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ROCK AND ROLL! => All Them Other Guys => Topic started by: Zzzptm on April 30, 2018, 12:01:50 PM

Title: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Zzzptm on April 30, 2018, 12:01:50 PM
OK, seriously, are my ears broken or something? Because I don't really get into David Bowie. Of all his tracks, I pretty much can only listen to "Suffragette City" and "Young Americans" on a regular basis. I get the importance of stuff like "Space Oddity" and other singles, how they can't really be ignored in rock history. But listening to most of Bowie's stuff just doesn't work for me. Genesis with Peter Gabriel is the same, as is Soft Machine. These are all majorly important/influential acts, but I'm just meh after listening to them. At least with Bowie, I can pick out two singles of his that I like.

It carries over to Mott the Hoople. Their only big hit was one Bowie wrote, "All the Young Dudes". Again, I get its importance, how it put Mott on the map, but I much MUCH prefer Ian Hunter's compositions like "Rock and Roll Queen", "Driving Sister", and "Sweet Angeline". I love how Bowie was ready to help out friends - witness also his rescue of Marc Bolan - and think Bowie was an awesome dude for that kind of stuff. I just can't get into his music the way so many other people do.

I know Billy is encouraging me to keep trying... so, if "Suffragette City" and "Young Americans" are the ones I like most, where do I go from there if I want to keep trying?
Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Billy Underdog on April 30, 2018, 12:43:25 PM
Two very different tunes, though, the Glam Rock N' Roll of SC to the "plastic soul" of YA. Though you didn't like the albums as a whole, it could be a good idea to check out the albums in a similar style, so for SC/Ziggy Stardust: Aladdin Sane and Diamond Dogs, and continuing the funk/soul style of YA - Station To Station, which is also moving into electronic territories. And given you have a taste for electronica you should also check out the "Berlin triology" - Low, "Heroes" and Lodger. Some startes atleast, along with the albums i mentioned in the "listening"-thread.
And don't dismiss them after just one listen. Give them time.
Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Vyn on April 30, 2018, 01:26:54 PM
And don't dismiss them after just one listen. Give them time.

Indeed. The "process" in A Clockwork Orange should be your example of what is required.

(https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww3.pictures.zimbio.com%2Fmp%2F7aRQwqq77srl.jpg&f=1)
Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Zzzptm on April 30, 2018, 01:51:28 PM
Tell you what, Billy, Station to Station is doing it for me right now. Hope the rest of the album works out like the title track.
Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Billy Underdog on April 30, 2018, 01:59:25 PM
Tell you what, Billy, Station to Station is doing it for me right now. Hope the rest of the album works out like the title track.

I'm glad, and i hope so too. Far from my fave, good as it is, but that's (as said) the thing with Bowie... :)
Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Vyn on April 30, 2018, 02:25:36 PM
Hey Billy, don't you have a first pressing of Bowie's debut album?
Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Zzzptm on April 30, 2018, 02:45:31 PM
Tell you what, Billy, Station to Station is doing it for me right now. Hope the rest of the album works out like the title track.

I'm glad, and i hope so too. Far from my fave, good as it is, but that's (as said) the thing with Bowie... :)

So far, so good, and "Golden Years" finally makes sense to me, fit in after the opening track and with the "Word on a Wing" following. It does make me want to follow up with the Berlin Trilogy, since they're supposed to be in a similar vein. But this is really good stuff, I'm glad I took your advice on this.

As for Vyn...

(https://s3media.247sports.com/Uploads/Assets/583/900/2900583.gif)
Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Billy Underdog on April 30, 2018, 03:27:15 PM
Hey Billy, don't you have a first pressing of Bowie's debut album?

I wish. I do have the mono/stereo remaster, though. A sadly forgotten album, even left out of the discography by Bowie himself for a long time.

It does make me want to follow up with the Berlin Trilogy, since they're supposed to be in a similar vein. But this is really good stuff, I'm glad I took your advice on this.

Great. The Berlin Trilogy is some of his most experimental stuff, though, so don't be surprised if it (yet again) isn't what you expect. ;) Being a fan of Brian Eno helps alot, though.

As for Vyn... I'm oblivious when it comes to dissing Bowie, so let the kid have his fun... :))
Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Zzzptm on May 01, 2018, 09:33:03 AM
Perfect smiley for vyn:

 :trolls:

And perfect smiley for *me*, now that I've abused Ibsen and trolls for the sake of some Internet jolly times...

 :myfun:

Back to Bowie, I'm also wondering about his film, "The Man Who Fell to Earth". I've always been intrigued by it, never had a chance to see it.
Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Billy Underdog on May 01, 2018, 10:12:49 AM
Back to Bowie, I'm also wondering about his film, "The Man Who Fell to Earth". I've always been intrigued by it, never had a chance to see it.

Never seen it, only heard good things about it. It's from that movie he derived the character "the thin white duke", which was his alter ego during the Young Americans - Station To Station era. With the Berlin Trilogy he simply became "David Bowie" (a character in himself), though jumping between genres kept on until the late 90's/early 00's.
Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Zzzptm on May 01, 2018, 12:27:35 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUtJ5FnwfCk

David Bowie gets billed as "Phenomenon of Our Time".

Well, if that's not high praise, I don't know what is... :smug:
Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Zzzptm on May 01, 2018, 01:41:26 PM
Listened to Low, it was pretty good when it wasn't *too* experimental.

Then I listened to a garbled version of Heroes for about 5 minutes before I realized it wasn't experimental, it was totally messed up.

Found a good version of Heroes, sounds MUCH less experimental. :lol:
Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Zzzptm on May 01, 2018, 02:50:57 PM
Heroes was quite enjoyable, Lodger is shaping up to be the best of the three, though. VERY 80s in sound.
Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Billy Underdog on May 01, 2018, 03:01:11 PM
Well, then Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) will be a logical next step. It's putting Bowie on a poppier path, while also defining the 80's in many ways. Also a huge influence on the Goth rockers you like. The Banshees and Sisters Of Mercy owe ALOT to that album...
Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Zzzptm on May 01, 2018, 03:17:47 PM
Well, then Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) will be a logical next step. It's putting Bowie on a poppier path, while also defining the 80's in many ways. Also a huge influence on the Goth rockers you like. The Banshees and Sisters Of Mercy owe ALOT to that album...

Indeed, I'm hearing quite a lot of stuff that points to them in the Berlin Trilogy.
Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Zzzptm on May 02, 2018, 12:41:29 PM
This just popped in my head, and it's wild.

Bowie's "Thin White Duke" persona was openly fascistic at times. Definitely Bowie's most right-wing character.

The character was influenced heavily by the filming of The Man Who Fell From the Sky, which was filmed in/near Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Bugs Bunny often started cartoons with the line, "I should have turned left at Albuquerque."

DAVID BOWIE == BUGS BUNNY

BECAUSE BOTH WENT *RIGHT* AT ALBUQUERQUE

WAKE UP SHEEPLE
Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Vyn on May 02, 2018, 12:58:00 PM
Your proctor will be paying you a visit later this week, Z.

In the meantime, I don't know if you've tried on Blackstar for size, but man what a fantastic set.
Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Billy Underdog on May 02, 2018, 02:24:22 PM
This just popped in my head, and it's wild.

Bowie's "Thin White Duke" persona was openly fascistic at times. Definitely Bowie's most right-wing character.

You're not the first to think that, and this unfortunate pic didn't help matters. In the Berlin era he admitted to be facinated by Nietzsche and Facicm too. And then there was ofcourse all the coke in L.A and speed in Europe...

(https://philosophyofpop.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/bowie-nazi-salute1.jpg)
Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Zzzptm on May 02, 2018, 03:50:59 PM
It's not the side effects of the cocaine...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSQHFUe6Y5s
Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Billy Underdog on May 02, 2018, 05:53:25 PM
It's not the side effects of the cocaine...

No, at this time it was more the speed. The coke made him paranoid and delusional. There's some scenes in the film Cracked Actor that's pretty bad.

Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Billy Underdog on May 03, 2018, 01:16:44 AM
Well, I can take David Bowie off of this list for me. I found stuff of his that I'm not just OK with, I actually will select in the future.

I think we got ourselves a new fan, Mr. Jones  :zomg:
Title: Re: Appreciating David Bowie
Post by: Billy Underdog on May 30, 2018, 11:01:13 AM
Recent posts brought me back to this, and GODDAMNED what an album. Imagine being at one peak or another during the whole of the 70's, becoming an irrelevant pop-star in the 80's and then (to cut the story short) come back with this in '02 which equals everything you've ever done before. What a gifted man.

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b6/Heathen.jpg/220px-Heathen.jpg)