You Belong in Rock n' Roll explained

You Belong in Rock n' Roll
Cover:TinMachine_YouBelongInRockNRoll.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Tin Machine
Album:Tin Machine II
B-Side:"Ampalura" (Indonesian version)
Released:August 1991
Recorded:Sydney SeptemberOctober 1989; April 1990; SeptemberOctober 1990; Los Angeles, March 1991
Genre:Rock
Length:3:33
Label:London
LON 305
Producer:Tin Machine, Tim Palmer
Prev Title:Prisoner of Love
Prev Year:1989
Next Title:Baby Universal
Next Year:1991

"You Belong in Rock n' Roll" is a song by Anglo-American hard rock band Tin Machine, released ahead of their second album in August 1991. The song was the band’s first release on Victory Records, which was distributed by London Records in the UK.

Background and recording

Recorded in 1989 after Tin Machine's first tour, the song spent a year in mixing and overdubs by guitarist Reeves Gabrels, who was inspired by Nine Inch Nails' album Pretty Hate Machine (1989), saying that "You Belong in Rock n' Roll" started basically "as a bass song. I wanted to lay in some industrial stuff against it."[1] Gabrels tried using an electric razor to influence the sound of his guitar for the song, but ended up instead using a vibrator that he bought from a local sex store.

The single was launched with a barrage of publicity, including appearances on Top of the Pops, where Gabrels chose to play his guitar with a bread roll, and Wogan, where the band again mimed, and this time Gabrels played his guitar with the vibrator, and lead vocalist David Bowie visibly tired of the host’s patter.[2] The single peaked at UK No. 33 – a disappointment, but it would be Tin Machine’s biggest hit single.

Track listing

7" version

  1. "You Belong in Rock 'n' Roll" (Bowie, Gabrels) – 3:33
  2. "Amlapura" (Indonesian version) (Bowie, Gabrels) – 3:49

12"/CD version 1

  1. "You Belong in Rock n' Roll" (Extended version) (Bowie, Gabrels) – 6:32
  2. "You Belong in Rock n' Roll" (LP version) (Bowie, Gabrels) – 4:07
  3. "Amlapura" (Indonesian version) (Bowie, Gabrels) – 3:49
  4. "Shakin' All Over" (Live) (Kidd) – 2:49

CD version 2

  1. "You Belong in Rock n' Roll" (Bowie, Gabrels) – 3:33
  2. "Amlapura" (Indonesian version) (Bowie, Gabrels) – 3:49
  3. "Stateside" (H. Sales) – 5:38
  4. "Hammerhead" (Bowie, H. Sales) – 3:15

Credits and personnel

Producers

Musicians

Live versions

References

Notes and References

  1. Book: O'Leary, Chris . Ashes to Ashes The Songs of David Bowie 1976–2016 . . 2019 . 9781912248308.
  2. Book: Pegg, Nicholas . "The Complete David Bowie New Edition: Expanded and Updated" . October 2016 . Titan Books.