Album
Scary Monsters… and Super Creeps
Scary Monsters… and Super Creeps is David Bowie's fourteenth studio album, released on 12 September 1980 through RCA. It was his first record after the Berlin Trilogy of Low, "Heroes" and Lodger, which had won admiration but sold modestly, and here he aimed for something more commercial. He co-produced with Tony Visconti, recording in New York at the Power Station and then at Good Earth Studios in London.
Where earlier sessions leaned on improvisation, Bowie wrote the music and lyrics beforehand, and the result blends art rock, new wave and post-punk. Robert Fripp and Chuck Hammer add guitar, and Pete Townshend makes a guest appearance. "Ashes to Ashes", the lead single, brought back Major Tom from "Space Oddity" and came with an inventive video. The album topped the UK chart, reached No. 12 in the US, and was Bowie's last for RCA.
Scary Monsters… and Super Creeps: tracklist, credits and charts
10 tracks · 45:10Tracklist
- 1It’s No Game (No. 1)David Bowie4:15
- 2Up the Hill BackwardsDavid Bowie3:14
- 3Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)David Bowie5:10
- 4Ashes to AshesDavid Bowie4:21
- 5FashionDavid Bowie4:45
- 6Teenage WildlifeDavid Bowie6:53
- 7Scream Like a BabyDavid Bowie3:33
- 8Kingdom ComeTom Verlaine3:42
- 9Because You’re YoungDavid Bowie4:57
- 10It’s No Game (No. 2)David Bowie4:20
- Produced by
- David Bowie, Tony Visconti
- Recorded at
- Power Station at BerkleeNYC, Good Earth Studios (London), Power Station (New York City)
- Recorded
- February–April 1980
- Mixed by
- Tony Visconti
- Engineered by
- David Bowie, Tony Visconti
- Labels
- RCA, RCA Victor
- Length
- 45:10
Line-up
- Carlos Alomar · guitar
- David Bowie · piano, background vocals, vocals, keyboard
- Dennis Davis · drums (drum set), ratchet, percussion
- Robert Fripp · guitar
- George Murray · electric bass guitar
- 廣田三知 · spoken vocals, vocals · guest
- Tony Visconti · background vocals, acoustic guitar, vocals, analog synthesizer, percussion, shakers
- Roy Bittan · piano
- Lynn Maitland · vocals, background vocals
- Chris Porter · vocals, background vocals
- Andy Clark · analog synthesizer, Minimoog, synthesizer
- Chuck Hammer · guitar synthesizer · guest
- Pete Townshend · guitar · guest
Singles
- “Ashes to Ashes” · 1 August 1980
- “Fashion” · 24 October 1980
- “Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)” · 2 January 1981
- “Up the Hill Backwards” · March 1981
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1980 | 1 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1980 | 1 |
| French Albums (SNEP) · 1980 | 1 |
| New Zealand Albums (RIANZ) · 1980 | 1 |
| Dutch Albums (MegaCharts) · 1980 | 3 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) · 1980 | 3 |
| Danish Albums (IFPI) · 1980 | 4 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) · 1980 | 4 |
| West German Albums (Media Control) · 1980 | 8 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1980 | 9 |
All 18 charts
| US Billboard Top LPs & Tape · 1980 | 12 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) · 1980 | 20 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) · 1980 | 23 |
| Spanish Albums (Promusicae) · 1980 | 26 |
| Hungarian Albums · 2018 | 27 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1980 | 35 |
| Swiss Albums · 2016 | 75 |
| Italian Albums · 2016 | 81 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Australia · 1981 | Platinum |
| Canada | Platinum |
| France · 1980 | Gold |
| United Kingdom · 1981 | Platinum |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
92.1
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
7.4k
ListenBrainz listeners
168k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
—
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 12 September
Every year →
Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd · 1975
One Hot Minute
Red Hot Chili Peppers · 1995
Death Magnetic
Metallica · 2008
Blizzard of Ozz
Ozzy Osbourne · 1980
Pump
Aerosmith · 1989
Blood Mountain
Mastodon · 2006
A Dramatic Turn of Events
Dream Theater · 2011
Born Again
Black Sabbath · 1983
Fighting
Thin Lizzy · 1975
Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits, Vol. 2)
The Rolling Stones · 1969
Worship Music
Anthrax · 2011
I Can’t Give Everything Away (2002–2016)
David Bowie · 2025
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
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 1980
All of 1980 →
Back in Black
AC/DC · 1980
Blizzard of Ozz
Ozzy Osbourne · 1980
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden · 1980
Seventeen Seconds
The Cure · 1980
Boy
U2 · 1980
Making Movies
Dire Straits · 1980
British Steel
Judas Priest · 1980
Sandinista!
The Clash · 1980
Permanent Waves
Rush · 1980
The Game
Queen · 1980
Emotional Rescue
The Rolling Stones · 1980
Heaven and Hell
Black Sabbath · 1980
More on RCA
The label →Hunky Dory
David Bowie · 1971
“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
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 12 September 1980 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 12 September 1980 | |
| Wikidata | 12 September 1980 | |
| US release | 1980 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 12 September 1980 | earliest UK or European date |
23 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XW | EMI | 724352189557 | deluxe |
| 1980 | ES | RCA | deluxe | |
| 1980 | IT | RCA Victor | deluxe | |
| 1980 | DE | RCA | deluxe | |
| 1980 | FR | RCA | deluxe | |
| 1980 | US | RCA | deluxe | |
| 12 September 1980 | GB | RCA | original | |
| 1984 | US | RCA | 078635364729 | deluxe |
| October 1984 | XE | RCA | 0035628364722 | deluxe |
| 1992 | XE | EMI | 0077779933129 | deluxe |
| 1992 | XE | EMI | 0077779933129 | deluxe |
| 22 May 1992 | US | Rykodisc | 014431014727 | remaster |
| 17 September 1999 | DE | EMI | 0724352189502 | deluxe |
| 2003 | GB | EMI | 0724354331824 | deluxe |
| 7 March 2007 | JP | 東芝EMI 株式会社 | deluxe | |
| 23 December 2009 | JP | EMI Music Japan Inc. | 4988006877238 | deluxe |
| 2014 | US | Parlophone | 724352189502 | deluxe |
| 2017 | — | Jones Music | deluxe | |
| 29 September 2017 | XW | Parlophone | 0190295842581 | remaster |
| 23 February 2018 | XE | Parlophone | 190295842611 | deluxe |
| 23 February 2018 | XE | Parlophone | 0190295842628 | deluxe |
| September 2025 | — | Parlophone | 5021732853424 | deluxe |
| — | — | Parlophone | 190295842598 | deluxe |
Cover art sources
fanarttv · upscaled: major: best source 1000x1000, upscaled to 1500 (x1.50)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| fanarttv ✓ | 1000×1000 | upscaled: major: best source 1000x1000, upscaled to 1500 (x1.50) |
| coverartarchive | 564×600 | rejected |