Little Wonder Single: 1997

David Bowie
Jan 20, 1997
3 min read

Updated: 5 days ago

Bowie's Jungle-Electronica Earthling Cut

Released as the second single from Earthling on January 20, 1997 (with wider availability January 27, 1997) by Arista/RCA in the UK, David Bowie’s “Little Wonder” was a high-energy drum and bass / electronica hybrid. Written by Bowie and Reeves Gabrels, the track was among the first composed for the album. Bowie described its creation as a “ridiculous” stream-of-consciousness exercise: “I just picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and made a line for each of the dwarves' names. And that's the song [laughs]. And then I ran out of dwarves' names, so there's new dwarves in it like 'Stinky'.” Originally envisioned as a “nine-minute jungle electronic epic,” it was trimmed to six minutes for the album. Biographer Chris O'Leary described it as a blend of arena rock and electronica, featuring percussion and power chords inspired by the Prodigy’s “Firestarter” (1996 UK No. 1). The music video, directed by Floria Sigismondi, showed Bowie at three different ages in a surreal, dance-oriented style reminiscent of Orbital’s “The Box” (1996). The single reached No. 14 in the UK and topped the charts in Japan.

Track Listing (UK CD1 / Main Release)

Little Wonder (Edit)

Little Wonder (Junior Vasquez Club Mix)

Little Wonder (Danny Saber Dance Mix)

Little Wonder (Danny Saber Remix)

Chart Performance

UK: No. 14

Japan: No. 1

Legacy

“Little Wonder” is a bold, futuristic standout from Earthling — Bowie’s triumphant return to cutting-edge dance and drum & bass in the late ’90s. Its playful, surreal lyrics and high-octane production make it a fan favourite.

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Sources

Information is drawn from my personal knowledge and supplemented by web sources, including davidbowie.com, Discogs, 45cat, AllMusic, Rate Your Music, Wikipedia and BBC Official Charts Company

Whilst every effort is made to provide accurate information, mistakes do happen. Simply leave a comment and the post will be updated. Thank you.David Bowie's "Little Wonder" was released as the second single from his album Earthling on January 20, 1997 accompanied by three remixes and released on January 27, 1997. The single achieved success, reaching number 14 in the UK and topping the charts in Japan. The music video, directed by Floria Sigismondi, features Bowie at three different ages. Biographer David Buckley describes it as a dance-oriented video, similar to Orbital's "The Box" (1996), rather than a rock one.

Little Wonder was among the initial tracks Bowie and Reeves Gabrels composed for the album. Bowie described the creation of the track as a "ridiculous" exercise in pure stream of consciousness: "I just picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and made a line for each of the dwarves' names. And that's the song [laughs]. And then I ran out of dwarves' names, so there's new dwarves in it like 'Stinky'." Initially intended to be a "nine-minute jungle electronic epic", the song was shortened to six minutes for the album. Biographer Chris O'Leary characterized it as a blend of arena rock and electronica, incorporating percussion and power chords from the Prodigy's "Firestarter", a 1996 UK number one that helped introduce drum and bass rhythms to the mainstream.