Stateside

Written by: Hunt Sales, David Bowie
Recorded: September – November 1989; April, September – October 1990; March 1991
Producers: Tin Machine, Tim Palmer

Released: 19 August 1991

Available on:
Tin Machine II
Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby

Personnel

Hunt Sales: vocals, drums
David Bowie: vocals, guitar, saxophone
Reeves Gabrels: guitar
Tony Sales: bass guitar, vocals

‘Stateside’ was one of two songs on Tin Machine II with lead vocals by drummer Hunt Sales; the other was ‘Sorry’.

Outside of David, I was the only one who sang on those records. You can get a little bit of an idea of where I’m coming from with ‘Sorry’ and ‘Stateside’.

At 5:39, the plodding, uninspired blues-based ‘Stateside’ was the longest song on Tin Machine II, with a length unjustified by its quality. The song was co-credited to Hunt Sales and David Bowie; the only other instance on the album was the hidden instrumental track ‘Hammerhead’.

‘Stateside’ was first released on 19 August 1991, on the second CD single of ‘You Belong In Rock N’ Roll’. The album followed on 2 September 1991.

The song featured on the soundtrack of the 1992 horror film Dr Giggles, directed by Manny Coto.

Live performances

Tin Machine performed ‘Stateside’ throughout their It’s My Life Tour in 1991-2.

An eight-minute recording from November 1991 at New York’s Academy of Music became the fourth song on the 1992 album Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby.

BBC recording

‘Stateside’ was recorded by Tin Machine for a BBC radio session on 13 August 1991. The recordings were made at London’s Maida Vale Studios, and were broadcast live on BBC Radio 1’s Mark Goodier’s Evening Session.

The band recorded five songs: ‘A Big Hurt’, ‘Baby Universal’, ‘Stateside’, ‘If There Is Something’, and ‘Heaven’s In Here’.

‘Baby Universal’ was released in October 1991 as Tin Machine’s penultimate single. The BBC recordings of ‘Stateside’, ‘If There Is Something’, and ‘Heaven’s In Here’ were included on the CD version.