Needles On The Beach

Written by: David Bowie, Reeves Gabrels, Hunt Sales, Tony Sales
Recorded: September – November 1989
Producers: Tin Machine, Tim Palmer

Released: 25 October 1994

Personnel

The instrumental ‘Needles On The Beach’ was recorded during the initial sessions for Tin Machine II.

The sessions took place from September to November 1989 at Studios 301 on Castlereagh Street, Sydney, after which the band went on a temporary hiatus.

It’s a track we recorded live in the studio in Sydney, Australia, during the Tin Machine 2 sessions. The title came as an reference to surf music combined with the fact that we kept finding used needles on the beaches. Simple explanation really. Plus, two of the chord changes come from Hendrix’s ‘Third Stone From The Sun’ where he says “we’ll never have to listen to surf music again”. That was my idea.

‘Needles On The Beach’ remained unreleased until it was included in the 1994 compilation Beyond The Beach, released by Upstart Records. Tin Machine were the biggest name on the album, which also featured cuts by The Mermen, The Aqua Velvets, Hillbilly Frankenstein, Spies Who Surf, The Woggles, and others.