New Killer Star

"New Killer Star"
Single by David Bowie
from the album Reality
B-side	"Love Missile F1-11"
Released	29 September 2003
Recorded	Looking Glass Studios, New York City
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	4:40 (Album version) 3:43 (Radio edit)
Label	Columbia/ISO Records COL 674275 9
Songwriter(s)	David Bowie
Producer(s)	David Bowie, Tony Visconti
David Bowie singles chronology
"I've Been Waiting for You" (2002) "New Killer Star" (2003) "Never Get Old" (2003)
Music video
"New Killer Star" on YouTube

"New Killer Star" is a song written and performed by David Bowie in 2003 for his album Reality. This was the first single from the album.

While it is uncertain what the song is really about (like other Bowie songs), the lyrics make oblique reference to life in post-9/11 New York City. However the video clip, directed by Brumby Boylston of National Television, tells a surreal story using lenticular-postcard-like images of a spaceship almost crashing into the modern American heartland. Bowie himself said of the song: "I'm not a political commentator, but I think there are times when I'm stretched to at least implicate what's happening politically in the songs that I'm writing. And there was some nod, in a very abstract way, toward the wrongs that are being made at the moment with the Middle Eastern situation. I think that song is a pretty good manifesto for the whole record."[1]

The song title is a play on the words 'nuclear star'.[2]

The B-side is a cover of Sigue Sigue Sputnik's "Love Missile F1-11".

Music video

The music video features lenticular images throughout.

Track listing

CD: ISO-Columbia / COL 674275 1 (Italy)

1. "New Killer Star" - 4:40
2. "Love Missile F1-11"

CD: ISO-Columbia / 38K 3445 (Canada)

1. "New Killer Star" (Edit) - 3:42
2. "Love Missile F1-11"

DVD: ISO/Columbia COL 674275 9 (Austria)

1. "New Killer Star (Video version)" - 3:40
2. "Reality (Electronic Press Kit)"
3. "Love Missile F1-11"

Charts

Chart	Peak position
France	69[3]
Italy (FIMI)[4]	48
Argentina	5[5]

Personnel

According to Chris O'Leary:[6]

• David Bowie – vocals, rhythm guitar, Korg Trinity, keyboards
• Earl Slick – guitar
• David Torn – guitar
• Gail Ann Dorsey – background vocals
• Sterling Campbell – drums
• Catherine Russell – background vocals
• Tony Visconti – bass
• Mark Plati – bass

Production

• David Bowie – producer
• Tony Visconti – producer, engineer
• Mario J. McNulty – engineer

See also

• List of anti-war songs

References

1. "David Bowie Biography Archived 18 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine". Consulted on 29 April 2012.
2. "[1]".
3. Australian-Charts.com David Bowie New Killer Star, retrieved 1 November 2013
4. "David Bowie – New Killer Star". Top Digital Download. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
5. top40-charts.com David Bowie New Killer Star, retrieved 23 December 2015
6. O'Leary, Chris (2019). Ashes to Ashes: The Songs of David Bowie 1976–2016. London: Repeater. p. 535. ISBN 978-1-91224-830-8.