Album · 55 years old this year
Hunky Dory
Hunky Dory is David Bowie's fourth studio album, released on 17 December 1971 by RCA. After a break from touring and recording, he wrote the songs at the piano rather than the guitar, which gave the record a warmer, more melodic pop rock and art pop feel than the hard-edged The Man Who Sold the World. He recorded it at Trident Studios in London with Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey, co-producing with Ken Scott. Rick Wakeman added piano shortly before joining Yes.
The songs range widely: "Changes" considers the pull of artistic reinvention, "Oh! You Pretty Things" and "Quicksand" touch on occultism and Nietzsche, and there are tributes to Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan and Lou Reed. "Kooks" was written for his newborn son, Duncan. RCA promoted it lightly and it missed the charts at first, but after Ziggy Stardust broke through in 1972 it climbed to number three in the UK. It is often seen as the record where Bowie truly finds his voice.
Hunky Dory: tracklist, credits and charts
11 tracks · 41:40Tracklist
- 1ChangesDavid Bowie and Daniel Licht3:37
- 2Oh! You Pretty ThingsDavid Bowie3:12
- 3Eight Line PoemDavid Bowie2:56
- 4Life on Mars?David Bowie3:54
- 5KooksDavid Bowie2:53
- 6QuicksandDavid Bowie5:07
- 7Fill Your HeartBiff Rose and Paul Williams3:07
- 8Andy WarholDavid Bowie3:57
- 9Song for Bob DylanDavid Bowie4:12
- 10Queen BitchDavid Bowie3:19
- 11The Bewlay BrothersDavid Bowie5:24
- Produced by
- David Bowie, Ken Scott
- Recorded at
- Trident Studios (London)
- Recorded
- 8 June – 6 August 1971
- Mixed by
- Ken Scott
- Engineered by
- Ken Scott
- Labels
- RCA, RCA Victor
- Length
- 41:40
Line-up
- Trevor Bolder · bass guitar, trumpet
- David Bowie · saxophone, background vocals, lead vocals, handclaps, piano, 12 string guitar, spoken vocals
- Mick Ronson · electric guitar, background vocals, handclaps, mellotron, acoustic guitar, percussion, guitar
- Rick Wakeman · piano
- Mick Woodmansey · drums (drum set)
- Ken Scott · synthesizer, spoken vocals · guest
Singles
- “Changes" / "Andy Warhol” · 7 January 1972
- “Life on Mars?” · 22 June 1973
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1972 | 3 |
| US Billboard 200 · 2016 | 57 |
| US Catalog Albums · 2016 | 4 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) · 1972 | 15 |
| Swedish Albums · 2016 | 16 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) · 2016 | 23 |
| Ireland 2 · 2002 | 24 |
| Danish Albums · 2016 | 26 |
| New Zealand Albums (RIANZ) · 2016 | 30 |
| Hungarian Albums · 2022 | 31 |
All 17 charts
| Swiss Albums · 2016 | 32 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1972 | 39 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) · 2016 | 43 |
| Austrian Albums · 2016 | 52 |
| German Albums · 2022 | 53 |
| Italian Albums · 2016 | 56 |
| French Albums · 2016 | 62 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Denmark · 2025 | Gold |
| Italy · 2023 | Gold |
| New Zealand · 2024 | Gold |
| United Kingdom | Platinum |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
95.1
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
12k
ListenBrainz listeners
236k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
61k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 17 December
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
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
Black Tie White Noise
1993
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 1971
All of 1971 →![[Led Zeppelin IV] by Led Zeppelin, album cover](/img/2e61da88-39e9-3473-81d2-c964cb394952/300)
[Led Zeppelin IV]
Led Zeppelin · 1971
Sticky Fingers
The Rolling Stones · 1971
Meddle
Pink Floyd · 1971
Satisfacción
The Rolling Stones · 1971
You Better Move On / Poison Ivy / By Bye Johnny / Money
The Rolling Stones · 1971
Jumpin' Jack Flash
The Rolling Stones · 1971
Street Fighting Man
The Rolling Stones · 1971
If You Need Me / Empty Heart / Confessin’ the Blues / Around and Around
The Rolling Stones · 1971
Azucar Morena
The Rolling Stones · 1971
Who’s Next
The Who · 1971
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones · 1971
Master of Reality
Black Sabbath · 1971
More on RCA
The label →Scary Monsters… and Super Creeps
David Bowie · 1980
“Heroes”
David Bowie · 1977
Rebel Rebel / Queen Bitch / Sorrow / Amsterdam
David Bowie · 1973
Low
David Bowie · 1977
There Is Nothing Left to Lose
Foo Fighters · 1999
Wasting Light
Foo Fighters · 2011
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Foo Fighters · 2007
Diamond Dogs
David Bowie · 1974
Young Americans
David Bowie · 1975
One by One
Foo Fighters · 2002
Fear Inoculum
Tool · 2019
Pin Ups
David Bowie · 1973
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
Wikipedia's note: Some sources give the release date as 17November 1971 in the UK and 4December in the US. According to Chris O'Leary, the US date was before the UK one, although he questions Billboard reported date of Saturday, 4December. He does, however, clarify the UK date as 17December.
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 17 December 1971 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 17 December 1971 | see Wikipedia note |
| Wikidata | 17 December 1971 | |
| US release | December 1971 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 17 December 1971 | earliest UK or European date |
34 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | US | EMI | 724352189953 | remaster |
| — | US | RCA | other | |
| December 1971 | US | RCA | other | |
| December 1971 | NZ | RCA Victor | other | |
| 17 December 1971 | GB | RCA Victor | original | |
| 1977 | DE | RCA Victor | other | |
| 1980 | GB | RCA International | other | |
| 1981 | IT | RCA | other | |
| October 1984 | XE | RCA | 0035628462329 | other |
| October 1984 | US | RCA | 078635462326 | other |
| 1990 | GB | EMI | 0077779184323 | other |
| 1990 | US | Rykodisc | remaster | |
| 1990 | US | Ryko Analogue | remaster | |
| April 1990 | GB | EMI | 0077779184323 | other |
| 2 July 1996 | US | Rykodisc | 014431813320 | other |
| 1997 | GB | EMI | 724382144915 | other |
| September 1999 | XE | EMI | 724352189908 | other |
| 6 September 1999 | XW | EMI | 724352189908 | other |
| 28 September 1999 | US | Virgin Records America, Inc. | 724352189908 | other |
| 29 September 1999 | JP | 東芝EMI 株式会社 | 4988006775084 | other |
| 6 July 2005 | JP | 東芝EMI 株式会社 | 4988006831773 | other |
| 10 January 2007 | JP | EMI | 4988006849792 | other |
| 28 October 2009 | JP | EMI Music Japan Inc. | 4988006875982 | other |
| 2014 | XE | Parlophone | 724352189908 | other |
| 2015 | XE | Parlophone | 0825646283439 | other |
| 2015 | AU | Parlophone | 9397601004935 | other |
| 2015 | US | Parlophone | 825646283439 | other |
| 25 September 2015 | XW | Parlophone | 825646286058 | other |
| 25 September 2015 | XW | Jones Music | 825646288403 | remaster |
| 25 September 2015 | XW | — | other | |
| 25 September 2015 | XW | Parlophone | 825646286034 | remaster |
| 25 September 2015 | XW | Parlophone | 825646286041 | other |
| 26 February 2016 | XW | Parlophone | 825646289448 | other |
| 26 May 2017 | XE | Parlophone | 0190295833923 | other |
Cover art sources
deezer · native: native 1800x1800
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1800×1800 | native: native 1800x1800 |
| coverartarchive | 1425×1425 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |