TVC 15

"TVC 15" is a song written and recorded by singer-songwriter David Bowie and released on his 1976 album Station to Station.

"TVC 15"
Single by David Bowie
from the album Station to Station
B-side"We Are the Dead"
Released30 April 1976 (1976-04-30)
RecordedSeptember – November 1975
StudioCherokee and Record Plant, Los Angeles
Genre
Length5:33 (album)
3:43 (single)
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)David Bowie
Producer(s)
David Bowie singles chronology
"Golden Years"
(1976)		 "TVC 15"
(1976)		 "Stay"
(1976)

The track was inspired by an episode in which Iggy Pop, during a drug-fueled period at Bowie's LA home, hallucinated and believed the television set was swallowing his girlfriend.[2] Bowie developed a story of a holographic television, TVC 15. In the song, the narrator's girlfriend crawls into the television and afterwards, the narrator desires to crawl in himself to find her.[3]

The track has been called "incongruously jolly" and "the most oblique tribute to the Yardbirds imaginable".[4] Critic Robert Christgau described it as an "irresistible" merger of Lou Reed, disco, and Huey Smith.[5]

It was chosen as the second single from the album in the UK, where it reached No. 33. In the US, it peaked at No. 64 on the Billboard singles chart. The song was also a top 20 hit in Sweden.

The B-side, "We Are the Dead", originally part of Bowie's attempt to adapt Nineteen Eighty-Four, had previously been released on the Diamond Dogs album.

Track listing

All songs written by David Bowie.[6]

  1. "TVC 15" – 3:43
  2. "We Are the Dead" – 4:58

Personnel

Live versions

Other releases

Charts
Chart (1976) Peak
position
French Singles Chart 53
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[8] 18
UK Singles (OCC)[9] 33
US Billboard Hot 100[10] 64

References
  1. Woodstra, Christopher (2008). All Music Guide Required Listening : Classic Rock. Backbeat. p. 24. ISBN 978-0879309176.
  2. Pegg 2004, p. 223.
  3. Buckley 2000, p. 274.
  4. Carr & Murray 1981, pp. 78–80.
  5. Christgau, Robert (1981). "David Bowie: Station to Station". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the '70s. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 0-89919-026-X.
  6. "TVC 15" (Single liner notes). David Bowie. UK: RCA Victor. 1976. RCA 2682.CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976) (Box set booklet). David Bowie. UK, Europe & US: Parlophone. 2016. 0190295989842.CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. "Swedishcharts.com – David Bowie – TVC 15". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  9. "David Bowie: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  10. "David Bowie Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
Sources
  • Buckley, David (2000) [1999]. Strange Fascination – David Bowie: The Definitive Story. London: Virgin. ISBN 0-7535-0457-X.
  • Carr, Roy; Murray, Charles Shaar (1981). Bowie: An Illustrated Record. Eel Pie Pub. ISBN 978-0-38077-966-6.
  • Pegg, Nicholas (2004) [2000]. The Complete David Bowie. London: Reynolds & Hearn. ISBN 1-903111-73-0.
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