China Girl (song)

"China Girl"
Single by David Bowie
from the album Let's Dance
B-side	"Shake It"
Released	May 1983
Format	7"/12" single
Recorded	Power Station, New York, December 1982
Genre	Rock, pop, dance
Length	5:32 (album version) 4:14 (single edit)
Label	EMI America Records EA157
Writer(s)	David Bowie, Iggy Pop
Producer	Nile Rodgers
David Bowie singles chronology
"Let's Dance" (1983) "China Girl'" (1983) "Modern Love" (1983)
Let's Dance track listing "Modern Love" (1) "China Girl" (2) "Let's Dance" (3)

"China Girl" is a song co-written by David Bowie and Iggy Pop during their years in Berlin, first appearing on Pop's album The Idiot (1977). It was more widely popularized when it was rerecorded and released by Bowie on his album Let's Dance (1983). Bowie decided to put the song on his album when Pop, his friend and musical collaborator, was in financial straits (due to his struggle with drug addiction) and was close to facing bankruptcy. Bowie decided to release the song on Let's Dance so that Pop could collect half the royalties (as co-writer of the track) and get back on his feet financially.^{[citation needed]}

An edit of David Bowie's 1983 version was also released as a single.

Under the auspices of Nile Rodgers, the song was given a much more commercial sheen than Pop's darker, more roughly-produced version.

Stevie Ray Vaughan is responsible for some of the guitar work on this track.

The song was again edited for single release, but attracted more attention for its striking video.

The UK single release reached #2 for one week on June 14, 1983, being kept off the top position by "Every Breath You Take" by The Police. The US release reached #10.

The song was a regular for Bowie's live shows for the rest of the 1980s and was even rehearsed for his appearance at the 1985 London Live Aid concert but along with the songs "Fascination" and "Five Years" was eventually dropped due to time constraints. The song later resurfaced as a concert favourite from 1999 onwards.

"China Girl" includes portions similar to Frederico de Brito and Ferrer Trindade song "Canção do Mar", that was sung by Amália Rodrigues in the 1955 movie "Os Amantes do Tejo".

Track listing (Bowie remake)

7": EMI America / EA 157 (UK)

1. "China Girl [Edit]" (Bowie, Pop) – 4:14
2. "Shake It" (Bowie) – 3:49

12": EMI America 75038 / 12EA 157 (UK)

1. "China Girl" (Bowie, Pop) – 5:32
2. "Shake It [Re-Mix]" (Bowie) – 5:21

• On the US 12", "Shake It" is called the "Long Version," although it's identical to the UK's "Re-Mix"
• The UK 12" single's cover was slightly different from the US cover (they're mirrors of each other), and the flip side of the UK 12" includes dates for the 1983 Serious Moonlight Tour in the UK (specifically the London, Birmingham, Edinburgh, and Milton Keynes shows).

Chart performance (Bowie remake)

Chart (1983)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	15
Austrian Singles Chart	2
Canadian Singles Chart	2
Dutch Singles Chart	5
Irish Singles Chart	2
German Singles Chart	6
Norwegian Singles Chart	7
Swedish Singles Chart	5
Swiss Singles Chart	1
U.K. Singles Chart	2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	10
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play (charted together with "Shake It")	51
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	3

Production credits (Pop original)

Musicians

• Iggy Pop – vocals
• David Bowie – keyboards, synthesizer, guitar, piano, saxophone, xylophone, backing vocals
• Carlos Alomar – guitar
• Dennis Davis – drums
• George Murray – bass
• Phil Palmer – guitar
• Michel Santangeli – drums
• Laurent Thibault – bass

Production credits (Bowie remake)

Producer

• Nile Rodgers

Musicians

• David Bowie: Vocals
• Stevie Ray Vaughan: Guitar
• Nile Rodgers: Guitar
• Carmine Rojas: Bass
• Omar Hakim, Tony Thompson: Drums
• Rob Sabino: Keyboards
• Mac Gollehon: Trumpet
• Robert Aaron, Stan Harrison, Steve Elson: Saxophone
• Sam Figueroa: Percussion

Music video (Bowie remake)

The music video was directed by David Mallet and is shot mainly in the Chinatown district of Sydney, Australia and on a houseboat on Sydney Harbour featured Geeling Ng lying naked in the surf with Bowie (a visual reference to the film From Here to Eternity). The latter's bared buttocks caused the video to generate some lurid tabloid headlines, though the video went on to win an MTV award. Versions of the video included on subsequent video and DVD compilations are slightly censored.

Other releases

• It appeared on the following compilations:
  • Changesbowie (1990)
  • Bowie: The Singles 1969-1993 (1993)
  • The Singles Collection (1993)
  • Best of Bowie (2002)
  • The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987 (2007)
• The soundtrack for the film The Wedding Singer featured "China Girl".
• The original Iggy Pop version is included in Pop's compilation A Million in Prizes: The Anthology.

Cover versions

• Nick Cave - Live recording in Melbourne, 1978.
• James - Single (1998)
• Ziggy Stardust - Ashes to Ashes: A Tribute to David Bowie (1998)^{[citation needed]}
• Trance To The Sun -Goth Oddity: A Tribute to David Bowie (1999)
• Anna Ternheim - Shoreline EP (2005)
• Voltaire - Zombie Prostitute... (2006), and on .2 Contamination: A Tribute to David Bowie (2006)
• Pete Yorn - Musicforthemorningafter (Bonus CD) (2001)
• Johny Dey - Hero: The Main Man Records Tribute to David Bowie (2007)
• The Tragically Hip - During "New Orleans is Sinking" on Live Between Us a verse of "China Girl" is sung.
• Scars on Broadway - Live with altered lyrics^{[citation needed]}
• System of a Down - Live with altered lyrics^{[citation needed]}
• The White Stripes - Live^{[citation needed]}
• Alejandro Sokol - Live^{[citation needed]}

References

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