B-side "Tumble and Twirl" Genre Pop
blue-eyed soul | Format 7"
12" Length 3:43 | |
Released November 1984 (1984-11) Recorded Le Studio, Morin-Heights, Quebec, Canada, May 1984 | ||
"Tonight" is a song written by David Bowie and Iggy Pop for the latter's second solo studio album, Lust for Life, released in 1977. The song was later made into the title-track for Bowie's own album Tonight.
Contents
David Bowie version
Bowie covered the song with guest singer Tina Turner in 1984 for his sixteenth studio album of the same name. One of three tracks on the album to be a cover version of an Iggy Pop song, it was recorded as a duet with Turner but the single release was only credited to Bowie. The original spoken word introduction of the 1977 version, establishing that the lyric is addressed to a lover dying of a heroin overdose, was excised from Bowie's version because Bowie regarded the introduction as an "idiosyncrasy" of Iggy Pop that did not match his own personal vocabulary. Bowie also stated that he didn't want to "inflict" that part of the song on Tina Turner, either. The reggae-style song reached No. 53 on the UK Singles Chart.
Track listing
- "Tonight" – 3:43
- "Tumble and Twirl" – 4:56
- "Tonight (Vocal Dance Mix)" - 4:29
- "Tumble and Twirl (Extended Dance Mix)" – 5:03
- "Tonight (Dub Mix)" – 4:18
Personnel
Tina Turner and David Bowie live version
David Bowie would perform the song live with Tina Turner at the latter's 23 March 1985 concert at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. This version was included on Turner's live album Tina Live in Europe three years later, and also released as a single in late 1988, then becoming a number-one hit in the Netherlands.