V-2 Schneider

Song infobox
Name = V-2 Schneider
Artist = David Bowie
Album = "Heroes"
Released = October 14 1977
track_no = 6
Recorded = Hansa Studio by the Wall, West Berlin
July-August 1977
Genre = Krautrock, Electronic
Length = 3:10
Label = RCA Records
Writer = David Bowie
Producer = David Bowie, Tony Visconti
prev = "Blackout"
prev_no = 5
next = "Sense of Doubt"
next_no = 7

"V-2 Schneider" is a largely instrumental piece written by David Bowie in 1977 for the album ""Heroes"". It was a tribute to Florian Schneider,Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). "Bowie: An Illustrated Record": p.92] co-founder of the band Kraftwerk, whom Bowie acknowledged as a significant influence at the time. [Nicholas Pegg (2000). "The Complete David Bowie": p.302] The title also referenced the V-2 rocket.

The only words sung are those in the title, initially distorted by phasing.Nicholas Pegg (2000). Op Cit: p.228] Musically the track is unusual for the off-beat saxophone work by Bowie, who kicked off his part on the wrong note but continued regardless.David Buckley (1999). "Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story": p.324] According to biographer David Buckley, "One can almost see the Nazis parading past the control room of the Hansa Studios as the music – insistent, militaristic – tumbles out of the speakers". The studio itself had once been a dance hall, frequented during the war years by the Gestapo.Ian Gittins (2007). "Art Decade", "MOJO 60 Years of Bowie": pp.70-73]

"V-2 Schneider" achieved considerable circulation as the B-side of "Heroes", released prior to the album, but was not played on the subsequent 1978 concert tour, its first live rendition occurring 20 years after it was recorded (see "Live versions").

Live versions

* A live version recorded at Paradiso, Amsterdam in June 1997 was released as the B-side of the single "Pallas Athena" in August 1997, under the name 'Tao Jones Index'. [ [http://www.teenagewildlife.com/Singles/PA1997/Title.html "Pallas Athena"] at Teenage Wildlife. Retrieved 20 May 2007.] This version also appeared on the bonus disc for the "Digibook Expanded Edition" of "Earthling".

Other releases

* It was released as the B-side of the single "Heroes" in September 1977. It also appeared on the German and French versions of the single, and on a four-track Australian single featuring all three versions of "Heroes".
* It appeared on the compilation "Chameleon" (Australia and New Zealand 1979).
* The film "Christiane F." and its soundtrack featured the song.
* It was released as a picture disc in the "RCA Life Time" picture disc set.

Cover versions

* Philip Glass – "Heroes" Symphony" (1996)
* Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps – 2000 repertoire

Notes