Popdose - Latest Comments in The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

stephanie — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 03:04:19 -0000

wonderfulpost, thanks.

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

sonofsilence — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:01:47 -0000

I think let's dance was really the end of the classic period. It was the last change in new direction before he started sounding bored.

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

Peter — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:33:33 -0000

Thanks for reminding me of why I'm a David Bowie fan.

By the way, did you sneak in a little Captain Planet reference in your review of Station To Station, or was your choice of words ("By their powers combined") purely coincidental?

(Here's the Captain Planet theme – with visuals, inexplicably, from Xena – for clarification.)

Are you hinting that David Bowie, at the time of Station To Station, had the power to save the planet?

David Bowie = Captain Planet.

Earth!
Fire!
Wind!
Water!
Heart!
GO, Planet!

"By your powers combined, I am [Captain Planet] David Bowie!"

[Captain Planet] David Bowie, He's our hero
Gonna take pollution down to zero
He's our powers magnified
And he's fighting on the planet's side
[Captain Planet] David Bowie, He's our hero
Gonna take pollution down to zero
Gonna help him put asunder
Bad guys who like to loot and plunder

"You'll pay for this, [Captain Planet] David Bowie!"

We're the Planeteers
You can be one, too
Cuz saving our planet is the thing to do
Looting and polluting is not the way
Hear what [Captain Planet] David Bowie has to say

"The power is yours!"

(I'm slightly miffed that Disqus won't allow strikethrough in its code. Grrr.)

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

erikhansen — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:34:31 -0000

Brilliant!! Your dad has probably told you what a Bowie fanatic I was growing up. This was a very well written, perceptive look at his work. Thank you for reigniting the pleasure of so many songs that had faded to the archives of my memory. My collection pretty much ends at Scary Monsters so I'm looking forward to your next installments to see if I might find some overlooked gems!

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

Pete — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:33:59 -0000

I've been wanting to dig further into Bowie's catalog, and this is an excellent catalyst. Great post!

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

kshane — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:48:29 -0000

Great effort Anthony!

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

Elaine — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 02:55:35 -0000

Strung out in heavens high
Hitting an all-time low

Bowie is da main.

Nice work!

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

Curt Shannon — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:02:15 -0000

Great stuff! Thanks for posting

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

Old_Davy — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 22:29:03 -0000

Great write up. I am just a casual fan so this will be helpful in getting me more familiar with Bowie's classic period (I do have Ziggy, Aladdin and Station, with Station being my favorite, esp. TVC15).

Hideous coverart though. Why is Linda McCartney on the cover of Diamond Dogs?? :)

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

Matt — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:52:42 -0000

I'm quite impressed. If I were asked to pick just two songs from each of these albums, to form an overview/ highlight reel, I'd probably fail... but you did a great job!

I've sat a few people down with the Sound+Vision box set, over the years, in order to set them straight regarding Bowie's greatness. This (your) collection, though there is some overlap with S+V, will be a perfect companion, for that same purpose.

Kudos and Hai! Karate...

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

jbacardi — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:38:50 -0000

Great job, so far!

In all fairness, the recent remix/reissue of David Live, spearheaded by Tony Visconti, is a whole 'nother album from its original release. I hated the vinyl back in '74, but the new one is really surprisingly good.

BIG props for singling out "Beauty and the Beast". But don't make the mistake of minimizing Mick Ronson's arranging and input on those 70's albums...

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

Norrie Maclean — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:23:25 -0000

Great Guide! You could also add in his peripheral work throughout the decade as writer, producer and performer on other artists work and you have some amazing output!

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

bama — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:51:04 -0000

incredible post. reminds me of the olden days of the jefito blog

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

Chris X — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:22:43 -0000

this retrospective is mindboggingly awesome. Definitely looking forward to the next installments!

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

DwDunphy — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:08:09 -0000

I arrived late to the Bowie party. Clearly I knew of him and his music, but it wasn't until the mid-90s when all my favorite bands of the time were singing his praises and I thought, wait, maybe there's more to this.

It might explain why I like some of his albums that others only tolerate, and others aren't even that generous. There are some really good songs in Outside, it's just not an even ratio. And as far as Bowie's pop tendencies are concerned, Heathen really does hold up well, but I'll leave that up to you with Popdose Guide Part Two.

Thanks again for the really good work, man!

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

Matt — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:30:07 -0000

It's not the side effects of the cocaine, so I'm thinking that it must be love. GREAT work!

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

jamesballenger — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:02:18 -0000

I grew up listening to most of these albums, but I honestly never realized he was so prolific during the 70's. I guess I put Scary Monsters closer to '81, and I've never heard "David Bowie" before. Great Article and I can't wait for parts 2 and 3!

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

jim — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:01:55 -0000

not genius but definitely not one to stand still. anything from the seventies but they were my teenage years and i was pretty stoned at the time. haven't listened to anything of his since(well you know, The Clash took care of pretentious art rock)

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

Hanan — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:21:53 -0000

epic post. David Bowie is a hero of mine.

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

jonnythefriendlylawyer — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:00:51 -0000

You know, I don't think I've ever read a comprehensive overview as well-written and accurate as this one. You nailed EXACTLY the significance, merits and flaws of each album. The songs are also very well selected -- that must have been hard to do. And thanks for ending with Scary Monsters; it truly was the end of Bowie's classic run. Certain artists have such a great body of early work that they can be forgiven for their later crimes against music (although Pete Townshend and Elvis Costello are really pushing it, let me tell you). Bowie's later records aren't awful (okay, some are) but this post shows that he just couldn't miss for a solid 10 years. Thank you so much for a truly excellent summary. Like any Bowie fan I have all these songs on vinyl, cd and mp3, but it's great to see them presented this way. Really well done -- thanks.

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

mike — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:20:38 -0000

Thanks for posting

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

arensb — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:54:37 -0000

If "David Bowie" is his novelty album, why isn't "The Laughing Gnome" on it, huh?

Re: The Popdose Guide to David Bowie, Part One

Malchus — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:24:27 -0000

Fantastic work, Anthony. It is mind boggling that Bowie essentially released an album a year throughout the 70's. Bowie is an artist that I've always loved from the periphery, but this guide has me excited to start digging in and really explore his music. Thank you!

And I agree with you 100% that "Heroes" is one of the most beautiful songs written.

Again, great job. I can't wait for part two.