As a post-script to the David Bowie selections, 46 minutes of Tin Machine, featuring David, Reeves Gabrels and brothers Tony Fox Sales and Hunt Sales.
In his comment on Friday's Bowie post, The Swede (of Unthought Of, Though, Somehow) described Tin Machine as "oft derided". Personally, I'd go so far as to say that I was largely indifferent and had pretty much dismissed them before I'd heard a single note.
I was out of love with David at this point - well, the new music he was making, at least - so the prospect of Bowie as just another guy in a rock band did absolutely nothing for me, at a time when I getting deeper and deeper into dance music.
As it happens, one thing David and I did agree on in 1989 was a love of Pixies. I was obsessed with Come On Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa and it appears that their music was hugely influential on Tin Machine's initial sound and album.
Tin Machine pretty much passed me by for the best part of three decades, until I discovered a bootleg of outtakes and unreleased recordings, which encouraged me to go back and actually listen to their music for the first time. I mean, properly listen.
Neither Tin Machine nor Tin Machine II will be up there with the best of Bowie, but they're also not nearly as bad as I'd somewhat sniffily assumed back in the day. I agree with The Swede's reflection that Tin Machine "gave Bowie a much needed kick up the artistic backside, clearing a path for the burst of solo creativity that followed."
That, and the Sound + Vision tour and album reissues, both of which served as a palette cleanser, an objective reappraisal of what make Bowie tick as a songwriter and performer, and a chance to fall back in love with the creative process of making music.
Like The Swede, I also prefer Tin Machine II to it's predecessor, it's more melodic leanings apparently being the trigger for the Sales brothers not wanting to continue with Tin Machine, though for Reeves Gabrels, it was the beginning of a long and productive partnership with Bowie.
Today's selection draws from both studio albums, slightly favouring the latter and bolstered with single versions and a BBC Radio 1 session. I've included a trio of outtakes, including Hunt Sales' vocals on the aptly-titled You Better Stop, a 10-second snippet called It's A Hit, and David taking the lead on It's Tough But It's OK.
Hindsight is a great thing, and the Tin Machine concept arguably remains a soft target for lazy criticism. However, experienced from a distance, it was a vital and necessary step on David Bowie's voyage of (re)discovery and rejuvenation which prevented him becoming just another has-been on the nostalgia circuit. The music that he created in the 1990s and 2000s, culminating in the incredible Blackstar, is testament to that.
1) Bus Stop (Album Version) (1989)
2) You Better Stop (Outtake) (1991)
3) Amlapura (Album Version) (1991)
4) You Belong In Rock 'n Roll (Edit) (1991)
5) Sacrifice Yourself (Album Version) (1989)
6) Baby Universal (Mark Goodier Session) (1991)
7) If There Is Something (Album Version) (Cover of Roxy Music) (1991)
8) Run (Album Version) (1989)
9) Hammerhead (Single Version) (1991)
10) It's A Hit (Outtake) (1991)
11) Working Class Hero (Album Version) (Cover of John Lennon & Plastic Ono Band) (1989)
12) It's Tough But It's OK (Outtake Version 2) (1991)
13) I Can't Read (Album Version) (1989)
14) You Can't Talk (Album Version) (1991)
1989: Tin Machine: 1, 5, 8, 11, 13
1991: Baby Universal EP: 6
1991: Tin Machine II: 3, 7. 14
1991: You Belong In Rock 'n Roll EP: 4, 9
2018: Tin Machine III (bootleg MP3): 2, 10, 12
Thanks for posting this Bowie tribute. Not sure about his cover of ITIS. I'm really pleased he recognised the song for what it is (ie Brilliant!) but it needs to be at its original tempo not the speed Tin Machine play it at..
ReplyDeleteI hear where you're coming from, Mike. This was the second song that Tin Machine recorded togather in 1989 and, by Bowie's own admission, "we were so exhausted that we didn’t have it in us to write another song so we used an old song to show how we as a band would approach someone else’s material."
DeleteIt was shelved in favour of a cover of John Lennon's Working Class Hero for the debut, then dusted off and polished for Tin Machine II. It was always intended as a "fun" romp through, so I suspect thet David may have agreed with your comments!