Rebel Rebel

Diamond Dogs, 1974

Joel o’keeffe, airbourne

“Rebel Rebel is the perfect rock’n’roll song. It’s about going out and having a great time no matter how bad you might feel, how you look or the state of the world. That riff and the double-time snare, it changes your mood. There’s a pub I know in Melbourne called the Jerry Bar, and it’s pretty much on permanent repeat on the jukebox in there because it really gets you going, no matter how much of a shit day you’ve had.”

JoSh franceSchi, you me at Six

“I’m from the generation that discovered

Bowie through their parents, and his music has correlations with being a young kid. Whenever mum and dad had a Christmas party, there would come a certain time of the evening and they’d put on Rebel Rebel to get the dancing started. It never failed.”

little Steven van zanDt

“I will always love that song, because it’s a snapshot of a magical era in music. It’s omnisexual. It was quite ahead of its time, though I think it was influenced by Mick Jagger’s performance in Performance [1970]. Mick didn’t get enough credit for that. But it’s decadent and disaffecting, and Bowie was carrying that on. I believe that David [not Mick Ronson] played the guitar, actually played the riff, and it really captures the moment.”