The group recorded two studio albums and a live album before dissolving in 1992, when Bowie returned to his solo career. The group was generally reviled, often receiving scathing critical reviews.
David Bowie’s Never Let Me Down album (already a move into slightly "harder" rock territory) and subsequent "Glass Spider Tour" had been savaged by critics, and the singer was aware of his low stock. Eager to return to making music for himself rather than the mainstream audience he had acquired following the Let's Dance album, Bowie began collaborating with Reeves Gabrels (who pushed the singer to rediscover his experimental side and went on to work closely with Bowie for much of the next decade) and multi-instrumentalist Erdal Kizilcay on new material in 1988. The first fruits of this came with a new version of Bowie’s 1979 song "Look Back in Anger", performed at the "Intruders At The Palace" benefit concert on 1 July 1988. They then began to plan a concept album based on Steven Berkoff's play East as a Bowie solo album, but this idea was scrapped. Bowie and Gabrels began working with producer Tim Palmer on new material. Bowie then recruited brothers Hunt Sales and Tony Sales (the sons of comedian Soupy Sales) as a rhythm section. Bowie had worked with them on Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life album and ran into them at a party in Los Angeles around this time.
The Sales brothers moved the tone of the sessions in Nassau away from art-rock and more towards hard rock, and Bowie looked to one of his favorite bands at the time, Pixies, for inspiration. The Sales brothers heckled Bowie into greater spontaneity, with most songs recorded in one take, and lyrics left unpolished, thus giving the band a ragged, punk rock edge similar to the Pixies.
The group chose the name Tin Machine after one of the songs they had written (Gabrels would later credit the Sales brothers with this choice). The group set up allowed Bowie a certain level of anonymity, much needed after his 1980s overexposure, and he was happy to let the rest of the band (notably Hunt Sales) take the lead in interviews.
The band’s self-titled first album (Tin Machine) produced mixed but generally positive reviews on release in May 1989, picking up favorable comparisons with Bowie’s three more recent solo albums. However, many critics were scornful of Bowie’s latest attempt to reinvent himself as a bearded band-member. Commercially, the album initially sold well, reaching #3 in the UK charts, but sales quickly tailed off. The band undertook a low-key tour in small venues between 14 June and 3 July 1989, before further recording sessions in Sydney, Australia. During these sessions Tin Machine contributed to a surfing compilation album called Beyond the Beach, with a new instrumental song titled "Needles on the Beach.
The group then went on hiatus while Bowie conducted his solo "Sound+Vision Tour." In December 1990, Bowie split from EMI. Both parties stated that the split was amicable, although it is believed EMI refused to release another Tin Machine album in an exasperated attempt to secure another album similar to Let's Dance. In March 1991, the group signed to Victory Music, a new label launched by JVC and distributed worldwide by London Records and Polygram, and recorded more new material. This was combined with tracks from the Sydney sessions to form Tin Machine II album. This time the commercial success was even more fleeting, and Bowie was already tired of being shackled to a group set-up. From 5 October 1991 to 17 February 1992, the group undertook a larger tour, known as the "It's My Life Tour". The band was joined on this tour by guitarist Eric Schermerhorn, who would go on to play with Bowie's friend Iggy Pop.
Tracks from this tour were released on the July 1992 album Tin Machine Live - Oy Vey, Baby. Shortly afterwards, Bowie returned to solo recording with his single “Real Cool World” and the band dissolved.
Bowie promised Tin Machine III or at the very least a boxed-set of unreleased material in the mid-1990s, but his solo career had taken precedence, making him reluctant to dedicate energy to an old project. He continued to work with Gabrels, spanning four albums after Tin Machine: Black Tie White Noise (Gabrels contributed to only one track), Outside, Earthling, and Hours. After the last album, Gabrels felt that Bowie was moving in a softer, gentler direction that he did not want to travel in, so the two parted ways professionally. In some interviews he has also indicated his disappointment in the retrospective projects Bowie was planning at the time (the Toy album, which never surfaced, as well as the Ziggy 2002 project) played a part in his parting with Bowie.
Crack City
Tin Machine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't grab that scabby hand
It belongs to Mr. Sniff and Tell
It belongs to the candyman
Don't whore your little bodies
To the worms of paradise
Like Everest, it's fatal
They're riding on the subways
They're riding on the streets
They'll ride you down to the gutters
They'll ride you off your feet
Gonna hit Crack City
Hit Crack City
Yeah, piss on the icon monsters
Whose guitars bequeath you pain
They'll face you down to their level
With their addictions and their fast lanes
Corrupt with shaky visions
And crack and Coke and alcohol
They're just a bunch of assholes
With buttholes for their brains
You can't keep on riding
The pain you know so well
They'll ride you down to the gutter
And they'll ride you down to Hell
Gonna hit Crack City
Hit Crack City
And you the master dealer
May death be on your brow
May razors slash your mainline
I'm calling you out right now
May all your vilest nightmares
Consume your shrunken head
May the ho-ho-hounds of paranoia
Dance upon your stinking bed
Don't look at me you fuckhead
This nation's turning blue
Its stink it fouls the highways
Its filth, it sticks like glue
Gonna hit Crack City
Hit Crack City
They'll bury you in velvet
And place you underground
The hatred of yourself
And the sufferings that conspire
To take your little body
And throw it to the fools
Only your mind can take you out of this
Only your mind or death
I'm riding on the subway
The subway down to Hell
I've finished with this journey
Now, I seem to know it well
Gonna hit Crack City
Hit Crack City
Hit Crack City
Hit Crack City
Hit Crack City
Hit Crack City
The song "Crack City" by Tin Machine is an indictment against drug addiction, specifically crack cocaine, and the dangers that come with it. The lyrics warn "all you children" not to fall victim to the lure of the "candyman" and his destructive grip. The references are to the decay and corruption of addicts who have been ridden down to the gutter and their perilous road to Hell. Meanwhile, it condemns the rock and roll industry's excessiveness and the harmful culture of drugs associated with it. It likens drug addiction to climbing Everest, a dangerous, cold, and fatal thing to pursue.
The song also calls out the drug dealers for their vile trade and issues a potent threat to them. It presages death and suffering to them and confronts them to answer for their sinister deeds. The song ends with the singer's realization of his journey on the subway to Hell, and the chorus pleading for relief from Crack City's oppression and chaos.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh come all you children
Begin to listen, young individuals
Don't grab that scabby hand
Don't take hold of that questionable or diseased hand
It belongs to Mr. Sniff and Tell
It's the hand of someone who will report your activity
It belongs to the candyman
The one who provides drugs
Don't whore your little bodies
Stop exchanging your physical form for substances
To the worms of paradise
To those who promise a pleasurable life but lead to destruction
Like Everest, it's fatal
The effect is deadly like climbing a mountain
Its peaks are cold as ice
The ultimate result is empty and lifeless
They're riding on the subways
The abusers are everywhere
They're riding on the streets
Even walking on foot can lead to exposure
They'll ride you down to the gutters
They will lead you to the lowest points of society
They'll ride you off your feet
They will make you helpless and defenceless
Gonna hit Crack City
Heading straight for the place where drugs are prominent
Yeah, piss on the icon monsters
Defy the famous and influential individuals who are addicted to drugs
Whose guitars bequeath you pain
Their music has a damaging influence
They'll face you down to their level
They will make sure you descend to their level of addiction
With their addictions and their fast lanes
Using drugs and life in the fast lane
Corrupt with shaky visions
Their perspective is skewed and unstable
And crack and Coke and alcohol
Their lives are consumed by addiction to different substances
They're just a bunch of assholes
They are unpleasant individuals
With buttholes for their brains
They are not smart people
You can't keep on riding
You can't continue to live this way
The pain you know so well
The destructive lifestyle you are accustomed to
And they'll ride you down to Hell
They will drag you to the depths
And you the master dealer
The one responsible for distributing drugs
May death be on your brow
You will face a deadly fate
May razors slash your mainline
May your addiction lead to your destruction
I'm calling you out right now
Direct confrontation to those dealing drugs
May all your vilest nightmares
Horrific thoughts and images surround you
Consume your shrunken head
You let your addiction shrink your mind with fear and anxiety
May the ho-ho-hounds of paranoia
May your paranoia haunt you
Dance upon your stinking bed
May your fears surround you in your own space
Don't look at me you fuckhead
I don't want you to associate me with this destructive lifestyle
This nation's turning blue
The country is being poisoned and destroyed
Its stink it fouls the highways
The presence of drugs is overpowering
Its filth, it sticks like glue
The drugs and its effect are long-lasting and have negative consequences
They'll bury you in velvet
Your death will be masked with materialism
And place you underground
Your end will be under the surface
The hatred of yourself
You will be your own enemy
And the sufferings that conspire
The multitude of harms that occur
To take your little body
To take your physical form
And throw it to the fools
Throw your life to waste
Only your mind can take you out of this
The only way to escape is to overcome your addiction mentally
Only your mind or death
Either you mentally overcome it or die
I'm riding on the subway
Through my own tough experience
The subway down to Hell
Descending to the depths
I've finished with this journey
I've finished this particular phase of my life
Now, I seem to know it well
I've gained significant insight
Gonna hit Crack City
Initiating destructive drug use
Hit Crack City
Repeatedly engage in destructive drug use
Hit Crack City
Engage in destructive drug use consistently
Hit Crack City
Further engage in the consumption of harmful drugs
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: DAVID BOWIE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind