| Author | Message | ||
     Matthias Member Username: Matthias Post Number: 206 Registered: 05-2005 |
A number of Bowie references have popped up in my life and it is time to invest. Unfortunately I grew up as a teen in the 80s. David Bowie v.80 was China Girl, Modern Love, Tin Machine. What do you 70s children recommend? Give me Top Ten songs and what album they are from. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1481 Registered: 05-2005 |
Buy the albums Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Alladin Sane, Diamond Dogs, Station To Station, Low, Heroes and Lodger without fear Matthias. Young Americans is ok, as is Scary Monsters - but not in the same league as the rest. Be warned, these albums sound nothing like China Girl, Modern Love, Tin Machine. This is a good thing  | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1373 Registered: 05-2005 |
Kev's right. unfortunately Bowie was brilliant and revolutionary, but then in the 80's he ended up buyinig his own "David Bowie" suits from the back page adverts in the New Musical Express (NME)! That ruined him and he knows it. Actually not in the same league but nevertheless an icon, Weller blew it from '84 to '94, which is quite a similar time frame to Bowie's period of crapnessabounds. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1319 Registered: 04-2005 |
Yep, Kevin nailed the "essential Bowie" list. Some might add "The Man Who Sold the World," but I wouldn't--it's mostly pretentious hard-rock sludge. The "Changesbowie" compilation is a good way to get a few other odds and ends, like "Space Oddity" and "John I'm Only Dancing." I've been on a Bowie kick lately, so I found cheap used copies of his '90s and early '00s albums, which I've never heard before. I can conclusively say they're nonessential but at least better than the '80s shit he did. I suppose "Outside" is worth hearing for people who loved the "Eno trilogy," but it's not even close in quality. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 526 Registered: 10-2004 |
My personal favorite Bowie albums: "Scary Monsters" and "Low." For me, these albums are endlessly innovative, catchy, creative, and incredibly well-played. "Station to Station" is also worth checking out. Dense but still poppy if you penetrate it. "Heroes" has its moments, like the title track and a few other songs, but for me isn't as consistent as the above. This may sound like heresy, but I could take or leave "Ziggy Stardust." I think it's overrated. Sure, the title track and "Starman" are stellar pop tunes, but to this day, I just can't get into the remainder of the album. For early stuff, I much prefer "Man Who Sold the World" (dark, yet strangely catchy, metalish...) and "Alladin Sane" (the title track is positively dreamy, while "Cracked Actor" has some of the most scud-dropping Mick Ronson guitar you could ever hear). | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 527 Registered: 10-2004 |
Spence, you're talking about Paul Weller? You really think he'd blown it by '84? This may (once again) sound like heresy, or maybe I'm on crack, but for me, Weller's best stuff came from the first two Style Council albums and the singles from '83-85. I *love* "Our Favorite Shop" ("Internationalists" in the US). "Walls Come Tumbling Down," "Everything to Lose," "Down on the Seine," etc... pure jazz-soul-pop brilliance! And from the year before, stuff like "My Ever Changing Moods" and "Solid Bond in Your Heart" are some of my favorite songs ever. I even like that stuff more than the Jam, and I do like the Jam. For me, Weller starting blowing it around '86, but didn't completely blow it until '89 or thereabouts. Taking things back on topic, Bowie's "Let's Dance" album is a guilty pleasure for me, and I think the song "Blue Jean" from '84 isn't bad either. After that, it was all down hill. And honestly, I don't get what all the critical fuss is about with his recent albums. I haven't found anything he's done lately very moving. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1321 Registered: 04-2005 |
I agree with Jeff about "Ziggy" (though it's still a must if you're going to explore the Bowie catalog)--it feels too much like an original cast recording and not enough like an authentic rock album, possibly because of the incredibly thin, sterile sound. "Alladin Sane" is a better album--"Panic in Detroit," "Cracked Actor," "Jean Genie," and "Watch that Man" rock much harder than anything on "Ziggy." Much better sound and some great insane piano playing from Mike Garson, too. | ||
| joe Member Username: Dogmansuede Post Number: 156 Registered: 07-2006 |
jeff...you said precisely what i was thinking. i'm no style council afficianado, but i thought some of their best stuff was very mid-80s.... | ||
| David Gagen Member Username: David_g Post Number: 36 Registered: 02-2007 |
Space Oddity is worth a listen. What the hell is Cygnet Committee all about? | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1108 Registered: 03-2005 |
I had to speed off to work when I first saw Matthias' start of this thread and Kevin's response. Look at all that has appeared in the interim! Bowie was called a chameleon for very good reason. He assumed so many different musical guises so effectively. Nobody has mentioned his early work from the 60s but I love much of it, from his early Mod records to his ersatz Anthony Newley Ken Pitt-era recordings for British Decca. And he had a fabulous sense of humor. I talked about that on the Cult thread in connection with "The Man Who Sold the World" but another really great send-up of his is the song "Space Oddity." That song is a terrific spoof of the Bee Gees' late-60s melodrama singles. I never really got into Bowie's most commercially successful things, from "Ziggy Stardust" through "Station to Station," but there's still a lot from that era that is quite worthy of respect. Matthias, if your computer can read m4a files I can send you examples from the albums I have and love and somebody else can send you examples from the mid-70s years. I haven't listened to the Style Council in an eon. I remember loving "My Ever Changing Moods" and "You're the Best Thing." The problem (for me) with Paul Weller is that too often he seemed to be emulating somebody else, whether an idealized Mod-era Who or Sam Cooke. But that never stopped me from buying Jam or Style Council records. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1376 Registered: 05-2005 |
Jeff Actually Malcolm Ross reckons Weller had his best period then too, so you are not alone. It was just too slick for me, like it was the same for me as being into Danny Wilson say, far too slick, I hated the factthat it was too clean, I wanted dirty semi acoustics, poets like Robert F and a sense of artistic value, for me the Council beyond Speak like a child were pap, commercial nonsense. i suppose if it came to putting on a mid 80's council lp and say shockheaded peters album, then you know which one i'd opt for! |