Nuggets
Watching Golden Smog cover Starman the other night has gotten me into a Bowie mood. And when I get to my house later today, I am going to put my vinyl copy of Hunky Dory on the turntable and turn it up.
I love Hunky Dory, almost as much as Ziggy Stardust, which is on my top 50.
Hunky Dory came out right before Ziggy, during the early 70s, when Bowie was at his artistic peak.
Hunk Dory is not nearly as much of a rock record, to me it's a pop/folk record. It starts out with Changes which is probably the most played Bowie song ever. But it's songs like Oh You Pretty Things, Life on Mars, and Andy Warhol that make this record so special.
I can't wait until I get home and give it a listen.
Firstly, this post made very glad I hunted down a laptop that had firefox so I could read your (explorer un-freindly) blog this morning.
Hunky Dory is great. It's David's arrival record. The themes and styles that he was developing on his previous records jelled into cohesion on this one. Vey much the prologue to Ziggy. 'Quicksand' is the overlooked masterwork of this one.
Creative peak?
Which one?
Bowie has a creative peak every day.
Isn't 'Low' a creative peak?
'Scary Monsters'?
'Let's Dance'?
Even 'Earthling'?
Pick a Bowie, you'll find a peak.
Posted by: Jackson | July 28, 2006 at 08:31 AM
Fred--
Make sure to Tivo "Life on Mars" on BBC-America.
Jason
Posted by: Jason Weisberger | July 28, 2006 at 08:57 AM
I have to admit to not having heard the full album. I do remember many of the tracks, but there are probably a couple I haven't heard so I'll have to make an effort.
Without doubt, "Ziggy" is one of the greats. I still remember all the talk of Bowie's hair after his Grammy's appearance. And I'm also big on "Scary Monsters". I liked it when it came out and rediscovered it after noticing so many of the 90's bands I liked cited it as being one of their biggest influences. I sometimes wonder if "Scary Monsters" isn't somehow the final result of the early goth/folk stuff he was hearing in bands like "The Strawbs" (one of my favorites) and the later goth/punk stuff coming out around the same time (obviously Bauhaus would be one as they do a excellent cover of "Ziggy" and steal the show imo in the beginning of the movie "The Hunger").
Posted by: csven | July 28, 2006 at 09:09 AM
What!!! No Tin Machine afficandoes here?
Posted by: John Dodds | July 28, 2006 at 09:14 AM
You have an interesting and diverse top 50 albums.
I happen to love Bowie and, for me, it's hard to match either Panic in Detroit or TVC-15.
Posted by: Tim Taylor | July 28, 2006 at 02:49 PM
Your 'Golden Smog cover Starman' sent me off to see the video on YouTube, I was so glad to see someone cover Starman. But watching it on YouTube soon led me to a bunch of Bowie on YouTube, which reminded me just what a supreme performer Bowie was. Compare Golden Smog live, it just doesn't equate (well, maybe it does, how would I know). My family were huge Bowie fans - I saw him play at Wembley Arena in 1976 on his Station to Station tour - it still sends a shiver down my spine to remember the opening of the gig, out of the darkness suddenly Bowie appears in a single spotlight, 'The return of the Thing White Duke, throwing darts in lovers eyes ...' - later he says 'That whole Station To Station tour was done under duress. I was out of my mind totally, completely crazed. Really.'
Posted by: ivan | July 29, 2006 at 04:18 AM
okay, you rock, bowie goes on now, while i catch up on the rest of your feed ... only marley and rolling stones get multiples, eh? ... no roxy music, say, stranded or country life seem to fit
Posted by: ramana | July 30, 2006 at 01:31 AM