Written by: David Bowie, Reeves Gabrels
Recorded: 1998-1999
Producers: David Bowie, Reeves Gabrels
Released: 20 September 1999
Available on:
Re:Call 5
Personnel
David Bowie: vocals, guitar, keyboards, synthesizer
Reeves Gabrels: guitar, keyboards, synthesizer
Mark Plati: bass guitar
Mike Levesque: drums
The instrumental ‘1917’ was a b-side of CD2 of David Bowie’s ‘Thursday’s Child’ single, recorded during the sessions for the ‘hours…’ album.
The track also appeared in the computer game Omikron: The Nomad Soul, which featured a number of tracks by Bowie and Gabrels. The game was developed by software company Quantic Dream, and released by Eidos Interactive in October 1999.
Some of the songs on Omikron were different from the ‘hours…’ versions, and there were four instrumentals: ‘Awaken 2’, ‘Jangir’, ‘Qualisar’ and ‘Thrust’. ‘Awakened 2’ was an instrumental version of the b-side ‘No One Calls’, while ‘Thrust’ was developed further into ‘1917’.
Much of the ‘hours…’ album contained mid-tempo songs with a retrospective, often melancholy tone – a far cry from the experimental sounds of its predecessors 1.Outside and Earthling. ‘1917’ was a rare upbeat rocker, led by a central guitar riff borrowed from Led Zeppelin’s ‘Kashmir’.
‘1917’ was one of the tracks on Re:Call 5, a compilation of his non-album singles, single versions, remixes and b-sides included in the 2021 box set Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001).