All Things Bowie

Of all the artists who died in recent years, Bowie’s death hit me the hardest.

I attribute that to the fact I had recently reconciled with him and was in the midst of renewed appreciation and discovering some of the albums I had previously passed over.

I was always a great fan of his work from Space Oddity to Scary Monsters, and never stopped playing those albums.

But by the mid 80s, he had released a couple of albums I didn’t like and just stopped buying his new music, and stopped following him all together.

What changed that was about three years prior to his death, I read somewhere his last few albums had been produced by Tony Visconti and these were highly regarded as a return to form.

I hadn't heard any songs from these albums and was sceptical but curious. I went on YouTube and randomly picked out a song and I remember the first one I heard was “Days” from Reality.

Right off the bat I was quite pleasantly surprised. I listened to a few more songs and then went out and bought Reality, and then Heathen and then The Next Day which had recently come out at that point.

I liked all of them. I was becoming a fan again, even more so than I had been previously.

I was even starting to reassess some of the 90s output that I had previously ignored, and then I heard there was another new album coming out, and I read Visconti was once again the producer and I was really excited.

And then Bowie died.

Just with the timing and my heightened level of interest in him at that point, it was bewildering.

It was sad to lose him as an artist because I feel some of his last few albums were just as good and in some instances maybe even better that some of those he released during the mid 70s.

I never liked any of the stuff until I saw the promo for the song Lazarus which had me enthralled. And then he went and died, which I took as a personal rebuke for not liking anything he'd done before. So you have to admire his skill at timing, if nothing else.

Quote from thefarmer

That has made me really laugh. It's all your fault then 

Seriously, though, it was a real shock to hear that he had died. I think Lemmy died around the same time and I was equally floored by that announcement (although the sudden weight loss when Motorhead played Glastonbury should have alerted me that something was up with the great man).

Which ones do you guys consider the best of this bunch? Acquired all of them after I had enjoyed The Next Day, but never really came around to listen to them.

Black Tie White Noise
The Buddha of Suburbia
Outside

Earthling

Hours

Heathen

Reality

I was privilieged enough to see Bowie on the Let's Dance tour. I was hit hard by his death (although hit even harder by Glenn Frey's death 8 days later, which sadly just vanished in the wake). However I have to say that I never heard the later albums until The Next Day, which I love. I didn't buy Blackstar for a while - I just didn't want to listen to it.

The imperial phase - Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Diamond Dogs etc then the Berlin trilogy all have great moments. I really should buy some more of it.

Quote from thefarmer

. .

Are you a motorhead fan too? That's another band I'm hooked on. Saw them loads. Had tickets to see them again.nor long after he died. Still have them somewhere

"We are Motorhead and we play rock and roll". You don't get many bands like them. They were refreshingly free of any pretense; they just got on with the job in hand.

I consider myself very fortunate to have met Mr Kilmister once. It was many moons ago and I was in London. A friend of mine told me that "Ian" would be coming round later. I thought nothing of it until this giant of a man wearing a cowboy hat loomed in the doorway some hours later. Funniest thing was, my mate's mum was there - a lovely old dear - and Lemmy put one massive hand on her shoulder and boomed "Hello, Mrs Higgins!" Poor woman nearly had a coronary.

Bowie's death hit me hard too. I adored most of his career; some bits I merely liked.

My favorite stuff is "Hunky Dory" through "Let's Dance", and "Earthling" through "Blackstar" (although I didn't love "Hours"; "Outside" is good too, but again not really a fave - however, the tour for it co-headlining with Nine Inch Nails was great).

My overall favorite of his is "Station To Station" - I absolutely loved his "Thin White Duke" phase. His Ziggy era was very good too (about as obvious a statement as "water is wet", but there you go).

"Never Let Me Down" was his most ironic album title because it let me down a lot (as did the subsequent "Glass Spider" tour). On the other hand, "The Next Day" thrilled me so much that I was completely gobsmacked. I knew he probably wouldn't tour for it, but I really wanted him to.

"Young Americans" impressed me greatly too. He really pulled off being a soul singer - not a given at the time.

I loved Robert Fripp's work on his albums too - "Heroes" and "Fashion" have some of my all-time favorite guitar playing from him - that playing on "Fashion" is just insane (meant in the most complimentary way, of course).

Well, Bowie is/was/always will be wonderful.

I have a couple of classic Bowie albums and The Next Day, which I like a lot. Never been a real fan, though.

Nevertheless, it was a real loss when he died.

Quote from thefarmer

To be honest Outside is the one Bowie album I have that I have never really listened to enough. Bought when it came out put it inon a few times put it away and never really got into it. I should try it again .Its not readily accessible. Reality is my favourite of these , other than Blackstar it's my favourite of his post 70's stuff though most seem to.prefer The Next Day.

BTWN is good with an easy jazzy feel. Earthling is has a harder edge which I really like . "I'm Afraid of Americans " is a great track. The best pick from all these. Can't remember Budda too well , saw the series and had a tape! Not outstanding. Hours and Heathen I rate about the same as good , easy listens but don't play them that much.

Outside is my favorite. It's not that accessible but I like it. Reality is great too. I had forgotten about that song Days which I listened to obsessively for a month or more several years ago. It seemed like it was on a repeating playlist of one in my head. I'd love to know the brain chemistry behind that.

Here is an interesting little fact: *

Bowie briefly lived at 79a Warwick Square, London SW1: http://www.englandunderground.…wie-briefly-in-the-1960s/

In 1965, the same address was home to the Moody Blues fan club (Go Now era), addressee being Timothy Hudson.

Both were Decca artists at the time, so maybe the house was a Decca property. Bowie and the Moodies did talk of co-founding Threshold Records, the Moodies own label from 1969, but Bowie got cold feet and went to RCA.

* Well, I thought it was interesting!

Thank you to the farmers and watchers and the big boss.

My favourite album is Hunky Dory, my favourite period probably the Berlin trilogy although his closing sequence from Earthling onwards indicates an artist who'd gained a new burst of creativity.

Over this period he assembled a terrific core band. I'm especially a fan of Gail Ann Dorsey, one of my favourite bassists. For a set of great live performances, if you don't already know it check out the Live at the BBC 2000 cd. It's a really good mix from across his career, performed by an artist really enjoying what he was doing, backed by a top-notch band.

From this collection I especially love the rendition of Always Crashing In The Same Car. Although I'm a huge fan of its source album Low, this 2000 version is for me actually better. It's one of his rare personal songs where the emotion, in this case a kind of anguished resignation regarding his then self-destructive habits, comes through very strongly, much more so than on the original.

Quote from Backdrifter

My favourite album is Hunky Dory, my favourite period probably the Berlin trilogy although his closing sequence from Earthling onwards indicates an artist who'd gained a new burst of creativity.

Over this period he assembled a terrific core band. I'm especially a fan of Gail Ann Dorsey, one of my favourite bassists. For a set of great live performances, if you don't already know it check out the Live at the BBC 2000 cd. It's a really good mix from across his career, performed by an artist really enjoying what he was doing, backed by a top-notch band.

From this collection I especially love the rendition of Always Crashing In The Same Car. Although I'm a huge fan of its source album Low, this 2000 version is for me actually better. It's one of his rare personal songs where the emotion, in this case a kind of anguished resignation regarding his then self-destructive habits, comes through very strongly, much more so than on the original.

I have Happy Ending By Gail Ann Dorsey on a compilation, it's great song.

As the thread is all things Bowie, I thought I'd comment aimlessly on this: I really got into him after hearing I'm Deranged on the lost highway soundtrack. I subsequently became a huge David Lynch fan, and particularly of Bowie's performance in the Twin Peaks movie. He played a deeply mysterious FBI agent that - despite what amounted to a cameo - became an essential part of the story. The Twin Peaks revival was being heavily talked about and I think had started filming when news of his death broke. There had been intense speculation firstly about whether he would participate or not, and then whether he had had a chance before he died. The production was incredibly secretive... Zero details before it actually started to air.

Ultimately he obviously never did. Lynch said he didn't understand why Bowie had declined, not knowing he was sick. Apparently also Bowie wasn't happy with the Louisiana accent he had put on for the original part. So to somewhat honor his feelings about it, Lynch hired someone from Louisiana to voice the role, and turned the agent into a giant industrial machine that looked a bit like a teapot (not Lynch's intention but he had put a spout on it without realizing what it would look like). It speaks to the strength of Bowie's performance (or at least his Louisiana impersonation) that when I first saw the revival without knowing the truth, I wasn't sure whether it was actually him reprising the role. Which was kind of cool.

Funny how secrets travel...