Why was ‘Heroes’ by David Bowie never a hit?
‘Heroes’ by David Bowie stands out as one of his most exceptional works. Born out of Bowie and Tony Visconti’s immersive sound experiments, which included droning synthesizers and the distinctive guitar work of Robert Fripp, the song embodies both the remarkable empathy of the London-born artist and his penchant for irony.
In one part, it’s a love story about the political and cultural divide between East and West Berlin, the city he then called home. And in another, a sarcastic comment about facing reality and being happy to be alive. Yet, many other aspects qualify the track as one of his greatest moments, from the music to the lyrics. Fuelled by romance, imagination and black comedy, this was Bowie on the verge of genuine greatness, distilled.
Taken from the 1977 album “Heroes”, the second instalment in Bowie’s innovative Berlin Trilogy, the song stands out from the rest of the collection, despite the body of work containing highlights of that chapter, such as ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘Sense of Doubt’. The title track established that Bowie was not just a fleeting totem of the decade and was moving with the times and doing his bit to continually push music and culture forward. The coming decade would see him resoundingly demonstrate this beyond all doubt.
Despite its status as the lead single and recognition as one of Bowie’s most remarkable artistic achievements, ‘Heroes’ never attained the commercial success it deserved. This is surprising considering its profound impact on music, with artists like Moby citing it as a crucial influence and Depeche Mode even recruiting vocalist Dave Gahan after being impressed by his rendition of the song.
So, why was David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ never a hit?
There are several factors contributing to ‘Heroes’ not achieving mainstream success, but it’s not because of a lack of effort on Bowie’s part. It seems more likely that the world wasn’t quite prepared for its innovative brilliance, and the edited version released as a single may have diminished the full scope and power of the song.
Bowie heavily promoted the single, released on September 23rd, including releasing the now-iconic music video and performing it on friend and T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan’s show Marc and Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas. Strangely, both hosts would die in the time it took for the episodes to air, with the musician retrospectively quipping: “I was getting seriously worried about whether I should appear on TV because everyone I was going on with was kicking it the following week.”
Bowie also released French and German-language renditions of the track, such as ‘Héros’ and ‘Helden’. But despite his full-bodied promotion, it peaked at 24 on the UK Singles Chart and failed to break into the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. It would, however, reach the top 20 in some European countries and Australia.
Since then, the world has come to appreciate the power of heroes more intensely as time wore on and people’s tastes changed. Bowie’s iconic performance in 1985’s Live Aid was deemed by many to be his finest interpretation. Its rousing essence captured the charitable spirit of the day. Following that moment, it started to be recognised as the classic it is.
Following Bowie’s death in January 2016, the track was revived and peaked at 12 in the UK, a strangely low number considering the late artist’s cultural significance. It also re-entered the charts worldwide and was streamed on Spotify more than any of his other efforts. It remains his second-most covered number after ‘Rebel Rebel’.
How many number-one hits did David Bowie have?
Perhaps due to the profoundly cerebral nature of his art, despite being such a cultural titan, David Bowie only achieved two number one hits in his time. The first was 1975’s ‘Fame’, taken from Young Americans, a funk rock classic that was evidently helped by the presence of former Beatle John Lennon on backing vocals and acoustic guitar. It went to number one in America and Canada.
The second was 1983’s ‘Let’s Dance’ from the album of the same name. Co-produced with Chic master Nile Rodgers and featuring the guitar-playing talent of a then-unknown Stevie Ray Vaughan, this was the moment Bowie had been working up to his whole career, where he confirmed himself as a global star, helped on by its distinctly new wave groove. It shot to number one at home, in the US, and in several other countries throughout the world.
However, it wasn’t until Bowie’s 2016 swansong, Blackstar, that he finally achieved a number-one album in the United States. In the UK, his records fared much better, scoring 11 number-one albums in total, starting with the dark, jazz-inflected Aladdin Sane in 1973.
