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Cover of Aladdin Sane by David Bowie
Cover: Aladdin Sane

Song · David Bowie

“The Jean Genie” by David Bowie

From the album Aladdin Sane (1973)

“The Jean Genie” by David Bowie appears on 24 radio countdowns from 12 stations between 1999 and 2026. It was first released in 1973 on the album Aladdin Sane. Its best result is #78 on the Virgin Radio Top 100 Brit Songs of All-Time (May 2005). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,090 alternative song of all time.

24countdowns
12stations
#78best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1999–2026years charted

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David Bowie - The Jean Genie [4K Upgrade]

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David Bowie let "The Jean Genie" loose in November 1972 as the first single from Aladdin Sane, which followed in 1973, and it finds him playing tourist in an America he half dreamed up. He called it a "smorgasbord of imagined Americana", modeled its main character on Iggy Pop and slipped a nod to the writer Jean Genet into the title.

The Spiders from Mars do the dirty work: Mick Ronson swaps guitar with Bowie and helped him arrange it, Trevor Bolder holds down the bass and Mick Woodmansey the drums, with Mike Garson on piano and Ken Fordham on sax. Bowie co-produced with Ken Scott, who mixed it with Ronson. A film clip starring Warhol associate Cyrinda Foxe did the selling, and it climbed to number 2 in Britain, one of the best-known things he ever recorded.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

All Rock Formats

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1999 304 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
2001 105 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 500
2002 914 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 1933 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 138 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 500
2004 383 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2004) 923
2005 128 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 500
2005 78 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 100 Brit Songs of All-Time (May 2005) 100
2006 171 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2006) 500
2011 879 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) 1100
2012 921 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) 1200
2012 839 WXPN WXPN 885 Greatest Rock Songs (2012) 885
2013 890 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) 1000
2014 776 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) 1000
2015 898 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) 1007
2016 952 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 1007
2019 638 WYEP WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 1099
2019 638 WYEP WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 1017
2021 313 WCSX WCSX Rock & Roll 500 (2021) 499
2022 309 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s 908
2023 1219 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 1229
2023 926 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023) 1043
2024 459 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2024) 500
2026 255 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 U-Man 500 (2026) 499

Also listed as: Jean Genie.

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