Misplaced Pages

"Kowalski"
Single by Primal Scream
from the album Vanishing Point
B-side	"96 Tears" "Know Your Rights"
Released	5 May 1997 (1997-05-05)
Length	5:58 (album version) 4:19 (radio edit)
Label	Creation Reprise
Songwriter(s)	Martin Duffy Bobby Gillespie Andrew Innes Robert Young Gary Mounfield
Producer(s)	Brendan Lynch Primal Scream
Primal Scream singles chronology
"(I'm Gonna) Cry Myself Blind" (1994) "Kowalski" (1997) "Star" (1997)

"Kowalski" is a song by Scottish rock band Primal Scream, released on 5 May 1997 as the lead single from their fifth studio album Vanishing Point. The song contains a drum sample from "Halleluhwah" by Can and an interpolation of the bassline from "Get Off Your Ass and Jam" by Funkadelic, and is named after the main character of the 1971 film Vanishing Point, played by Barry Newman; it also features various dialogue samples from this film.

The song peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart and became the band's highest-charting single in Scotland, reaching number two. In Australia, the song was a minor hit on the ARIA Singles Chart, peaking at number 79.

Music video

Scripted by Irvine Welsh and directed by Steven Hanft, the video features Kate Moss and Devon Aoki stealing a Dodge Challenger before then tracking down and assaulting the band. The band's lead singer, Bobby Gillespie, described the video as "a cross between Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill! and The Sweeney."

Track listings

Charts

Release history

References

1. Perry, Andrew (June 1997). "Freeze!". Select. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
2. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 224.
3. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 14, no. 21. 24 May 1997. p. 12. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
4. "Primal Scream: Kowalski" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
5. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
6. "Primal Scream – Kowalski". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
7. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
8. "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 3 May 1997. p. 33. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
9. "コワルスキー | プライマル・スクリーム" [Kowalski | Primal Scream] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 14 February 2024.

• 1997 singles
• 1997 songs
• Creation Records singles
• Primal Scream songs
• Song recordings produced by Brendan Lynch (music producer)
• Songs written by Andrew Innes
• Songs written by Bobby Gillespie
• Songs written by Mani (musician)
• Songs written by Martin Duffy (musician)
• Songs written by Robert Young (musician)