Song · David Bowie
“Never Let Me Down” by David Bowie
From the album Never Let Me Down (1987)
“Never Let Me Down” by David Bowie appears on 4 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 1987 and 2002. It was first released in 1987 on the album Never Let Me Down. Its best result is #43 on the WLIR Top 100 Songs of 1987. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #41 alternative song of 1987, #6,315 alternative song of all time and #318 of the '80s.
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The title track of Never Let Me Down was the third and last single David Bowie pulled from his 1987 album, and it has a personal story tucked inside. Bowie wrote it with Carlos Alomar, and the lyric isn't aimed at a lover at all: it's about his bond with Coco Schwab, the personal assistant who had been at his side for years.
Bowie produced it with David Richards, and Bob Clearmountain mixed it. Bowie plays the keyboards, synthesizer and harmonica himself and stacks his own backing vocals behind the lead, while Alomar handles guitar and Crusher Bennett rattles congas and wood block around him. Jean-Baptiste Mondino shot a video the critics warmed to, and the single came out on CD, a first for Bowie. It stood as his last American top-40 hit until "Lazarus" in 2015.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 54 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1987 | 107 |
| 1987 | 61 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 1987 | 91 |
| 1987 | 43 | WLIR / WDRE Long Island, NY | WLIR Top 100 Songs of 1987 | 99 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 1512 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
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