David Bowie, Or How I Need To Be Careful What I Wish For

I have been thinking about David Bowie's latest stretch of inactivity, which is going on for about 7 years now. I am a fan, and at times have been fanatical, especially when defending his output since 1995, which I think is criminally underrated. I keep hoping I hear something other than the occasional Bowie "sighting" on the streets of New York, which is starting to become on par with the Yeti. I really do need some new music, and at least some positive news regarding his health, as this hiatus began soon after his heart attack and subsequent surgery.

I also never not think of my pal Steve Simels when thinking of David Bowie. For you regular readers of Steve's indispensible blog Power Pop, you will be familiar with his somewhat legendary disdain for The Thin White Duke.

So I had an idea.

Wanting to start a discussion about Bowie, with positive points being made about his ever-changing styles and fantastic records other than "Ziggy Stardust," I thought it'd be great to have a point/counterpoint intro, with me showing the love and Simels vehemently disagreeing, setting the stage for more thoughts and dialogue.

I asked and I received this, a gift from Steve, whose following words are just too marvelous.

Before you continue, I want to stress, I sincerely love what he wrote, even if I disagree with a lot of it. I've removed nothing.


Sal -- I should preface this by saying I've mellowed on the subject of the Thin White Duke, to the point I will even admit that there are occasional Bowie songs == Heroes, Golden Years, Rebel Rebel -- that, should they come on my radio unbidden, I wouldn't change the station. In any case, most of these opinions were formed during his 70s heyday; I was a self-righteous twenty something at the time, so such opinions were justifiable. Today, of course, less so.

That said here's a list.

1. The early records (post the Lower Third, but pre-Ziggy)

Impossible to distinguish from the work of noted rocker Anthony Newley, and if I wanted to listen to Anthony Newley, which I never have, I would listen to the real thing, not Bowie's thin gruel.

2. Ziggy Stardust

Or as we call it at Casa Simels -- "Flash Gordon and the Gay Guys From Outer Space." Possibly the most asinine concept in the history of rock concept albums, and with one or two exceptions -- possibly "Hang on to Yourself" and "Suffragette City" -- the songwriting is absymal.

3. The singing

If Bowie isn't the least soulful vocalist ever, I don't know who is; worse, that pre-rock crooning style of his has provided the template for generations of unlistenable singers on both side of the pond.

4. Pinups

One of the three worst covers albums ever made. The other two, of course are Bryan Ferry's "These Foolish Things" and

Duran Duran's 1995 Thank You.

The former, I think, is an utterly appaling concept record in which Ferry, nitwit that he is, advances the concept that Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" has something in common artistically with Lesley Gore's "It's My Party" other than the fact that both were originally recorded by sentient mammals.

The latter, on the other hand, is merely a sloppy mess in which one of the world's most useless bands pays tribute to its non-roots and tries, unsuccessfully, to convince the world that Simon Le Bon has any business performing a Public Enemy song.

Pin Ups, however, I think is exponentially worse. At the time it came out, somebody who hadn't yet heard it (Lester Bangs, actually, who quoted me without attribution in his subsequent review) asked what it sounded like and I replied "Like twelve versions of 'Let's Spend the Night Together' on Aladdin Sane." (At the time, of course, Bowie's "Let's Spend the Night Together" was generally conceded to be the single lamest version of a Stones song evah).

What I would have added, time permitting, is that the entire attitude that Pin Ups exudes (reeks of, might be a more accurate phrase) is a Look at Me I'm Wonderful contempt for the material. The album, IMHO, is the work of a guy who's convinced that these silly little songs and the people who recorded them are ever so trivial and ridiculous, so thank god that he -- The Greatest Star -- is deigning to give them a little undeserved, reflected, acclaim in his trademark bullshit campy ironic way.

Not to mention that the singing is flatout awful; the affectless, emotionless, pretentious pseudo-operatic bleating Bowie subjects the songs to is light years removed from the punkish snarl and passion that most of them (with the possible exception of The Mersey's "Sorrow") require.

Have I mentioned that I hate the goddamn album?

5. Young Americans and the fake soul period

Unlistenable on every level, and "Do you remember President Nixon" is so bogus and stupid I don't even know where to begin.


Ahem....

Soooo.....

It was "Aladdin Sane" and not "Ziggy Stardust" that first introduced me to David Bowie, and being a kid and a Rolling Stones fan, I went right for Side Two, Track Three. I was blown away. I heard punk rock even though it hadn't existed yet. I heard "Let's Spend The Night Together" like I had never heard it before. Fresh and exciting and insane and with great playing on top of it all. I still love it and I still don't understand the "lamest version of a Stones song evah" moniker.

I also love "Pin Ups," and I don't feel any of the words Steve used above to describe it. Bowie had been and still is friends with Ray Davies, Pete Townshend and David Gilmour, just some of the artists covered on "Pin Ups," so the feeling that Bowie regarded these songs and their creators as silly seems wrong. Are any of the covers on "Pin Ups" better than the originals? Maybe "Sorrow," but otherwise, no. But on its own, Bowie's collection is again fresh, if a bit bombastic.

Steve and I do agree to some extent on Bowie's soulless crooning, though I am obviously more forgiving. It's just one of his styles, just as Dylan had his "Nashville Skyline" voice and Ray Davies his "Arthur" voice. Bowie's crooning can be wonderfully affective, especially on his masterwork "Station To Station," which I am hoping is not included as part of the "fake soul period" Steve mentioned.

I've always thought Bowie was one step ahead of the game, even through the nadir of his existence, from 1984-1990. That period of releases, though mostly dreck, still had moments of originality. It saddens me to think that after such a fantastic string of releases starting with 1993's "Black Tie, White Noise" through what I feel his one of his very best pieces of work 2002's "Heathen," David Bowie has possibly hung it all up for good.


If I had to pick 5 --

1. Station To Station
2. Hunky Dory
3. Low
4. Aladdin Sane
5. Heathen

If I had to pick 5 more...

6. The Man Who Sold The World
7. Ziggy Stardust
8. Diamond Dogs
9. Black Tie, White Noise
10.Heroes