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Cover of Lodger by David Bowie — Cover: Lodger

Song · David Bowie

“Boys Keep Swinging” by David Bowie

From the album Lodger (1979)

“Boys Keep Swinging” by David Bowie appears on 15 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 1999 and 2022. It was first released in 1979 on the album Lodger. Its best result is #484 on the 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,253 alternative song of all time.

15countdowns

2stations

#484best position

0#1 finishes

0top 10 finishes

1999–2022years charted

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David Bowie - Boys Keep Swinging (Official Video) [HD]

Video from YouTube (David Bowie). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Boys Keep Swinging" led off David Bowie's Lodger in 1979, a Bowie and Brian Eno song cut in Montreux and New York City between September 1978 and March 1979. Eno brought his Oblique Strategies cards to the sessions and the players traded instruments, which is how Carlos Alomar ended up thumping the drums and producer Tony Visconti took the bass, and the ramshackle stomp is all the better for it. Adrian Belew's solo, stitched together from several takes played with barely any direction, careens around like a shopping cart with a bad wheel.

It borrows its chords from "Fantastic Voyage" and splices glam, funk and new wave, while Bowie toys with gender roles in a lyric he insisted was ironic. The David Mallet video, with Bowie backed by three dancers in drag, pushed it to number seven in the UK.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

#2,253 of all time

Indie & Adult Alternative

#483 of the '70s

All Rock Formats

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1999	1093	CD101	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	2000
2000	1095	CD101	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)	2001
2001	1102	CD101	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	2002
2002	1101	CD101	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)	2003
2003	1086	CD101	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)	2004
2004	1086	CD101	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	2005
2005	1086	CD101	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)	1994
2007	1747	CD101	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)	2008
2008	1717	CD101	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)	2009
2009	1741	CD101	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)	2010
2010	1777	CD101	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)	2011
2011	1853	CD101	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)	2011
2013	1918	CD101	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)	2012
2014	1975	CD101	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)	2013
2022	484	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s	908

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