Up the Hill Backwards

Infobox Single
Name = Up the Hill Backwards


Caption =
Artist = David Bowie
from Album = Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
B-side = "Crystal Japan"
Released = March 1981
Format = 7" single
Recorded = Power Station, New York
Good Earth, London
February–April 1980
Genre = Rock
Length = 3:13
Label = RCA Records
BOW 9
Writer =
Producer = David Bowie, Tony Visconti
Certification =
Chart position = * #32 (UK)
Last single = "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)"
1981
This single = "Up the Hill Backwards"
1981
Next single = "Under Pressure"
1981
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Type = Studio
Album = Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
prev_track = "It's No Game (No. 1)"
prev_no = 1
this_track = "Up the Hill Backwards"
track_no = 2
next_track = "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)"
next_no = 3
Misc = Extra album cover 2
Upper caption = Alternate cover
Type =


Lower caption =

"Up the Hill Backwards" is a song from David Bowie's 1980 album "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)". It was also issued as the fourth and final single from the album in March 1981.

The lyric is often seen as a commentary on the public coverage of his divorce from Angie, one of several tracks on the album that muse over the double-edged sword of celebrity. It has also been interpreted as facing up to crises in general.Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). "Bowie: An Illustrated Record": p.113] Like the previous single, "Scary Monsters", the track featured co-producer Tony Visconti on acoustic guitar.

The B-side was "Crystal Japan", an instrumental recorded in 1980 for a Japanese commercial for the sake Crystal Jun Rock, which also featured an appearance from Bowie. "Teenage Wildlife" was originally slated as the B-side for "Up the Hill Backwards" until Bowie found out the prices fans were paying for the import single of "Crystal Japan", and insisted the track receive a UK release.

The uncommercial nature of "Up the Hill Backwards", combined with the track having been available on the album for the past six months, saw the single stall at #32 in the UK chart. The 12-inch version was distributed with a set of 36 stamps.

Track listing

# "Up the Hill Backwards" (Bowie) – 3:13
# "Crystal Japan" (Bowie) – 3:08

Production credits

* Producers:
** Tony Visconti
** David Bowie

* Musicians:
** David Bowie: Vocals, Keyboards
** Robert Fripp: Guitar
** George Murray: Bass
** Dennis Davis: Drums
** Tony Visconti: Acoustic guitar
** Roy Bittan: Piano

Live versions

The song was featured on the Glass Spider tour and appears in the filmed concert and CD release. It was usually the first song performed, with Carlos Alomar playing a solo and being repeatedly told to "shut up." The dance troupe then engaged in a short conversation ending with the words "wrong stuff" being chanted. Bowie would then emerge from the top of the towering set and commence the spoken interlude introducing the song "Glass Spider".

Other releases

* It was the B-side of the French release of the single "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" in January 1981.
* The "Sound and Vision" box set featured the song.

Notes

References

Pegg, Nicholas, "The Complete David Bowie", Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2000, ISBN 1-903111-14-5