This is always a difficult period when a couple of days after marking Bowie's birth there is a reflection on his untimely passing in 2016. I'd barely started this blog when the 5th anniversary of his death landed; last year, I dodged what would have been Bowie's 75th birthday altogether. I think the recent losses, particularly Terry Hall, have reminded me how much I miss David Bowie's active presence in the world and I didn't want this birthday to pass without comment.
An unplanned benefit of this is that whilst sometimes it can be more than a year before I get around to posting the flip side of one of my mixtapes, just under a month has passed since I shared Side 1 of this Bowie selection.
As I mentioned before, the constraint with this compilation was very simple: I only had access to a few David Bowie albums, mostly in my girlfriend's collection; therefore, you won't see the likes of Rebel Rebel, Boys Keep Swinging, Life On Mars?, Changes or "Heroes" or anything post-1980.
Side 2 is singles heavy and I've deliberately grouped a few together - Fame and Fashion, Space Oddity and Ashes To Ashes - for perhaps obvious reasons.
It's No Game (Part 1) is the opening song on Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) and was the clear contender to open Side 2 here. I just love Bowie's strained vocals that come so close to just cracking altogether.
Be My Wife was also a certainty for this selection, a highlight from 1977's Low. Much is made of Bowie's innovation in music, fashion and videos. The clip for Be My Wife also demonstrates his prescience when it comes to TV soaps, providing the hair and make up cues for EastEnders' Dot Cotton. This was 8 years before the BBC series debuted with June Brown's outstanding portrayal of the character. Uncanny.
I think my original plan had been to include the full length album version of Memory Of A Free Festival from 1969's Space Oddity as the penultimate track on this selection. Unfortunately, my girlfriend's CD was badly scratched and no amount of cleaning or applying "repair solution" could make the song playable. Fortunately, she had the Sound + VIsion re-release with the bonus tracks, including both sides of the 1970 single version, so I was able to use Part 1 instead.
I suspect the cover of The Yardbirds' Shapes Of Things was a late addition to make up for the three-minute shortfall in running time, but I am quite fond of Bowie's version, even if Pin Ups is almost certainly my least played of his albums.
One of the few David Bowie albums that I owned at the time was the the Sound + Vision vinyl reissue of The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars. In addition to the (kind of) title track, the expanded edition also provides a couple more songs for Side 2 of this selection.
Velvet Goldmine was recorded during the album sessions that started in late 1971 and finished early the following year. Whilst not an obvious fit for the album itself, it's astonishing to think that Velvet Goldmine wasn't even released as a B-side until 1975, when it appeared on RCA's 'Maximillion Series - 3 Tracks For The Price Of 2' 7" single, along with Space Oddity and Changes. It's deservedly enjoyed a retrospective reappraisal, even inspiring a 1998 film directed by Todd Haynes.
The other bonus track from the ...Ziggy Stardust... reissue is the original demo version of Lady Stardust. Much as I love the album version, this stripped down earlier take got to me the first time I heard it on crackly vinyl and it's edged into position as my favourite version of the song. There was no question that this would be the closing song on this cassette compilation.
My girlfriend and I later split and I spent several several years tracking down secondhand CD copies of the Sound + Vision Bowie reissues, his 1990s albums and buying his 21st century albums on or shortly after release. Femme Fatale, for all it's glaring omissions, remains a much-loved selection of David Bowie songs.
There will inevitably be more Bowie selections in 2023, including his 'later period' from the 1990s to 2010s, though I will be hard pressed to match the excellent Imaginary Compilation Album that Middle Aged Man offered up via The Vinyl Villain in 2021.
Happy birthday, David, we miss you.
1) It's No Game (Part 1 ft. Michi Hirota) (1980)
2) The Man Who Sold The World (Album Version) (1972)
3) Ziggy Stardust (Album Version) (1972)
4) Fame (Album Version ft. John Lennon) (1975)
5) Fashion (Album Version) (1980)
6) Space Oddity (Album Version) (1969)
7) Ashes To Ashes (Album Version) (1980)
8) Be My Wife (Album Version) (1977)
9) Velvet Goldmine (Single Version) (1971)
10) Shapes Of Things (Cover of The Yardbirds) (1973)
11) Memory Of A Free Festival (Part 1) (1970)
12) Lady Stardust (Original Demo) (1972)
1969: Space Oddity: 6
1972: The Man Who Sold The World: 2
1972: The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars: 3
1973: Pin Ups: 10
1975: Young Americans: 4
1977: Low: 8
1980: Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps): 1, 5, 7
1990: Space Oddity (Sound + Vision Expanded Edition): 11
1990: The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (Sound + Vision Expanded Edition): 9, 12
Side One here
Thank you for this. I always love seeing people's playlists of Bowies works. He has such depth and variety that there really is something for everyone. I like you selection here, thanks again for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, Mooz! I had initially considered a three-day Bowie selection - there's certainly more than enough music to draw from! - but I can promise there will more Bowie over the course of 2023.
DeleteI had already planned to start my blog on the first 'normal' Monday back at work after the festive period in 2016. That turned out to be the day we heard of David's death and the news coverage was awash with tributes to him (you probably remember it was as big as when Elvis, Lennon and MJ died. I inevitably wrote my very first post about him and always know when it's the anniversary of my blog. Think I've appreciated his back catalogue even more since his death but just seems to be the way these things sometimes go. I also visited his mural in Brixton next time I was in London. Thanks for this one.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, Alyson. As a latecomer to What's It All About? your comment prompted me to go back to your very first post from 2016. It's a lovely piece of writing that captures how so many of us felt at the time - and still do. I listen to David Bowie's music a lot and there are moments when I forget that he's no longer with us.
DeleteSuffice to say, Life On Mars? would have made the selection, had either I or my girlfriend owned a copy of Aladdin Sane!
And yes, I also loved the TV series of the same name. Did you ever see the US remake with Harvey Keitel, though? So off the mark, it was strangely compelling.
There might be a few 'obvious' tunes missing, but this would make for an enjoyable and intriguing ICA.........
ReplyDeleteI think the ICA format was clearly hardwired from the moment I recorded my first C90 compilation...!
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