Wild Is The Wind

The release

‘Wild Is The Wind’ was first released on 23 January 1976 as the final track on the Station To Station album.

It was issued as a single in November 1981, to promote the ChangesTwoBowie compilation. The same photograph by Greg Gorman was used for both releases. Gorman also shot the covers for David Bowie’s Let’s Dance and Never Let Me Down albums.

In 2010 a deluxe box set reissue of Station To Station included new stereo and surround sound remixes of the album by co-producer Harry Maslin. The stereo remix was also included in the 2016 box set Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976).

On 16 April 2016 a picture disc single of ‘TVC 15’ was released for Record Store Day. Its b-side was a new single edit of Maslin’s 2010 ‘Wild Is The Wind’ remix.

The video

David Bowie was reportedly displeased with the ChangesTwoBowie compilation, which was assembled by RCA without his involvement. He did, however, agree to film a video for ‘Wild Is The Wind’, which was released as a single to promote the release.

The monochrome video was filmed by director David Mallet in 1981, who also made a similar one for ‘The Drowned Girl’. Both performances featured Bowie and four others miming to the song. The video for ‘Wild Is The Wind’ featured Tony Visconti on upright bass, Mel Gaynor on drums, Coco Schwab on acoustic guitar, and Andy Hamilton holding an unplayed saxophone.

I think what we were trying to do when we were filming this was to keep in mind the style of the fifties jazz programmes that were on American television at the time..

An edit lasting 3:33, unavailable elsewhere, was made for the video. It omitted the second verse, beginning with the line “Give me more than one caress”.