SUFFRAGETTE CITY

{{Infobox Single
| Name = Suffragette City
| Cover =
| Artist = David Bowie
| from Album = The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
| B-side = "Stay"
| Released = 9 July 1976
| Format = 7" single
| Recorded = Trident Studios, London, January 1972
| Genre = Glam rock
| Length = 3:25
| Label = RCA Records
2726
| Writer =
| Producer = David Bowie, Ken Scott
| Certification =
| Chart position =
| Last single = "TVC 15"
1976
| This single = "Suffragette City”
1976
| Next single = "Sound and Vision"
1977
| Misc =
"'Suffragette City'" is a single by David Bowie.
Originally recorded towards the end of the ''Ziggy Stardust'' sessions, "Suffragette City" is a trademark piece of early 1970s Bowie glam, with a piano riff heavily influenced by Little Richard, a lyrical reference to ''A Clockwork Orange'' (the word "droogie") and the sing-a-long hook "Wham bam thank you ma'am!" the song had become a fixture of Bowie’s live shows, and one of his best known album cuts.
The song is about how a man would rather have sexual encounters with women than help his friends. The word "suffragette" is often seen as a pejorative term from its origins in the early twentieth century, separate from the more positive, all-encompassing term "suffragist." In the song, this usage could reflect the narrator's attitudes towards women as purely sexual and without any other significant value.
In 1976, it was issued as a single to promote the ''ChangesOneBowie'' compilation in the UK, with the US single edit of "Stay" on the B-side. The single failed to chart.

Contents

Track listing

Production credits

Appearances in popular culture

Trivia

Other releases

Live versions

Cover versions

References

Track listing

# "Suffragette City" (Bowie) – 3:25
# "Stay” (Bowie) – 3:21

Production credits

★ Producers:

★
★ Ken Scott on "Suffragette City"

★
★ Harry Maslin on "Stay"

★
★ David Bowie

★ Musicians:

★
★ David Bowie: Vocals, Guitar on "Suffragette City"

★
★ Mick Ronson: Guitar, piano, ARP synthesizer on "Suffragette City"

★
★ Trevor Bolder: Bass on "Suffragette City"

★
★ Mick Woodmansey: Drums on "Suffragette City"

★
★ Carlos Alomar, Earl Slick: Guitar on "Stay"

★
★ George Murray: Bass on "Stay"

★
★ Dennis Davis: Drums on "Stay"

★
★ Roy Bittan: Piano on "Stay"

Appearances in popular culture

★ The song was featured in an episode of ''Gilmore Girls'' in which Jess and his estranged father listen to it and both mouth the words to the line "Wham, bam, thank you ma'am!" It was also mentioned in Lorelei's answering machine message in another episode.

★ It was featured in the games '' and ''Driver 76'', and will appear as a playable master track in the upcoming Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Playstation 2 game ''Rock Band''.

★ British indie band Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine sampled the line "Wham, bam, thank you ma'am!" in their song "Surfin' USM".

Trivia

★ Bowie's own style of saxophone playing couldn't produce the raunchy effect he wanted for the song, so an ARP synthesizer was used instead, imitating a saxophone sound.

★ Although there is a distinct break between the two songs, "Suffragette City" often receives airplay paired with "Ziggy Stardust", the song immediately preceding it on the album.

Other releases

★ It was released as the B-side of the singles "Starman" in April 1972 and "Young Americans" in February 1975.

★ A picture disc release appeared in the RCA ''Life Time'' picture disc set.

★ It also appeared on the following compilations:

★
★ ''The Best of David Bowie'' (Japan 1974)

★
★ ''ChangesOneBowie'' (1976)

★
★ ''Changesbowie'' (1990)

★
★ '' (1993)

★
★ ''The Singles Collection'' (1993)

★
★ ''RarestOneBowie'' (Japan 1995)

★
★ ''The Best of 1969/1974'' (1997)

Live versions

★ Bowie recorded the song for the BBC radio program "Sounds of the 70s: John Peel", and this was broadcast May 23rd, 1972. In 2000 this recording was released on the ''Bowie at the Beeb'' album.

★ A live version recorded at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 20 October 1972 was released on ''Santa Monica '72''.

★ The version played at the famous concert at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, July 3 1973 was released on ''Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture''.

★ A recording from the 1974 tour was released on ''David Live''. This version was also released in the ''Sound + Vision'' box set. Another live recording from the 1974 tour was released on the semi-legal ''A Portrait in Flesh''.

Cover versions

★ Mr. Big - Live recording on "Live at Budokan" (1997)

★ Alice in Chains - ''Sweet Alice'' (1989)

★ Toni Basil - ''Live at the Roxy''

★ Big Audio Dynamite - ''F-Punk'' (1995)

★ Boy George - Live in Detroit, Michigan (1995) and on the album ''The Unrecoupable One Man Bandit'' (1999)

★ Corpus Delicti - ''Goth Oddity - A Tribute to David Bowie'' (1999)

★ Duran Duran - Live recording - ''1980 Birmingham Christmas Show''

★ Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Single (1989)

★ Golden Delicious - ''Crash Course for the Ravers - A Tribute to the Songs of David Bowie'' (1996)

★ Adolf & the Piss Artists - ''Zero Hour'' (2000)

★ The Get Up Kids - ''Eudora'' (2001)

★ Steve Jones - ''Fire and Gasoline'' (1989)

★ Seu Jorge recorded a Portuguese version for the film ''The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou'' (2004)

★ Killer Nannies In America - ''Ashes To Ashes: A Tribute to David Bowie'' (1998)

★ Kyosuke Himuro – Single (1988)

★ L.A. Guns – ''Cuts'' (1992)

★ Of Montreal – Live on March 24, 2007 in Athens, Georgia

★ Hazel O'Connor – Single

★ Red Hot Chili Peppers – B-side to the "Aeroplane" single (1996)

★ Andy Taylor – Single

★ Turbonegro – Single (1998)

★ Wakefield - ''New York Minute'' soundtrack (2004)

★ Wounded Turkey - ''Only Bowie'' (1995)

★ Nerve Agents - "Kill Your Idols / Nerve Agents Split"

★ Storm Large ft. Dave Navarro - ''

★ Vixen - ''Live & Learn'' (2006)

★ Franz Ferdinand & Scissor Sisters V Festival (2005)

★ Tara Slone - ''Just Look Pretty and Sing'' (2007)

★ Poison - ''Poison'd!'' (2007)

References

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