"Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" is a song sung by David Bowie, the title song of the 1982 film Cat People. Recorded in July 1981, the song was written by Bowie with producer Giorgio Moroder. A re-recorded version of the song appears on the album Let's Dance.
History
The director Paul Schrader engaged Bowie for a theme song in 1981, with Moroder having already recorded most of the music. Bowie was to put lyrics to the main theme. The B-side is a Moroder-only instrumental which featured no input from Bowie.
The song itself, in keeping with the dark tone of the film, has some slight goth rock influences, with Bowie singing in a deep baritone croon while being backed up by a female chorus.
Because of Moroder's contract, the single was issued by MCA. The full-length 6:45 version appeared on the soundtrack album, and the 12" single, while a 4:08 edited version was made for the 7" release. The single reached No. 26 in the UK, No. 13 in Canada and No. 67 in the US - Bowie's biggest hit there since "Golden Years". It peaked at No. 1 in New Zealand, remaining there for three weeks, as well as in Sweden for four weeks. It was also No. 1 in Norway for seven consecutive weeks, and then returned to the top for a further week.
The single was released three separate times by MCA, first in March 1982 with "Cat People" as the A-side, then again two months later with "Paul's Theme" as the A-side, and finally in November 1982 with "Cat People" back on the A-side. Hungarian-born composer Sylvester Levay contributed to the orchestration.
In December 1982, Bowie re-recorded the song for his album Let's Dance, released the following year. This version was also released as the B-side to the title track's single release, and performed on Bowie's Serious Moonlight Tour. He had originally planned on using the original version of the song, but Moroder's label MCA Records refused to license it to EMI America. In the re-recorded version of the song, Stevie Ray Vaughan provided the guitar solos and riffs in the song.
In 2009, the track was used in the film, Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds and in 2017, the track was used in the film Atomic Blonde.
Sharleen Spiteri recorded a new version of the song in 2010 which was included on her album The Movie Songbook.
Track listing
7": MCA / MCA 770 (UK)
- "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" (Bowie, Moroder) â€" 4:08
- "Paul's Theme (Jogging Chase)" (Moroder) â€" 3:51
12": MCA / MCAT 770 (UK)
- "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" (Bowie, Moroder) â€" 6:41
- "Paul's Theme (Jogging Chase)" (Moroder) â€" 3:51
12": MCA / DS 12087 (Australia)
- "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" (Bowie, Moroder) â€" 4:08
- "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" (Bowie, Moroder) â€" 9:20
- label states running time of 6:41, but is actually 9:20
Charts
Production credits
- Producers (1982 soundtrack version):
- Giorgio Moroder
- Musicians (1982 soundtrack version):
- David Bowie: lead vocals
- Giorgio Moroder: keyboards, guitar, bass
- Michael Landau, Tim May: guitars
- Leland Sklar: bass
- Keith Forsey: drums
- Musicians (Let's Dance album version):
- David Bowie â€" lead vocals
- Carmine Rojas â€" bass guitar
- Omar Hakim, Tony Thompson â€" drums
- Nile Rodgers â€" guitar
- Stevie Ray Vaughan â€" lead guitar
- Rob Sabino â€" keyboards
- Sammy Figueroa â€" percussion
- Frank Simms, George Simms, David Spinner â€" backing vocals
Other releases
- The Let's Dance version recorded in 1982 was released as the B-side of the single "Let's Dance" in March 1983.
- The full-length version of the original 1981 recording appeared on the compilation Bowie: The Singles 1969-1993 in 1993 and on the 2003 edition of Bowie's Sound + Vision collection.
- The shorter version of the original 1981 recording appeared on the compilations Best of Bowie (US/Canada, Germany/Switzerland/Austria, Denmark 2002) and The Best of 1980/1987 (2007).
- The Let's Dance version contains lead guitar work by a then little-known Stevie Ray Vaughan.
- A live performance filmed on 12 September 1983 was included in the concert video Serious Moonlight, as well as on the DVD version of Best of Bowie.
Cover versions
- Big Electric Cat - Goth Oddity: A Tribute to David Bowie (1999)
- Cruciform - Goth Oddity 2000: A Tribute to David Bowie (2000)
- Tina Turner
- Gosling for the Underworld: Evolution soundtrack
- Danzig - The Lost Tracks of Danzig (2007)
- Krust with vocals by Leonie Laws from Breakbeat Era - for the Long Time Dead Soundtrack
- Nick Douglas - Hero: The Main Man Records Tribute to David Bowie (2007)
- The Perfect Kiss - Hollywood, mon amour (2008) feat. Dea Li
- Sharleen Spiteri - The Movie Songbook (2010)
- Anna Calvi - Live performance as part of "The Music of Moroder" at the Sydney Opera House. (2014)
- Electric Six - Mimicry and Memories (2015)
- Shooter Jennings and Marilyn Manson recorded a cover of the song for Jennings' Giorgio Moroder tribute album Countach (For Giorgio).
Notes
References
- Pegg, Nicholas, The Complete David Bowie, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2000, ISBN 1-903111-14-5
External links
- Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics