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Jump They Say

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"Jump They Say"
Single by David Bowie
from the album Black Tie White Noise
B-side"Pallas Athena" (Don't Stop Praying mix)
Released15 March 1993 (1993-03-15)[1]
RecordedApril–November 1992[2]
Studio
GenreProgressive house[3]
Length
  • 4:22 (album version)
  • 3:53 (radio edit)
LabelArista
Songwriter(s)David Bowie
Producer(s)Nile Rodgers
David Bowie singles chronology
"Real Cool World"
(1992) 		"Jump They Say"
(1993) 		"Black Tie White Noise"
(1993)
Music video
"Jump They Say" on YouTube

"Jump They Say" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie from his 18th album Black Tie White Noise (1993). It was written by Bowie, produced by Nile Rodgers and released as the first single from the album in March 1993 by Arista Records. While Bowie opted not to tour for the Black Tie White Noise album, the song was performed on his 1995–96 Outside Tour and released as part of the live concert No Trendy Réchauffé (Live Birmingham 95) (2020). The accompanying music video for "Jump They Say" was directed by Mark Romanek and received heavy rotation on MTV Europe.[4]

Background and style

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The song dealt with Bowie's feelings for his schizophrenic half-brother Terry Burns, who had died by suicide on 16 January 1985 when he walked in front of a train at Coulsdon South railway station, having previously been held in Cane Hill Hospital.[5][6] Lyrically, the song is loosely based on Burns and Bowie's relationship with and memories of him.[5] Musically, the influence of Nile Rodgers led to a funk-based sound, though the track was also influenced by contemporary jazz, with a solo from avant-jazz trumpeter Lester Bowie.

Promotion

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Released on 15 March 1993 as the lead-off single,[2] "Jump They Say" received a considerable promotional push from Bowie's new label, Savage Records (though Arista Records distributed the package in Europe). A striking video was shot by Mark Romanek, depicting Bowie as a businessman paranoid of his colleagues, who seemingly conduct experiments on him and find him a disturbing influence, forcing him to jump from the roof of the corporate building to his death. The video is heavily influenced by Jean-Luc Godard's 1965 film Alphaville, Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971), as well as Chris Marker's film La Jetée and Orson Welles' The Trial – both from 1962. The uniformed women shown monitoring Bowie through high powered telescopes are an homage to the stewardesses in the Pan-Am space plane in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). The video received heavy rotation on MTV Europe,[4] and was praised by Entertainment Weekly after Bowie died in 2016, saying "Bowie is an excellent actor, and this video may be his best character performance in a music video."[7]

Chart performance

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The song, while not Bowie's first release since Tin Machine, was pushed as a comeback single, and reached No. 9 in the UK charts – Bowie's only top 10 single between 1986's "Absolute Beginners" and 2013's "Where Are We Now?".[8]

Critical reception

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Upon the release, Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "Peek into Bowie's first solo album in eons is a kinetic pop/funk throwdown. That incomparable voice wafts over a barrage of jangly guitars, wriggling rhythms, and jolting horns. New collaboration with "Let's Dance" co-producer Nile Rodgers has the potential to meet with similar top 40 approval, although innovative batch of remixes is already shaping up to be a club favorite here and abroad. A most welcome return."[9] Jon Selzer from Melody Maker complimented the song as "sophisticated, mock-wayward funk, pretending it's balancing precariously over a tightrope when it's really on solid ground." He added that it's "by far the best thing he's done" since "Let's Dance".[10] Alan Jones from Music Week named it Pick of the Week, describing it as "a typical theatrically crooned throwback to his glory days", and adding, "Club-goers will glory in the Brothers In Rhythm/Leftfield mixes which drag it on to the dancefloor."[11] Parry Gettelman from Orlando Sentinel felt that jazz trumpet player Lester Bowie's brief entrance "enlivens the otherwise pastel "Jump They Say", which recurs as a remix toward the end of the album."[12] A reviewer from Philadelphia Inquirer constated that Bowie "reaffirms his commitment to arty dance-rock",[13] while Reading Evening Post complimented the song is "surprisingly good".[14] James Hamilton from the Record Mirror Dance Update noted "his droning adenoidal vocal".[15]

In a 2017 retrospective review, Quentin Harrison from Albumism noted that "that romantic energy" from Bowie's marriage to Iman "put a skip in the sonic step of some of the set's darker material", like "Jump They Say". He saw the song lyrically "engage with the personal conflicts that matter to Bowie."[16] Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic remarked the "paranoid jumble" of the song, naming it one of the "moments" from the album, that "are the first in a long time to feel classically Bowie".[17]

Track listing

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Live performances

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Bowie performed the song live on the Arsenio Hall Show in May 1993, and it was performed occasionally on his Outside Tour of 1995–96.[5] A live version of the song was released on the concert album No Trendy Réchauffé (Live Birmingham 95) (2020).

Other releases

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The radio edit version has appeared on some editions of the compilations Bowie: The Singles 1969–1993 (1993), Best of Bowie (2002), Nothing Has Changed (2014), and Bowie Legacy (2016). The Leftfield 12" vocal mix was released on a UK limited release of the single "Little Wonder" in January 1997. The "JAE-E edit" (called "alternate mix") was released as a bonus track on the CD-version of Black Tie White Noise. On the bonus disc following the 10th anniversary edition of Black Tie White Noise, three remixes of "Jump They Say" appeared: "Rock Mix", "Brothers in Rhythm 12" Remix" and "Dub Oddity".

Personnel

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According to Chris O'Leary:[5]

Technical

  • David Bowie – producer
  • Nile Rodgers – producer
  • Jon Goldberger, Gary Tole, Andrew Grassi – engineering

Charts

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References

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  1. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 13 March 1993. p. 17.
  2. ^ a b O'Leary 2019, p. 349.
  3. ^ "David Bowie – Jump They Say (1993, CD2, CD)". Discogs. 30 August 1993.
  4. ^ a b "Station Reports > MTV Europe/London" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 19. 8 May 1993. p. 21. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d O'Leary 2019, pp. 349–350.
  6. ^ Pegg, Nicholas. The Complete David Bowie. p. 120.
  7. ^ Anderson, Kyle (11 January 2016). "David Bowie's 20 best music videos". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  8. ^ O'Leary 2019, p. 350.
  9. ^ Flick, Larry (27 March 1993). "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. p. 82. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  10. ^ Selzer, Jon (20 March 1993). "Singles". Melody Maker. p. 26. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  11. ^ Jones, Alan (20 March 1993). "Market Preview: Mainstream – Singles – Pick of the Week" (PDF). Music Week. p. 6. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  12. ^ Gettelman, Parry (16 April 1993). "David Bowie". Orlando Sentinel.
  13. ^ "Bowie Goes Solo to Win Back Those He Alienated". Philadelphia Inquirer. 6 April 1993.
  14. ^ Reading Evening Post. 18 March 1993. p. 23.
  15. ^ Hamilton, James (13 March 1993). "Djdirectory" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 7. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  16. ^ Harrison, Quentin (6 December 2017). "Lest We Forget: Revisiting David Bowie's 1993 Album 'Black Tie White Noise'". Albumism. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  17. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "David Bowie – Black Tie White Noise". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  18. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  19. ^ "David Bowie – Jump They Say" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  20. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 1744." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  21. ^ "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 17. 24 April 1993. p. 24. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  22. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 14. 3 April 1993. p. 19. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  23. ^ "EHR Top 40" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 18. 1 May 1993. p. 26. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  24. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava.
  25. ^ "David Bowie – Jump They Say" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  26. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Jump They Say". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  27. ^ "Regional EHR Top 20: South" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 13. 27 March 1993. p. 31.
  28. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 17, 1993" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  29. ^ "David Bowie – Jump They Say" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  30. ^ "David Bowie – Jump They Say". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  31. ^ "David Bowie – Jump They Say". VG-lista. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  32. ^ "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 14. 3 April 1993. p. 20. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  33. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  34. ^ "David Bowie – Jump They Say". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  35. ^ "David Bowie – Jump They Say". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  36. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  37. ^ "Top 50 Airplay Chart" (PDF). Music Week. 10 April 1993. p. 16. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  38. ^ "Top 60 Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 27 March 1993. p. 28. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  39. ^ "The RM Club Chart" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). 27 March 1993. p. 4. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  40. ^ "David Bowie Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  41. ^ "David Bowie Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  42. ^ "David Bowie Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  43. ^ "The RM Club Chart 93" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental insert). 25 December 1993. p. 4. Retrieved 3 February 2023.

Bibliography

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