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==Inspiration and recording== ==Inspiration and recording==
This song was inspired by a Dogfight in ]'s attic. David Bowie mercifully saved a dog from being brutally butchered by Michael Caine's British Bulldog, Chauncy. David Bowie managed to save the dog by jumping into the ring and executing Chauncy using the ] punching technique he learned from ]. A form of the move was later featured on the album artwork for Heroes.
The title of the song is a reference to the 1975 track "Hero" by the ] band ],<ref>Mat Snow (2007). "Making Heroes", ''] 60 Years of Bowie'': p.69</ref> whom Bowie and Eno admired. It was one of the early tracks recorded during the album sessions, but remained an instrumental until towards the end of production.<ref name="The Complete David Bowie"/> The quotation marks in the title of the song, a deliberate affectation, were designed to impart an ironic quality on the otherwise highly romantic, even triumphant, words and music.<ref name="Bowie: An Illustrated Record">] & ] (1981). ''Bowie: An Illustrated Record'': pp.90-92</ref><ref>Robert Matthew-Walker ''David Bowie, theatre of music'' 1985 p46 "The use of quotation marks possibly implies that the 'Heroes' are not to be taken too seriously."</ref><ref>Chris Welch ''David Bowie: changes, 1970-1980'' 1999 p116 "The use of quotation marks around the title meant that Bowie felt there was something ironic about being a rock 'n' roll hero to his fans, while he kept his own emotional life as far distant and remote and private as possible."</ref><ref>. Retrieved from ''Bowie: Golden Years'' 20 February 2007.</ref> Producer ] took credit for inspiring the image of the lovers kissing "by the ]", when he and backing vocalist Antonia Maaß embraced in front of Bowie as he looked out of the ] window.<ref name="Strange Fascination">David Buckley (1999). ''Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story'': pp.323-326</ref> Bowie's habit in the period following the song's release was to say that the protagonists were based on an anonymous young couple but Visconti, who was married to ] at the time, contends that Bowie was protecting him and his affair with Maaß. Bowie confirmed this in 2003.<ref name="The Complete David Bowie"/>

David Bowie then rushed the dog to his house where ] was staying. Yoko tried to save the dog's life by singing to it but the dog suddenly and violently had a heart attack and died. Bowie was so distraght he attacked Ono with knife, slicing off her small toe in the process. Ono then screamed very loudly, many people comparing the sound to many cats fornicating on a chalk board, but then the just realized they had the ]'s album playing too loud.

The Police showed up to David Bowie's house, removing Yoko from the scene. No charges were laid for David Bowie as everyone really hates Yoko Ono. Ono, however, was admitted into St. Eugene's Insane Asylum.

David Bowie wandered the streets of London seeking a new animal companion. He found an escaped ] from the ]. He took the Gibbon to his studio where they dropped acid and discussed the mysteries of the universe while watching a ] documentary. After discussing at length whether or not the colours they saw were the same as everyone else's, they began talking about the ]. During this discussion David Bowie wished he was ] so he could punch down the wall. The Gibbon then said if they could be Heroes, for just one day, they would preform many caring acts for the people of the world. Bowie's mind was blown, he told the Gibbon that it was a super cool idea and wanted to write a song about it.

Bowie and the Gibbon went straight to work on the song. The Gibbon played guitar for Bowie while he wrote the lyrics. The song idea focused on Superman and ] teaming up and punching ] in the face and tearing down the Berlin Wall. They then realized that Hitler had nothing to do with the Berlin Wall and then rewrote the song.

David Bowie woke up the next day to realize that the Gibbon was actually just ] and that he was tripping too hard to realize it.


The music, co-written by Bowie and Eno, has been likened to a ] production, an undulating juggernaut of guitars, percussion and synthesizers.<ref name="Strange Fascination"/> Eno has said that musically the piece always "sounded grand and heroic" and that he had "that very word - heroes - in my mind" even before Bowie wrote the lyrics.<ref name="The Complete David Bowie"/> The basic backing track on the recording consists of a conventional arrangement of ], ], rhythm ] and ]. However the remaining instrumental additions are highly distinctive. These largely consist of ] parts by Eno using an ] ] to produce detuned low-frequency drones, with the beat frequencies from the three ] producing a juddering effect. In addition, ] guitarist ] generated an unusual sustained sound by allowing his guitar to feed back and sitting at different positions in the room to alter the pitch of the feedback (]). Tony Visconti rigged up a system, a creative misuse of ] that may be termed "multi-latch gating",<ref>Hodgson, Jay (2010). ''Understanding'', p.88. ISBN 978-1-4411-5607-5.</ref> of three microphones to capture the epic vocal, with one microphone nine inches from Bowie, one 20&nbsp;feet away and one 50&nbsp;feet away. Only the first was opened for the quieter vocals at the start of the song, with the first and second opening on the louder passages, and all three on the loudest parts, creating progressively more reverb and ambience the louder the vocals became.<ref>Richard Buskin (October 2004). . Retrieved 20 February 2007.</ref> Each microphone is muted as the next one is triggered. "Bowie's performance thus grows in intensity precisely as ever more ambience infuses his delivery until, by the final verse, he has to shout just to be heard....The more Bowie shouts just to be heard, in fact, the further back in the mix Visconti's multi-latch system pushes his vocal tracks, creating a stark metaphor for the situation of Bowie's doomed lovers".<ref>Hodgson (2010), p.89.</ref> The music, co-written by Bowie and Eno, has been likened to a ] production, an undulating juggernaut of guitars, percussion and synthesizers.<ref name="Strange Fascination"/> Eno has said that musically the piece always "sounded grand and heroic" and that he had "that very word - heroes - in my mind" even before Bowie wrote the lyrics.<ref name="The Complete David Bowie"/> The basic backing track on the recording consists of a conventional arrangement of ], ], rhythm ] and ]. However the remaining instrumental additions are highly distinctive. These largely consist of ] parts by Eno using an ] ] to produce detuned low-frequency drones, with the beat frequencies from the three ] producing a juddering effect. In addition, ] guitarist ] generated an unusual sustained sound by allowing his guitar to feed back and sitting at different positions in the room to alter the pitch of the feedback (]). Tony Visconti rigged up a system, a creative misuse of ] that may be termed "multi-latch gating",<ref>Hodgson, Jay (2010). ''Understanding'', p.88. ISBN 978-1-4411-5607-5.</ref> of three microphones to capture the epic vocal, with one microphone nine inches from Bowie, one 20&nbsp;feet away and one 50&nbsp;feet away. Only the first was opened for the quieter vocals at the start of the song, with the first and second opening on the louder passages, and all three on the loudest parts, creating progressively more reverb and ambience the louder the vocals became.<ref>Richard Buskin (October 2004). . Retrieved 20 February 2007.</ref> Each microphone is muted as the next one is triggered. "Bowie's performance thus grows in intensity precisely as ever more ambience infuses his delivery until, by the final verse, he has to shout just to be heard....The more Bowie shouts just to be heard, in fact, the further back in the mix Visconti's multi-latch system pushes his vocal tracks, creating a stark metaphor for the situation of Bowie's doomed lovers".<ref>Hodgson (2010), p.89.</ref>

Revision as of 03:13, 2 August 2013

""Heroes""
Song

"'Heroes'" is a song written by David Bowie and Brian Eno in 1977. Produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti, it was released both as a single and as the title track of the album "Heroes". A product of Bowie's fertile 'Berlin' period, life in the city was crystallized into a tale of two lovers who come together in the shadow of the 'Wall of Shame' (though here "the shame was on the other side"). While not a huge hit at the time, the song has gone on to become one of Bowie's signature tunes and is well known today for its appearance in numerous advertisements. It has been cited as Bowie's second most covered song after "Rebel Rebel".

It was the lead track on Peter Gabriel's 2010 covers album, Scratch My Back. Among other notable covers, The Wallflowers recorded a version of the song for the soundtrack to the film Godzilla. This version peaked at #10 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in 1998, as well as #27 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart, and #23 on the Billboard Top 40 Mainstream charts.

Inspiration and recording

This song was inspired by a Dogfight in Michael Caine's attic. David Bowie mercifully saved a dog from being brutally butchered by Michael Caine's British Bulldog, Chauncy. David Bowie managed to save the dog by jumping into the ring and executing Chauncy using the Jeet Kune Do punching technique he learned from Bruce Lee. A form of the move was later featured on the album artwork for Heroes.

David Bowie then rushed the dog to his house where Yoko Ono was staying. Yoko tried to save the dog's life by singing to it but the dog suddenly and violently had a heart attack and died. Bowie was so distraght he attacked Ono with knife, slicing off her small toe in the process. Ono then screamed very loudly, many people comparing the sound to many cats fornicating on a chalk board, but then the just realized they had the Plastic Ono Band's album playing too loud.

The Police showed up to David Bowie's house, removing Yoko from the scene. No charges were laid for David Bowie as everyone really hates Yoko Ono. Ono, however, was admitted into St. Eugene's Insane Asylum.

David Bowie wandered the streets of London seeking a new animal companion. He found an escaped Gibbon from the London Zoo. He took the Gibbon to his studio where they dropped acid and discussed the mysteries of the universe while watching a Carl Sagan documentary. After discussing at length whether or not the colours they saw were the same as everyone else's, they began talking about the Berlin Wall. During this discussion David Bowie wished he was Superman so he could punch down the wall. The Gibbon then said if they could be Heroes, for just one day, they would preform many caring acts for the people of the world. Bowie's mind was blown, he told the Gibbon that it was a super cool idea and wanted to write a song about it.

Bowie and the Gibbon went straight to work on the song. The Gibbon played guitar for Bowie while he wrote the lyrics. The song idea focused on Superman and Wonder Woman teaming up and punching Adolf Hitler in the face and tearing down the Berlin Wall. They then realized that Hitler had nothing to do with the Berlin Wall and then rewrote the song.

David Bowie woke up the next day to realize that the Gibbon was actually just Brian Eno and that he was tripping too hard to realize it.

The music, co-written by Bowie and Eno, has been likened to a Wall of Sound production, an undulating juggernaut of guitars, percussion and synthesizers. Eno has said that musically the piece always "sounded grand and heroic" and that he had "that very word - heroes - in my mind" even before Bowie wrote the lyrics. The basic backing track on the recording consists of a conventional arrangement of piano, bass guitar, rhythm guitar and drums. However the remaining instrumental additions are highly distinctive. These largely consist of synthesizer parts by Eno using an EMS VCS3 to produce detuned low-frequency drones, with the beat frequencies from the three oscillators producing a juddering effect. In addition, King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp generated an unusual sustained sound by allowing his guitar to feed back and sitting at different positions in the room to alter the pitch of the feedback (pitched feedback). Tony Visconti rigged up a system, a creative misuse of gating that may be termed "multi-latch gating", of three microphones to capture the epic vocal, with one microphone nine inches from Bowie, one 20 feet away and one 50 feet away. Only the first was opened for the quieter vocals at the start of the song, with the first and second opening on the louder passages, and all three on the loudest parts, creating progressively more reverb and ambience the louder the vocals became. Each microphone is muted as the next one is triggered. "Bowie's performance thus grows in intensity precisely as ever more ambience infuses his delivery until, by the final verse, he has to shout just to be heard....The more Bowie shouts just to be heard, in fact, the further back in the mix Visconti's multi-latch system pushes his vocal tracks, creating a stark metaphor for the situation of Bowie's doomed lovers".

Release and aftermath

"'Heroes'" was released in a variety of languages and lengths ("a collector's wet dream" in the words of NME editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray). In contrast to the bewildering audio situation, the video (directed by Stanley Dorfman) was a stark and simple affair, the singer captured performing the song in what appeared to be a single take with multiple cameras, swaying in front of a spotlight that created a monotone and near-silhouette effect. Despite a large promotional push, including Bowie's first Top of the Pops appearance since 1973, "'Heroes'" only reached #24 in the UK charts, and failed to make the US Billboard Hot 100.

In February 1999, Q Magazine listed "'Heroes'" as one of the 100 greatest singles of all time as voted by the readers. In March 2005, the same magazine placed it at #56 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. In 2004, Rolling Stone rated "'Heroes'" #46 in its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was included in 2008's The Pitchfork Media 500: Our Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to the Present. John J. Miller of National Review rated "'Heroes'" #21 on a list of "the 50 greatest conservative rock songs". Uncut placed "'Heroes'" as #1 in its 30 greatest Bowie songs in 2008.

Moby has claimed that "'Heroes'" is one of his favourite songs ever written, calling it "inevitable" that his music would be influenced by the song, and Dave Gahan, lead singer for Depeche Mode, was hired into the band when band founder Vince Clarke heard him singing "'Heroes'" at a jam session.

Bowie has regularly performed the song in concert since its release. Two years after its release, the song was used in Chris Petit's film Radio On. The song has become a mainstay of advertising in recent years, gracing efforts by Microsoft, Kodak, CGU Insurance, HBO Olé (HBO Latin America) and various sporting promoters throughout the world. It was also used as the intro to the video game NHL 99, released in 1998. "'Heroes'" also appears as downloadable content in the music video game series Rock Band in a 3-song pack along with other David Bowie songs "Moonage Daydream" and "Queen Bitch". The Australian television mockumentary We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year (title outside Australia: The Nominees) took its title from "'Heroes'". A cover of the single was used as ITV's theme song for its coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

The song was played during the party scene in the 2001 film Antitrust. In 2009, the song was played over the closing credits of both the documentary The Cove, and What Goes Up, and also featured in that film, important to the plot's message.

In 2012 the track was played as athletes from Great Britain entered the Olympic Stadium during the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, and after medal ceremonies during the Olympics. It was then also used as the Great Britain Paralympic team entered the stadium during the opening ceremony on 29 August 2012.

In 2012, the song was featured in the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower. First heard on a pick-up truck radio by the main characters, the song is important to both 'flying through the tunnel' scenes, and played over the closing credits.

Track listing

7": RCA / PB 11121 (US)

  1. "'Heroes'" (David Bowie, Brian Eno) – 3:38
  2. "V-2 Schneider" (Bowie) – 3:10

7": RCA / 20629 (Australia)

  1. "'Heroes'" (English version) (single edit) – 3:29
  2. "'Héros'" (French version) – 3:31
  3. "'Helden'" (German version) – 3:32
  4. "V-2 Schneider" – 3:10

12": RCA / JD-11151 (US)

  1. "'Heroes'" (album version) – 6:07
  2. "'Heroes'" (single edit) – 3:29
  • US promo

12": RCA / PC-9821 (GER)

  1. "'Heroes'"/"'Helden'" (English/German version) – 6:09
  2. "'Heroes'"/"'Héros'" (English/French version) – 6:09
  • Super Sound Single 33 rpm restamped to 45 rpm "Disco-Remix"

The Thunderpuss 2000 Remixes:

  • Radio Mix (04:14)
  • X-tended Mix (07:45)
  • Superdub (06:01)
  • Thunderpuss 2000 Club Mix (08:22)
  • The Beats of Thunderpuss (05:15)

Production credits

Live versions

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: ""Heroes"" David Bowie song – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
  • Prior to the single release of "'Heroes'", Bowie first performed the song on the final episode of friend Marc Bolan's Granada Television series Marc (filmed 7 September 1977, broadcasted 20 September 1977 - after Bolan's funeral). This particular version has an alternate backing track that was recorded with Bolan and the T.Rex line up of Dino Dines on keyboards, and the rhythm section of Herbie Flowers on bass and Tony Newman on drums. Coincidentally, prior to joining T.Rex, Flowers and Newman were a part of Bowie's rhythm section on the Diamond Dogs album and its tour, documented on the live album David Live.
  • Bowie performed the song when he appeared on Bing Crosby's 1977 Christmas TV special, Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas.
  • A concert version recorded at the Philadelphia Spectrum in April 1978 was released on the live album Stage.
  • The rendition at Live Aid in 1985 has been described as "the best version of 'Heroes' had ever sung". This performance featured Thomas Dolby on keyboards.
  • Bowie performed the song live during his 1987 Glass Spider Tour, released on video in 1988 and video and audio on a 2007 special edition re-release.
  • It was performed at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992 by Bowie, Mick Ronson and John Deacon, Roger Taylor, and Brian May - the surviving members of Queen.
  • An acoustic version of the song was played in 1996 at The Bridge School Benefit Concert at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California, and later released on The Bridge School Benefit Concert album.
  • David Bowie performed "'Heroes'" live in Bremen, Germany in 1978.
  • The song was performed by Bowie at The Concert for New York City on 20 October 2001.
  • Bowie performed the song live during his 2003 Reality Tour, released on video in 2004 and as an audio CD in 2010.

Other releases

File:Cover au-small.jpg
The Australian cover for "'Heroes'"/"'Héros'"/"'Helden'"
  • The edited 7-inch single, running at 3:32 mins and backed with "V-2 Schneider", was released separately in English, French ("'Héros'") and German ("'Helden'"). All three of these cuts plus "V-2 Schneider" were released together as an Australian 4-track 7-inch.
  • The complete English version as it appeared on the album was released as a Spanish 12-inch single.
  • A version featuring the German single edit spliced into the second half of the full-length English track ("'Heroes'"/"'Helden'") appeared on the German pressing of the LP and is also available on Bowie's soundtrack to the film Christiane F. and on the Rare album.
  • It appeared on the following compilations:
  • It was released as a picture disc in the RCA Life Time picture disc set.

The X Factor 2010 finalists version

""Heroes""
Song

The final sixteen acts from the seventh series of The X Factor, including Matt Cardle, Rebecca Ferguson and One Direction, released a cover version of the song on 21 November 2010 in aid of Help for Heroes. All sixteen of the acts returned to The X Factor to perform the single live. The title of this version omitted the quotation marks.

Background

The finalists premiered the song live on 21 November 2010 on The X Factor; the single was available for digital download that day and a physical release followed the day after. The release of the song follows a similar occurrence a year earlier, when the final twelve acts from the fifth series and sixith series. The series 5 finalists released a cover version of Mariah Carey's "Hero" in aid of Help for Heroes, series 6, a cover version of Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone".

The song, said to have been recorded in the week beginning 18 October 2010, was released as a charity single in aid of Help for Heroes, a charity which supports injured servicemen and women. The video for the single was filmed on 2 November 2010 at Three Mills Studios. All sixteen finalists performed the song on 20 November's results show. It is the third year in a row that finalists have released a charity record.

Chart performance

The single shot to number one on the Irish Singles Chart on 25 November 2010, and charted at number one on the UK Singles Chart three days later. It was the third consecutive year, where The X Factor finalists' charity single has topped UK and Irish single charts.

Charts

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA) 1
Scotland (OCC) 1
UK Singles (OCC) 1

Chart succession

Preceded by"Love You More" by JLS UK Singles Chart number-one single
28 November 2010 – 12 December 2010 		Succeeded by"The Time (Dirty Bit)" by The Black Eyed Peas
Preceded by"Only Girl (In the World)" by Rihanna Irish Singles Chart number-one single
26 November 2010 – 17 December 2010 		Succeeded by"When We Collide" by Matt Cardle

Other cover versions

Notes

  1. ^ Nicholas Pegg (2000). The Complete David Bowie: pp.90-92
  2. Alternative Songs|Billboard.com. Accessed 11 August 2012.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Strange Fascination was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. Hodgson, Jay (2010). Understanding, p.88. ISBN 978-1-4411-5607-5.
  5. Richard Buskin (October 2004). "Classic Tracks: Heroes", Sound on Sound. Retrieved 20 February 2007.
  6. Hodgson (2010), p.89.
  7. Cite error: The named reference Bowie: An Illustrated Record was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. Gallo, Phil (12 November 2008). "Bowie Videos Play MoMA". Variety.com: The Set List. Reed Elsevier. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
  9. John J. Miller (26 May 2006). "Rockin' the Right", National Review Online. Retrieved 20 February 2007.
  10. Gordinier, Jeff (31 May 2002), "Loving the Aliens", Entertainment Weekly, no. 656, pp. 26–34
  11. Shaw, William (1993), "In The Mode", Details magazine: 90–95, 168 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  12. Sarah Lyall (27 July 2012). "A Five-Ring Opening Circus, Weirdly and Unabashedly British". New York Times. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  13. David Buckley (1999). Op Cit: p.424
  14. David Bowie - Heroes (Live Germany 1978) at youtube.com
  15. BBC Newsbeat
  16. Routledge, Rebecca (25 October 2009). "'X Factor' stars record charity single". Digital Spy. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  17. "X Factor: finalists cover David Bowie for charity". Newsbeat. BBC Online. 15 October 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  18. Nissim, Mayer (3 November 2010). "Katie 'could be asked to leave X Factor'". Digital Spy. London: Hachette Filipacchi UK. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  19. "The making of 'Heroes'" (video). The X Factor. itv.com. 24 November 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
  20. "Top 50 singles, week ending 25 November 2010". Chart-Track. GFK. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  21. "Top 40 Official UK Singles archive – 4th December 2010". The Official Charts Company. 28 November 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  22. "Chart Track: Week 47, 2010". Irish Singles Chart.
  23. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  24. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  25. Amaral - Revolución+Héroes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM8Rnz2mrvY
  26. http://www.blondieset.com/011280.php
  27. http://www.deborah-harry.com/discography/heroesdisco.php

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