Pin Ups

Pin Ups is the seventh album by David Bowie, containing cover versions of songs, released in 1973 on RCA Records.

It was his last studio album with the bulk of 'The Spiders from Mars', his backing band throughout his Ziggy Stardust phase; Mick Woodmansey was replaced on drums by Aynsley Dunbar.

Pin Ups entered the UK chart on 3 November 1973 (coincidentally the same day as Bryan Ferry's covers album These Foolish Things) and stayed there for 21 weeks, peaking at No. 1. It re-entered the chart on 30 April 1983, this time for fifteen weeks, peaking at No. 57. In July 1990, it again entered the chart, for one week, at No. 52.

A version of The Velvet Underground's "White Light/White Heat" was recorded during the sessions. It was never released; Bowie donated the backing track to Mick Ronson for his 1975 album Play Don't Worry.

The cover image shows Bowie with supermodel Twiggy.

Concept

According to co-producer Ken Scott, the LP was originally conceived as "a complete opposite of [Bowie's] other albums", consisting of all cover songs except one original composition, and mainly turned towards the US market since "he wanted to do songs that weren't known as well in the States as they were in England", yet eventually the plan was dropped.Pin Ups was the first of two "1960s nostalgia" albums that Bowie had planned to release. The second, which was planned to be called "Bowie-ing Out," would have contained Bowie covering his favourite American artists, but was never recorded. Bowie also apparently considered making a Pin Ups sequel: he had compiled a list of songs he wanted to cover, some of which showed up on his later releases of Heathen (2002) and Reality (2003).

Pin-up model

A pin-up model (known as a pin-up girl for a female and less commonly male pin-up for a male) is a model whose mass-produced pictures see wide appeal as popular culture. Pin-ups are intended for informal display, i.e. meant to be "pinned-up" on a wall. Pin-up models may be glamour models, fashion models, or actors.

These pictures are also sometimes known as cheesecake photos.

The term pin-up may refer to drawings, paintings, and other illustrations as well as photographs (see the list of pin-up artists). The term was first attested to in English in 1941; however, the practice is documented back at least to the 1890s.

The pin-up images could be cut out of magazines or newspapers, or on a postcard or lithograph. Such pictures often appear on wall or desk calendars. Posters of pin-ups were mass-produced and became popular from the mid 20th century.

Male pin-ups were less common than their female counterparts throughout the 20th century, although a market for homoerotica has always existed as well as pictures of popular male celebrities targeted at women or girls. Examples include James Dean and Jim Morrison.