Love Missile F1-11

Written by: Anthony James, Martin Degville, Neal Whitmore
Recorded: January – May 2003
Producers: David Bowie, Tony Visconti

Released: 29 September 2003

Available on:
Reality (European Edition)

Personnel

David Bowie: vocals, guitar, keyboards, synthesizer
Mark Plati: bass guitar
Sterling Campbell: drums

David Bowie recorded a version of Sigue Sigue Sputnik’s 1986 hit single ‘Love Missile F1-11’ during the sessions for his 2003 album Reality.

The song was Sigue Sigue Sputnik’s first single and biggest hit, reaching number three on the UK singles chart. It was produced by Giorgio Moroder, who had produced Bowie’s original recording of ‘Cat People (Putting Out Fire)’.

Sigue Sigue Sputnik were all Bowie fans, and their brand of glam punk owed a debt to his early 1970s work. Nonetheless, Bowie’s decision to record the song remains one of his stranger choices of his later years.

Bowie’s cover version was fairly faithful in spirit to the original, albeit with an added Bo Diddley shuffle beat. The song was included on the CD and DVD editions of Bowie’s ‘New Killer Star’ single. It was also included on a limited ‘European’ edition of Reality with a bonus disc.

We were absolutely thrilled when David covered us. What a compliment! The single biggest influence on my life and career had heard of us, and liked our work enough to do his own version. As Tony James put it at the time, ‘The bastard sons of Ziggy covered by Ziggy Stardust himself.’