David Bowie

J.F. · Post by **J.F.** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:56 am

I recognise him being appreciated as something of an iconic figure of rock/pop. A genius of a song writer. An influental guy on certain early punks. A chameleon when it comes to create a rock/pop-star image (while I'm actually not sure I'd like to see "chameleon" interpreted too deeply, like... changing the colour according to the surroundings - did Bowie do so, or did things maybe went more vice versa sometimes?).
What else comes to mind is the way he played with gender roles in the early 70s (though I'm unable to figure out what sociological relevance that might have had on the rock/youth-scene, if any).

I really like a handful Bowie-songs - basically from 77-80 - but there's much more in his catalogue I find unlistenable; anyway I think he's basically a remarkable singer.
- for me he's among the best-mixed bags in rock/pop.

I'm curious about what some of you think about the guy.

Dohol · Post by **Dohol** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:18 am

I listened to "Low" and "Heroes" till' the grooves wore out. I like what he did before those two...

Except for "Scary Monsters" everything he did after was dreadful...

Dan Warburton · Post by **Dan Warburton** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:26 am

..with one notable exception, Outside (1995), successfully pillaged by Lynch for Lost Highway and a pretty solid reunion with Eno. Forget the crappy performance art concept subtext and enjoy.

user_2274 · Post by **user_2274** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:48 am

...And when I get excited
My little china girl says
Oh baby just you shut your mouth...

Gerardo A · Post by **Gerardo A** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 12:35 pm

Can you guys recommend 3 or 4 indispensable Bowie albums to people who haven't really heard his work (me included)?

Stephen · Post by **Stephen** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 1:06 pm

Low and Heroes both seconded then
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
Diamond Dogs

He was my ex's favourite artist of all time, so i kinda tired of him through overexposure, but he is great.

jon abbey · Post by **jon abbey** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 1:09 pm

I'd say none are "indispensable", Ziggy Stardust is the best songs record, Station to Station is the best with more stretched out tracks. really, you're not missing much IMO, though.

barry · Post by **barry** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 1:49 pm

dont know... Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Diamond Dogs, David Live are pretty damn indispensable to me IMHO ( of course ). Not to mention Low, Heroes, Lodger & Scary Monsters.

Dohol · Post by **Dohol** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 2:17 pm

Diamond Dogs...Damn..that was part of the soundtrack of my life the summer of 1977...while a friend and I painted my sisters house we played that, Miles Davis's Agaharta and Kraftwerk's Autobahn, all the while we were smoking a ludicrous amount of uncured Indiana wildweed...

We played those discs over and over and...

Well, I guess you hadda' be there...

fearandpanic · Post by **fearandpanic** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 2:20 pm

Dohol wrote: Well, I guess you hadda' be there...

This is my feeling about Bowie in general. I wasn't, and I never truly liked anything of his. I like plenty of other music of a similar style, too.

free math · Post by **free math** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 2:24 pm

all i need is his "wild is the wind"

kangaroo? · Post by **kangaroo?** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 2:39 pm

following on "wild is the wind", my fave of his crooner moments is the one right in the middle of "Let's Dance" (the song) where it goes from pared down deep-voiced singing right back into the dance groove.

other than that i really love Lodger and i was really blown away by Station to Station last time i put it on. "Stay" in particular was fantastic.
from his early stuff i think Hunky Dory is one of his best, right before his rock period

Post by **grisha** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 2:53 pm

free math wrote:all i need is his "wild is the wind"

i completely agree with this. his version is great.

i used to be a Bowie fan, but i haven't got anything out of his stuff for a long time. just yesterday i downloaded this and "Sound and Vision" off slsk. i like the riff.

howsthatsound · Post by **howsthatsound** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 3:07 pm

bowie from what i understand has almost always been a bit of a copy-cat. there are some great tales in "please kill me" about that. him just "buying-up" whatever was cool in the underground and making it his. kind of like madonna really. not that that makes his output intrinsically bad. history is full of brilliant copy-cats.

i personally think the earlier the better with him. my current favorite may be his earliest EP under the name "davie jones". great 60's psych stuff. sounds like a mix of tommy james and the velvets poppier numbers.

skrobek · Post by **skrobek** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:55 pm

free math wrote:all i need is his "wild is the wind"

d'you prefer it to Nina Simone's ?

J.F. · Post by **J.F.** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:11 pm

I saw this one yesterday http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nyDfHP0fME - guess that brought me to Bowie this morning.

meadowphantasm · Post by **meadowphantasm** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:19 pm

these are all really good..
ziggy stardust, the man who sold the world, hunky dory, space oddity, aladdin sane

user_5172 · Post by **user_5172** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:13 pm

HISTORY OF DAVID BOWIE'S TEETH
http://youtube.com/watch?v=dtrjZRQ8TzU" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;

sound plague · Post by **sound plague** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 7:52 pm

I'd recommend:

Hunky Dory
Ziggy Stardust
Station to Station
Low

I go through moods when I play Low quite a bit - it's an interesting album.

Dan Warburton · Post by **Dan Warburton** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 1:05 am

howsthatsound wrote:bowie from what i understand has almost always been a bit of a copy-cat. [..]history is full of brilliant copy-cats.

They said that about Stockhausen too..

Skrobek wrote:
free math wrote:all i need is his "wild is the wind"
d'you prefer it to Nina Simone's ?

Yes.