Panic in Detroit
| "Panic in Detroit" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by David Bowie from the album Aladdin Sane | ||||
| Released | April 13, 1973 | |||
| Recorded |
Trident Studios, London January 1973 |
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| Length | 4:25 | |||
| Label | RCA | |||
| Writer(s) | David Bowie | |||
| Producer(s) | Ken Scott, David Bowie | |||
| Aladdin Sane track listing | ||||
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"Panic in Detroit" is a song written by English singer David Bowie for the album Aladdin Sane in 1973. Bowie based it on friend Iggy Pop's descriptions of revolutionaries he had known in Michigan. It is also interpreted as being written about the 1967 Detroit riots.Rolling Stone magazine called the track "a paranoid descendant of the Motor City's earlier masterpiece, Martha and the Vandellas' "Nowhere to Run"".
Musically "Panic in Detroit" has been described as a "Salsa variation on the Bo Diddley beat", and features prominent conga drums and female backing vocals. The lyrics namecheck Che Guevara and are also said to contain references to John Sinclair of the White Panther Party.
Bowie played the song live on tour in 1973, 1974, 1976, 1990, 1997 and 2003-4.
In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine printed its list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Mick Ronson was ranked at #64, and "Panic in Detroit" as his "essential recording".
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