"Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" was released as the third single from the album of the same name. Coming as it did in the wake of two earlier singles from Scary Monsters, "Ashes to Ashes" in August 1980 and "Fashion" in October the same year, NME critics Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray labelled its release another instance "in the fine old tradition of milking albums for as much as they could possibly be worth". The song was subsequently performed on a number of Bowie tours.
Musically the track was notable for its lead guitar work by Robert Fripp and distinctive synthesized percussion. The lyrics, sung by Bowie in his Cockney accent, charted a woman's withdrawal from the world and descent into madness ("When I looked in her eyes they were blue but nobody home ... Now she's stupid in the street and she can't socialise"). Thematically the song has been compared to Joy Division's "She's Lost Control" (1979), and to the "claustrophobic romance" of Iggy Pop's 1977 collaborations with Bowie, The Idiot and Lust for Life.
The edited single reached No. 20 on the UK singles chart. As well as 7" vinyl, it was issued in Compact Cassette format.
Track listing
All tracks written by David Bowie.
"Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" – 3:27
"Because You're Young" – 4:51
The French release of the single had "Up the Hill Backwards" as the B-side.
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