asian female stereotypes. It depicts a hypermasculine protagonist in an interracial romance. The original video release includes the two lying naked in the surf (a reference to the film ''

From Here to Eternity ''From Here to Eternity'' is a 1953 American drama romance war film directed by Fred Zinnemann, and written by Daniel Taradash, based on the 1951 novel of the same name by James Jones. The picture deals with the tribulations of three U.S. A ...

''). Unedited versions were banned from New Zealand and some other countries at the time. The uncensored version was issued on the 1984 "Video EP" issued by

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

Betamax Betamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975, ...

, VHS, and

LaserDisc The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diameter typical ...

. Versions of the video included on subsequent video and DVD compilations (including EMI/

Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

's ''

Best of Bowie ''Best of Bowie'' is a 2002 greatest hits album by English recording artist David Bowie. Released in October after the critical and commercial success of the ''Heathen'' album released four months earlier, the songs range from his second al ...

'') are censored to remove the nudity. The original video went on to win an

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

video award for

Best Male Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video was one of four original general awards that have been handed out every year since the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. In 2007, though, the award was briefly renamed Male Artist of the Year, and ...

Reception

BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, the childr ...

reviewer

David Quantick David Quantick (born 14 May 1961) is an English novelist, comedy writer and critic, who has worked as a journalist and screenwriter. A former freelance writer for the music magazine '' NME'', his writing credits have included ''On the Hour'', '' ...

acknowledged the effect of

's production on the song, arguing that "nobody but Rodgers could have taken a song like 'China Girl', with its paranoid references to 'visions of

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. I ...

s', and turned it into a sweet, romantic hit single." The success of Bowie's cover reportedly led to Pop gaining financial stability via his co-writer residuals. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' said that it provided "a nice balance to the controlled frenzy of" Bowie's previous single " Let's Dance" with its "softer vocals and minimal instrumentation" and also said that the song is "neatly ramed by "an oriental-style riff."

Live performances

The song was regularly included in Bowie's live shows for the rest of the 1980s and appeared on concert videos in 1983 and 1988 – '' Serious Moonlight'' and ''

Glass Spider ''Glass Spider'' is a concert film by English singer David Bowie. The release was sourced from eight shows during the first two weeks of November 1987 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in Australia during the last month of the Glass Spider Tour ...

'', respectively. It was rehearsed for Bowie's appearance at the 1985

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Live Aid Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...

concert but was dropped due to time constraints, along with the songs "

Fascination Fascination may refer to: Music *"Fascination", a stride piano composition by James P. Johnson recorded in 1917 (as a piano roll) and 1939 (acoustic) *''Fascination!'', a 1983 album by The Human League **"(Keep Feeling) Fascination", a 1983 song ...

" and " Five Years". Additional live versions of the song appear on 2009's release of a 1999 performance for '' VH1 Storytellers'', on a 2010 release, entitled ''

A Reality Tour A Reality Tour was a worldwide concert tour by David Bowie in support of the ''Reality'' album. The tour began on 7 October 2003 at the Forum Copenhagen, Denmark, continuing through Europe, North America, Asia, including a return to New Zealan ...

'', recorded at Bowie's November 2003 concerts in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, Ireland, and on 2018's '' Glastonbury 2000'', recorded at the

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

in June 2000.

Track listing

;7-inch single #"China Girl" (Edit) (

) – 4:14 #"Shake It" (Bowie) – 3:49 ;12-inch single #"China Girl" (Bowie, Pop) – 5:32 #"Shake It" (Re-Mix) (Bowie) – 5:21

Personnel

''The Idiot'' version

– vocals *

– synthesizers, saxophone and toy piano * Phil Palmer – lead guitar *

Carlos Alomar Carlos Alomar (born 7 May 1951) is a Puerto Rican guitarist. He is best known for his work with David Bowie from the mid-1970s to the early 2000s, having played on more Bowie albums than any musician other than pianist Mike Garson. He has als ...

– rhythm guitar * George Murray – bass *

Dennis Davis Dennis Davis (August 28, 1949 – April 6, 2016) was an American drummer and session musician best known for his work with David Bowie, playing on ten albums - including seven successive studio albums - during the singer's classic mid- and la ...

– drums

''Let's Dance'' version

– voices *

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, ...

– lead guitar *

– rhythm guitar *

Carmine Rojas Carmine Rojas (February 14, 1953) is an American bass guitarist, musical director and composer. His musical styles include rock, R&B/funk, and jazz. Music career Early years, as sideman Born in Brooklyn, Rojas toured the world with David Bowie ...

– bass *

Robert Sabino Robert Sabino is an American rock keyboardist.(14 July 1996)Star Turns From a Home in the Firehouse ''The New York Times'' ("Mr. Sabino, a well-known keyboardist, attracted a record producer, Nile Rodgers, who lived in Fairfield County, to some o ...

– synthesizers *

Omar Hakim Omar Hakim (born February 12, 1959) is an American jazz, jazz fusion and pop music drummer, producer, arranger and composer. He has worked with Weather Report, David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Sting, Madonna, Dire Straits, Bryan Ferry, Journey, Kate ...

– drums Production *Nile Rodgers – producer

Chart performance (David Bowie version)

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications (David Bowie version)

Other releases

* The song has appeared on the following Bowie compilations: ** ''

Changesbowie ''Changesbowie'' is a compilation album by English rock musician David Bowie, released by Rykodisc in the US and by EMI in the UK in 1990. The compilation was part of Rykodisc's remastered Bowie reissue series, replacing the deleted RCA Records ...

'' (1990) ** '' The Singles Collection'' (1993, released as ''Bowie: The Singles 1969–1993'' in the United States) ** ''

'' (2002) ** ''

The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987 ''The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987'' is a compilation album by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. The CD was originally released by EMI as part of '' The Platinum Collection'' in 2005/2006. The 2007 release is part of EMI's two-disc ''Sight ...

'' (2007) ** ''

Nothing Has Changed ''Nothing Has Changed'' (stylised as ''Nothing has changed.'') is a compilation album by English musician David Bowie. It was released on 18 November 2014 through Parlophone in the United Kingdom, and Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings in ...

'' (2014) ** '' Bowie Legacy'' (2016) ** ''

Loving the Alien (1983–1988) ''Loving the Alien (1983–1988)'' is a box set by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, released on 12 October 2018. A follow-up to the compilations ''Five Years (1969–1973)'', ''Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976)'', and ''A New Career in a ...

'' (2018) * The soundtrack for the film ''

The Wedding Singer ''The Wedding Singer'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Coraci, written by Tim Herlihy, and produced by Robert Simonds and Jack Giarraputo. The film stars Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, and Christine Taylor, and tell ...

'' featured "China Girl" * The original Iggy Pop version is included on Pop's compilation '' A Million in Prizes: The Anthology''

Later versions

* James Cook – ''Ashes to Ashes: A Tribute to David Bowie'' (1998) * Tripwires – ''Under the Covers'' (

compilation album A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...

) (2014)

References

Sources *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:China Girl (Song) 1977 singles 1983 singles David Bowie songs MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video Iggy Pop songs Songs written by David Bowie Songs written by Iggy Pop Song recordings produced by David Bowie Song recordings produced by Nile Rodgers Songs against racism and xenophobia British new wave songs 1977 songs RCA Records singles EMI Records singles EMI America Records singles Songs about China Songs about East Asian people Music videos directed by David Mallet (director)