| "Kooks" | |
|---|---|
| Song by David Bowie | |
| from the album Hunky Dory | |
| Released | 17 December 1971 |
| Recorded | Summer 1971 |
| Studio | Trident, London |
| Genre | |
| Length | 2:53 |
| Label | RCA |
| Songwriter(s) | David Bowie |
| Producer(s) | Ken Scott, David Bowie |
| Official audio | |
| "Kooks (2015 Remaster)" on YouTube | |
"Kooks" is a song written by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie, which appears on his 1971 album Hunky Dory. Bowie wrote this song to his newborn son Duncan Jones. The song was a pastiche of early 1970s Neil Young because Bowie was listening to a Neil Young record at home on 30 May 1971 when he got the news of the arrival of his son. [2]
Live versions
- Before the studio recording of the song was made, it was recorded for the BBC In Concert radio show with John Peel, on 3 June 1971 (broadcast on 20 June 1971). In 2000 this recording was released on the Bowie at the Beeb album.
- The song was recorded again for the BBC " Sounds of the 70s" radio show with Bob Harris on 21 September 1971 (broadcast on 4 October 1971).
Personnel
- David Bowie: lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar, alto sax
- Mick Ronson: string arrangement
- Trevor Bolder: bass, trumpet
- Mick Woodmansey: drums
- Rick Wakeman: piano
In popular culture
- The first three lines of the song ("Will you stay in our lovers' story / If you stay, you won't be sorry / 'Cause we believe in you") are used as a repeated motif in Miranda July's 2015 novel The First Bad Man
- The British indie band The Kooks named themselves after the song.
- The song appears in the Futurama episode "Children of a Lesser Bog".
References
Notes
-
^ Pitchfork Staff (23 June 2004).
"The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s".
Pitchfork. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
...and primitive twee-pop ("Kooks," "Fill Your Heart").
- ^ Kevin Cann (2010). Any Day Now - David Bowie: The London Years: 1947-1974: p.218
Other sources
- Pegg, Nicholas (0200), The Complete David Bowie, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, ISBN 1-903111-14-5