Album
Black Tie White Noise
Black Tie White Noise is David Bowie's eighteenth studio album, released on 5 April 1993. It arrived after his marriage to Iman and the break-up of his band Tin Machine, and was recorded through most of 1992 in Montreux, Los Angeles and New York. Bowie co-produced with Nile Rodgers, his partner on Let's Dance, and brought in Mike Garson, Mick Ronson, Lester Bowie and Chico O'Farrill as guests. The title track grew out of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
The songs move between racial harmony and his new marriage, with plenty of Bowie's own saxophone and a restless mix of art rock, electronic, soul, jazz, pop and hip-hop. There are instrumentals and covers too, and the lead single "Jump They Say" nods to his step-brother Terry. Critics found it adventurous but uneven, yet it went straight to number one in the UK and began Bowie's recovery after some poorly received years.
Black Tie White Noise: tracklist, credits and charts
14 tracks · 1:07:25Tracklist
- 1The WeddingDavid Bowie5:04
- 2You’ve Been AroundDavid Bowie and Reeves Gabrels4:44
- 3I Feel FreeJack Bruce and Pete Brown4:52
- 4Black Tie White NoiseDavid Bowie4:54
- 5Jump They SayDavid Bowie4:23
- 6Nite FlightsScott Walker4:35
- 7Pallas AthenaDavid Bowie4:40
- 8Miracle GoodnightDavid Bowie4:13
- 9Don’t Let Me Down & DownTahra4:53
- 10Looking for LesterDavid Bowie and Nile Rodgers5:37
- 11I Know It’s Gonna Happen SomedayMark Nevin and Morrissey4:07
- 12The Wedding SongDavid Bowie4:36
- 13Don’t Let Me Down & Down (Indonesian vocal)4:56
- 14Lucy Can’t DanceDavid Bowie5:52
- Produced by
- David Bowie, Nile Rodgers
- Recorded at
- 38 Fresh (Los Angeles), The Hit Factory (New York City), Mountain Studios, Mountain (Montreux, Switzerland)
- Recorded
- April–November 1992
- Engineered by
- Jon Goldberger, Andy Grassi, Gary Tole
- Labels
- Savage, Arista
- Length
- 1:07:25
Line-up
- David Bowie · tenor saxophone, background vocals, saxophone, lead vocals
- Richard Hilton · keyboard
- David Richards · keyboard
- Michael Riesman · tubular bells, harp · guest
- Nile Rodgers · guitar, choir vocals
- Philippe Saisse · keyboard
- Richard Tee · keyboard
- Lester Bowie · trumpet
- Reeves Gabrels · guitar · guest
- Gerardo Velez · percussion
- Tawatha Agee · background vocals, choir vocals
- Dennis Collins · background vocals, choir vocals
- Maryel Epps · background vocals, choir vocals
- Curtis King · background vocals, choir vocals
- Fonzi Thornton · background vocals, choir vocals
- Brenda White‐King · background vocals, choir vocals
- Mick Ronson · guitar · guest
- Sterling Campbell · drums (drum set) · guest
- Al B. Sure! · lead vocals · guest
- Mike Garson · piano · guest
- Tony Springer · guitar · guest
- Lamya · choir vocals · guest
- Connie Petruk · choir vocals · guest
- Frank Simms · choir vocals · guest
- George Simms · choir vocals · guest
- David Spinner · choir vocals · guest
Singles
- “Jump They Say” · 15 March 1993
- “Black Tie White Noise” · 1 June 1993
- “Miracle Goodnight” · 11 October 1993
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1993 | 1 |
| US Billboard 200 · 1993 | 39 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1993 | 4 |
| European Albums (European Top 100 Albums) · 1993 | 5 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) · 1993 | 6 |
| Italian Albums (Musica e dischi) · 1993 | 6 |
| Dutch Albums (MegaCharts) · 1993 | 8 |
| New Zealand Albums (RIANZ) · 1993 | 8 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) · 1993 | 8 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1993 | 12 |
All 17 charts
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1993 | 13 |
| French Albums (SNEP) · 1993 | 14 |
| German Albums (Media Control) · 1993 | 15 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria Top 40) · 1993 | 18 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) · 1993 | 18 |
| Swiss Albums (Swiss Hitparade) · 1993 | 18 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) · 1993 | 22 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada | Gold |
| Japan · 1997 | Gold |
| United Kingdom | Gold |
From Wikipedia, MusicBrainz and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
68.4
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
2.4k
ListenBrainz listeners
78k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
1.1k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 5 April
Every year →
More from David Bowie
Full discography →
David Bowie
1967
David Bowie
1969
The World of David Bowie
1970
The Man Who Sold the World
1970
Hunky Dory
1971
Do Anything You Say
1972
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
1972
Rebel Rebel / Queen Bitch / Sorrow / Amsterdam
1973
Images 1966–1967
1973
Aladdin Sane
1973
Pin Ups
1973
Diamond Dogs
1974
David Live
1974
Young Americans
1975
Station to Station
1976
ChangesOneBowie
1976
Low
1977
“Heroes”
1977
David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf
1978
Stage
1978
Lodger
1979
David Bowie
1980
Scary Monsters… and Super Creeps
1980
The Best of Bowie
1980
Christiane F.: Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo
1981
ChangesTwoBowie
1981
In Bertolt Brecht’s Baal
1982
Rare
1982
Supergroups
1983
Serious Moonlight
1983
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars: The Motion Picture Soundtrack
1983
Let’s Dance
1983
Golden Years
1983
Fame and Fashion (David Bowie’s All Time Greatest Hits)
1984
Love You Till Tuesday
1984
Tonight
1984
Labyrinth: From the Original Soundtrack of the Jim Henson Film
1986
Never Let Me Down
1987
Glass Spider
1988
Sound + Vision
1989
Changesbowie
1990
Early On (1964–1966)
1991
The Singles Collection
1993
The Buddha of Suburbia
1993
Live Santa Monica ’72
1994
RarestOneBowie
1995
1.Outside: The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Hyper Cycle
1995
Earthling
1997
The Deram Anthology 1966–1968
1997
The Best of David Bowie 1969/1974
1997
The Best of David Bowie 1974/1979
1998
‘hours…’
1999
Liveandwell.com
2000
Bowie at the Beeb: The Best of the BBC Radio Sessions 68–72
2000
All Saints (Collected Instrumentals 1977–1999)
2001
Heathen
2002
Best of Bowie
2002
Reality
2003
Club Bowie: Rare and Unreleased 12″ Mixes
2003
Live EP (live at Fashion Rocks)
2005
The Collection
2005
The Platinum Collection
2005
Bowie 1965!
2006
The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987
2007
Outside / Earthling / Hours / Heathen / Reality
2007
iSELECT
2008
VH1 Storytellers
2009
Space Oddity
2009
A Reality Tour
2010
The Next Day
2013
Pin-Ups Radio Show
2013
The Next Day Extra EP
2013
Nothing has changed.
2014
Five Years 1969–1973
2015
★
2016
Who Can I Be Now? 1974–1976
2016
Lazarus
2016
Legacy
2016
No Plan
2017
Live Nassau Coliseum ’76
2017
Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles ’74)
2017
A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982)
2017
Welcome to the Blackout (live London ’78)
2018
Loving the Alien (1983–1988)
2018
Glastonbury 2000
2018
Conversation Piece
2019
Is It Any Wonder?
2020
ChangesNowBowie
2020
I’m Only Dancing (The Soul Tour 74)
2020
The Width of a Circle
2021
Toy
2021
Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001)
2021
Brilliant Adventure EP
2022
Toy E.P.
2022
Fun Mix
2022
Moonage Daydream: A Film by Brett Morgen
2022
Divine Symmetry
2022
Rock ’n’ Roll Star!
2024
Ready, Set, Go! (live, Riverside Studios ’03)
2025
I Can’t Give Everything Away (2002–2016)
2025
The Shel Talmy Recordings
2026
The best of 1993
All of 1993 →
In Utero
Nirvana · 1993
Pablo Honey
Radiohead · 1993
Siamese Dream
The Smashing Pumpkins · 1993
Vs.
Pearl Jam · 1993
“The Spaghetti Incident?”
Guns N’ Roses · 1993
Undertow
Tool · 1993
Zooropa
U2 · 1993
August and Everything After
Counting Crows · 1993
Get a Grip
Aerosmith · 1993
Chaos A.D.
Sepultura · 1993
Bloody Kisses
Type O Negative · 1993
Smoke on the Water
Deep Purple · 1993
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 5 April 1993 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 5 April 1993 | |
| Wikidata | 5 April 1993 | |
| US release | 1993 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 5 April 1993 | earliest UK or European date |
13 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | JP | — | other | |
| 1993 | SG | Arista | other | |
| 1993 | GB | EMI | 724358333824 | other |
| 1993 | US | Savage | 747855021223 | other |
| 1993 | NL | Arista | other | |
| April 1993 | AU | Arista | other | |
| April 1993 | XE | Arista | 743211369725 | other |
| 5 April 1993 | XE | Arista | original | |
| 6 August 2003 | XE | EMI | 724358481402 | other |
| 7 August 2003 | US | Virgin | 724359096704 | other |
| 7 August 2003 | US | Virgin | other | |
| 2005 | XE | EMI | 724349063495 | other |
| 2021 | XW | Parlophone | remaster |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · native: native 3000x3000
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 3000×3000 | native: native 3000x3000 |
| deezer | 1800×1800 | native |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |