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Cover of Lodger by David Bowie — Cover: Lodger

Song · David Bowie

“D.J.” by David Bowie

From the album Lodger (1979)

“D.J.” by David Bowie appears on 17 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 1999 and 2022. It was first released in 1979 on the album Lodger. Its best result is #40 on the CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #942 alternative song of all time.

17countdowns

3stations

#40best position

0#1 finishes

0top 10 finishes

1999–2022years charted

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David Bowie - D.J. (Official Video) [HD]

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

"D.J." is David Bowie's sneer at the cult of the disc jockey, the second single off Lodger in 1979. Bowie wrote the music with Brian Eno and Carlos Alomar and the words alone, and the band cut it in Montreux and New York City across September 1978 and March 1979, with Tony Visconti co-producing.

Bowie sings it doing an impression of Talking Heads' David Byrne, all nervy yelps, while Alomar, George Murray and Dennis Davis keep the funk tight and Simon House saws away on violin. The wild card is Adrian Belew, whose guitar solo was pieced together from several takes mixed back into one squalling outburst. David Mallet's video sends Bowie strolling down Earl's Court Road, collecting a trail of fans, then cuts to him wrecking his studio as the tormented DJ. It reached number 29 in Britain.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

#942 of all time

Indie & Adult Alternative

#391 of the '70s

All Rock Formats

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1999	40	CD101	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	2000
2000	40	CD101	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)	2001
2001	44	CD101	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	2002
2002	44	CD101	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)	2003
2002	1613	Fred (XM 44)	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)	2002
2003	44	CD101	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)	2004
2003	1073	Fred (XM 44)	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)	2044
2004	44	CD101	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	2005
2005	46	CD101	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)	1994
2007	1320	CD101	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)	2008
2008	1247	CD101	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)	2009
2009	1257	CD101	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)	2010
2010	1293	CD101	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)	2011
2011	1344	CD101	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)	2011
2013	1400	CD101	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)	2012
2014	1463	CD101	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)	2013
2022	392	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s	908

Also listed as: D.j.; DJ.

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