"
Queen Bitch" is a song written by
David Bowie in
1971
for the album
Hunky Dory. Bowie
was a great
Velvet Underground
fan, recording a cover of "
I'm
Waiting for the Man" in 1967 (which still remains unissued,
though there is the live version on
Bowie at the Beeb that immediately
follows "Queen Bitch"). This song is a tribute to them and
Lou Reed.
It starts with Bowie counting down to his acoustic guitar before
Mick Ronson's thrashy guitar riff
enters. The song's arrangement, featuring a melodic bass line, a
tight drum pattern, choppy distorted guitar chords, and an
understated vocal performance by Bowie, provided the template for
the
glam rock style which features
prominently on
The
Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars,
his seminal 1972 follow-up to
Hunky Dory. While the main
riff is similar to the
Velvet
Underground's "
Sweet Jane", it is
actually lifted from
Eddie Cochran's
"
Three Steps to
Heaven". (a posthumous #1 hit single in the UK in 1960).
Live versions
- Bowie played the song at the BBC show
Sounds of the 70s 18 January 1972. This was broadcast at 7
February 1972 and in 2000 released on the album Bowie at the Beeb.
- A version recorded at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 20 October
1972 was released on Santa Monica
'72.
- Another version recorded at Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale 23 March
1976 was released on RarestOneBowie.
- Lou Reed performed the song together
with Bowie at his 50th Birthday Bash in New York City, New York in
January 1997.
- The Arcade Fire have played this
song with Bowie in New York City as well.
Other releases
Cover versions
- Birdbrain - Let's Be
Nice (1997)
- Broken Hippie (aka Golden Smog) - Live Recording (1997)
- Capsize 7 - Crash Course for the Ravers - A Tribute to the
Songs of David Bowie (1996)
- Eater - All of Eater (1995) and
The Compleat Eater (1993)
- Green River - Rehab Doll (1988)
- Seu Jorge recorded a Portuguese
version for the film The Life Aquatic with Steve
Zissou (2004)
- Frankenstein 3000 - Hero: The Main Man Records Tribute to
David Bowie (2007)
- Rancid Vat - "Bowiecide" Single
- Lou Reed - Live recording (with
Bowie)
- Spiral Jetty
- Band Of Gold
- The Unrehearsed - Live
- The Tragically Hip - Played
live several times on the World Container Tour
- Elf Power - Live in Ann Arbor, MI
References