“Putting on the black tie, cranking out the white noise”
David Bowie’s 22nd studio album, Black Tie White Noise (BTWN), was released this day in 1993 in the UK. (April 6th in the US)
The LP not only reunited Bowie with producer Nile Rodgers but also with the #1 album spot in the UK, which had evaded him for the release of a studio album since 1984’s Tonight. It was a feat not repeated till The Next Day (TND) in 2013, though the five studio albums in the intervening 20 years between BTWN and TND were all top 10, mostly top 5.
If you’ve not listened for a while, it really is worth revisiting the album. Aside from a clutch of great singles: Black Tie White Noise (Featuring Al B. Sure!), Jump They Say and Miracle Goodnight, the album also featured the Scott Walkeresque You’ve Been Around, Nite Flights (a Scott Walker original) and the charming Don’t Let Me Down & Down.
BTWN also reunited Bowie with Mick Ronson for a track they hadn’t played together for over 20 years, Cream’s I Feel Free. Sadly, Mick passed soon after the album’s release.
Bowie wrote The Wedding for his and Iman's 1992 wedding ceremony. He later added lyrics to this instrumental for The Wedding Song. These pieces were the trigger for making the album and they opened and closed it.
The version we’re pointing to on Spotify doesn’t include Lucy Can’t Dance, which some might consider a bonus. ;-)
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