Black Tie White Noise (song)
"Black Tie White Noise" is the title track from David Bowie's 1993 album. Featuring guest vocals by Al B. Sure!, it was released as a second single from the album in June 1993.
The track was inspired by Bowie's stay in Los Angeles in April 1992, when the city saw race riots in reaction to the Rodney King incident. It is the epitome of its parent album's feelings towards conformity and corporations, with Benetton and the saccharine charity single "We Are the World" among the targets. Bowie would later explain that the track was concerned with the black community's own identity, and how it didn't need to be absorbed into the white community.
It is among the most jazz and soul influenced tracks on the album, highlighted by the key vocal of Al B. Sure!, although Lenny Kravitz was reportedly Bowie's first choice for the duet. Essentially a Rhythm and Blues tune, the song ultimately reinforced the feeling of Bowie's tendency as a chameleon of musical styles.
Released as the album's second single, "Black Tie White Noise" was something of a disappointment commercially, stalling at #36 in the UK, and again failing to chart in America despite a concerted promotional push. Audiences were perhaps confused by Bowie's latest departure of style and already somewhat skeptical given the breakup of Tin Machine, despite the promise that his solo career was over.
A music video for this piece was produced by Mark Romanek, featuring a montage of African-American youth playing in urban Los Angeles, while intercut with scenes of Bowie in a blue suit with his saxophone and Al B. Sure! singing. The music video attempted to capture Bowie's image behind the song: multiple ethnic groups coexisting with their own identities, and not attempting to absorb one another.
Read more about Black Tie White Noise (song): Production Credits, Other Releases, Cover Versions
Famous quotes containing the words black, tie, white and/or noise:
“I’m afraid to look in the mirror. I’m afraid I’m going to see an old lady with white hair, just like the old ladies in the park. A little bundle in a black shawl just waiting for the coffin.”
—Paddy Chayefsky (1923–1981)
“In the multitude of middle-aged men who go about their vocations in a daily course determined for them much in the same way as the tie of their cravats, there is always a good number who once meant to shape their own deeds and alter the world a little.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“A decent chap, a real good sort,
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A brick, a trump, a proper sport,
Head and shoulders above the rest;
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Had he not been here below?
Here’s to the whitest man I know
Though white is not my favourite colour.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
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—Unknown. I Heard a Noise and Wishèd for a Sight (l. 13–18)