Cat People (Putting Out Fire)

Director Paul Schrader reached out to David Bowie in 1980 to collaborate for the theme song of his remake of the Jacques Tourneur horror film Cat People (1942). Biographer Chris O'Leary describes the original film as "a subtle exploration of sexual repression and xenophobia", while he calls the remake a "gory fashion spread". Italian producer Giorgio Moroder had already recorded most of the music at Carla Ridge Camp in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, so Bowie was approached to write the lyrics to the main theme. Bowie met with Moroder in July 1981 at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland, to record "Cat People". During the same session, Bowie ran into the English rock band Queen, who were recording their 1982 album Hot Space. After recording backing vocals for their song "Cool Cat", the session resulted in the collaboration "Under Pressure". Musically, "Cat People" has been described as new wave. In keeping with the dark tone of the film, the song has some goth rock influences, with Bowie singing in a deep baritone croon while being backed up by a female chorus. Bowie's octave leap on the word "gasoline" has been called "a magnificent moment" and "among the most thrilling moments he ever committed to tape". Moroder's music is built around several chord changes, including C minor. Bowie's lyrics reflect the film's pretensions, taking influence from his prior songs "Sound and Vision" (1977) and "It's No Game" (1980), such as the line "those who feel me near / pull the blinds and change their minds". Regarding the film, Bowie said: "It works on a dream state, it feels like the kind of thing you go through at night. That's the way I look at it lyrically". ==Release and aftermath==

"Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" was released as a single on 12 March 1982. Because of Moroder's contract, the single was issued by MCA Records. The B-side was "Paul's Theme (Jogging Chase)", a Moroder composition from the Cat People soundtrack. The single appeared in numerous different edits. 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. In Australia, a 9:20 edit, featuring additional saxophone and synthesiser, was released on a 12" single. Other edits made included a 3:18 edit for American and German promos and a 3:08 edit for Dutch promos. A 4:55 mix appears in the Cat People film itself, with additional panther roars. Upon release, the single was a commercial success. The 7" single reached number 26 on the UK Singles Chart, remaining on the chart for six weeks, The shorter 7" single edit has appeared on some versions of Best of Bowie (2002) and on The Platinum Collection (2005). ==Track listing==

"Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" written by Bowie and Moroder. "Paul's Theme (Jogging Chase)" written by Moroder. UK 7" single • "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" – 4:08 • "Paul's Theme (Jogging Chase)" – 3:51 UK 12" single • "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" – 6:41 • "Paul's Theme (Jogging Chase)" – 3:51 Australian 12" single • "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" – 4:08 • "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" – 9:20 • label states running time of 6:41, but is actually 9:20 ==''Let's Dance'' version==

After leaving RCA Records and signing a new deal with EMI America Records in late 1982, Bowie wanted to reinvigorate his musical direction with a new producer. Desiring a commercial sound, he chose Nile Rodgers of the rock band Chic, one of the most commercially successful bands of the late 1970s. After demoing tracks in Montreux, Switzerland, recording for ''Let's Dance'' began at the Power Station in New York City during the first three weeks of December 1982. Bowie had been unhappy with Moroder's backing track for "Cat People", telling Rodgers that he wanted to remake it. Rodgers stated in 1984: "The way 'Cat People' came out on the soundtrack really bothered him. He didn't like it at all. He played me his original demo and I said, 'Wow, that's the way 'Cat People' goes?'" For the re-recording, Rodgers made it cut time "but kept the same tempo so [Bowie] could sing the vocal the same way and the band could keep the pocket". Bowie claimed in 1983: "I took the instruments away. They don't weave quite such a magic spell over the construction of the lyrics...they get the chords right and that's about all I wanted to do". The re-recording is described by Pegg and O'Leary as more "aggressive". The synthesisers of the original are replaced by keyboards, the verses are "halved" and the backing vocals are run through an Eventide Harmonizer with the pitch raised a minor third. Like the rest of the album, then-unknown blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan plays lead guitar on the song. The remake of "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" was released on 14 April 1983 as the seventh and penultimate track on Bowie's 15th studio album ''Let's Dance'', sequenced between the cover of "Criminal World" and "Shake It". The remake was also released as the B-side to the title track's single release on 14 March. It was subsequently performed throughout the Serious Moonlight Tour. At the 26th Annual Grammy Awards, "Cat People" was nominated for the Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male, losing the award to Michael Jackson's "Beat It". The remake was remastered, along with the rest of its parent album, in 2018 as part of the box set Loving the Alien (1983–1988) and released separately the following year. A concert performance recorded on 12 September 1983 may be heard on the live album ''Serious Moonlight (Live '83), which was included in Loving the Alien (1983–1988) and released separately in 2019. The performance was filmed and appears on the concert video Serious Moonlight and the DVD version of Best of Bowie''. ==Reception==

The original version of "Cat People" has been praised as one of Bowie's best recordings of the 1980s. Positively received on release, Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times hailed Bowie's vocal performance as one of his finest "in years". Reviewing the original's remaster as part of the A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982) box set, Chris Gerard of PopMatters calls the track "brooding" and one of Bowie's "most potent singles from the era". Author Benoît Clerc calls the song a "rich, powerful and compelling track that establish[ed] a new artistic direction for [Bowie]." The remake, however, has been criticised by biographers and some other reviewers as inferior to the original recording. Debra Rae Cohen of The New York Times was also critical, remarking that Bowie's vocal performance sounds like Jim Morrison "as if to mock his own lyrics". Pegg calls the remake "decidedly wet" and notes that due to the massive success of ''Let's Dance'', the re-recording is the more well-known version. Trynka writes that the remake "desecrates the memory of a Bowie classic". AllMusic's Dave Thompson calls the original a "deeply atmospheric and utterly effective theme [song]" but pans the remake as "declawed and neutered", writing that "fans of the original should steer as far clear of the remake as they can". Mojo Pat Gilbert similarly wrote that the "alluring, Expressionist feel" of the original was "defenestrated" by the "clumpy" remake the following year. ==Legacy==

"Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" has been covered by numerous artists, including Klaus Waldeck in 2003 (released as a single for his album The Night Garden Reflowered), Glenn Danzig in 2007 (released on The Lost Tracks of Danzig), and Sharleen Spiteri in 2010 (released on her album The Movie Songbook). A version featuring Marilyn Manson was recorded by Shooter Jennings in 2016 for his tribute album Countach (For Giorgio). The cover was promoted with a 16-bit music video featuring Manson. In film, the song has appeared in Firestorm (1998), Atomic Blonde (2017), and Inglourious Basterds (2009). In Inglourious Basterds, the song appears in a pivotal scene for one of the film's major characters. On choosing "Cat People" for the film, director Quentin Tarantino stated: "You're actually shocked at how well the lyrics to 'Cat People' work to her story." Trynka writes that after the ''Let's Dance'' remake, the original recording was "exhumed" through its use in Tarantino's film. ==Personnel==

According to biographer Chris O'Leary: Original version • David Bowie – lead vocals • Giorgio Moroder – guitar, bass, keyboards • Michael Landau, Tim May – guitars • Sylvester Levay – piano, guitar • Brian Banks – keyboards • Charles Judge – keyboards • Leland Sklar – bass • Keith Forsey – drums, percussion • Craig Huxley – blaster beam • Alex Brown, Paulette McWilliams, Stephanie Spruill – backing vocals Technical • Giorgio Moroder – producer • Brian Reeves - engineer • David Richards – engineer '''''Let's Dance version' • David Bowie – lead vocals • Nile Rodgers – rhythm guitar • Stevie Ray Vaughan – lead guitar • Carmine Rojas – bass • Tony Thompson – drums • Rob Sabino – keyboards • Sammy Figueroa – percussion • George Simms, Frank Simms, David Spinner – backing vocals Technical • David Bowie – producer • Nile Rodgers – producer • Bob Clearmountain – engineer ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==