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Bowie General > Images Vol. 53

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homebrewPosted at 2025-12-20 14:16:39(2 hrs ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol. 53)


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These articles appear just as they were posted in the Usenet group alt.fan.david-bowie by group member Jamie Soule aka AladINSAnE. I have made no attempt to alter the formatting, spelling, grammar or edit in any way.

IMAGES: PART 53

By: AlaDinSAnE



You know, it's November 1982 already? It's impossible not to wonder
where all the fucking time goes, another damn year gone and it seems
like it was January just the other day. I'll tell you straight up, that
myself, and every other person I know, are starting to have some real
doubts about this decade. People keep saying it's because we're getting
older and things change. They go further on to explain that as time
passes we become less willing to accept these changes, and tend to keep
our mindset in an era where we were happy, and felt secure. That's the
speech. Do you get it? It took me a couple of takes, but I got my finger
on it pretty quick. A bit of thought led me to the conclusion that there
is another terminology that's more commonly used to describe this so
called "era where we were happy, and felt secure." You know it, its
called the "good old days." Twenty fucking five and I'm already fondly
reminiscing back to the seventies, the good old days, am I? Isn't that
just kind? Truthfully, I have always been extremely appreciative of the
fact that I have been blessed enough to live in a world where I am
forever surrounded by all of these really smart people. Heaven only
knows what I would do without them. I do think about it from time to
time though. Time to time means one minute to the next.

Look it, you all listen to Bowie, so I know I'm not dealing with the
likes of these "geniuses" that I'm constantly surrounded by. You'll
understand. Let me tell you what's going on. Good old days? Fucking call
them what you want, all I know is this, everything is fucked right up
like you wouldn't believe. You have no idea of the shit we're going
through., and it's not getting any better either, it's getting worse,
really fucking worse. I don't listen to AM radio, I'm just telling you
this because it'll give you a good idea. Turn on AM a few short years
ago, and do you know what I used to get?  Tull, Stones, Supertramp, Who,
Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Aerosmith, Harrison, McCartney, ELO, Chicago,
Alice Cooper, as well as you know who.  These last few years it's the
likes of this, Barry Manilow, Kenny Rogers, The Commodores, The Captain
& Tennille, Juice Newton, Hall and Oates, Neil Diamond. Now, those
morons are telling me I'm getting old at twenty five, becoming adverse
of change, and  therefore I'm longing for the good old days, when I was
happy, and felt all nice warm, cuddly and secure? Fucking idiots. I'm
longing for the good old days alright, and so are my friends, but not
for any of the reasons that the real smart people think. Take one
fucking look at these "brand new days," and there's your answer. Get it?
I know you do. If you think suffering through this is bad, you haven't
heard a damn thing yet. The Stones wrote a disco song. Yes, Keith
Richards. The thing became a hit too. Remember Gimme Shelter?  Happy?
Monkey Man? Star Star? Yeah, back in the fucking good old days when I
was all cosy, even though our cave had no running water or electricity.
Over half the bands that used to crank out good stuff are putting out
crap now. It started before, but things didn't get real bad until two
years ago, in 80.

Low, Iggy tour, Lust For Life, Bing, Heroes, Peter And The Wolf, The
Idiot, Heroes tour, Lodger, Stage, Just A Gigolo, and that's just the
big projects in three year. Then Scary Monsters, two years ago. What the
fuck is going on? Look at this, seventy four, seventy six,  seventy
eight and Iggy. FOUR FUCKING YEARS! No tour. Look at everything. This is
so unlike Bowie. What's wrong?

I lived through that, you try it. Seventeen albums, five world tours,
the films, the bootlegs of the tours coming out. Oh God, I still
remember the very second in my bedroom when that needle fell for the
first time on the Nassau Coliseum boot. The quality, so rare back then.
Life comes down to a few minutes? That's one, then there's the Ryko
AU20, the Jap vinyl, okay, okay, I'll stop. Anyway, all that in ten
years, down to virtually fucking nothing for four. Jimmy, dos, Keith,
Kelton, you guys remember. A small blessing was bestowed however, on
receiving  Fashions as a Christmas gift from my girlfriend. This was a
set of ten 45 RPM picture disk singles released by RCA. They came
individually packaged in plastic sleeves which were inside of a hard
vinyl cover, like a book, you can flip through them. On the cover is a
self portrait drawn and signed by Bowie. In my opinion this is the best
re-issue in the RCA catalog, they are beautiful. Even though he felt
that his listeners were being taken advantage of by all the RCA reissues
Bowie liked these, saying "they showed some taste and imagination. They
were issued on November 4th. It took little time for RCA to strike again
as on November 18 out came  Bing and Bowie, just in time for Christmas,
along with Fantastic Voyage. Bowie was always complaining about what he
felt was a lack of promotion  by RCA. He saw it now though. Since they
had nothing new, and Bowie refused to do any promotion on the re-issues,
Defries being one reason, and RCA the other, RCA was spending big time
advertising the compilations thought up with Defries. It was working
too. Bing and Bowie made number three on the British charts. RCA made a
grave error in judgement by doing this. Foolishly they thought Bowie
would take all of this promotion as a sign of goodwill, and as an real
effort by RCA to market his albums. They were aware that contract
renewal day was at hand. This attempt to please Bowie pissed him right
off. He knew why they were doing it. What he really wanted was Low and
Heroes promoted when they were released, especially Low. The failure of
RCA to promote Low, actually their refusal to issue it in the first
place,  was unforgivable. Low was "personal," and he wanted it to be
heard, and it was, by 265,906 people out of over 300,000,000 in North
America. "Nice if they had that money to spend on Low and Heroes," were
the words he imparted to anyone who was there to listen.

Planned? Oh, no, not planned. It's more like contrived. As he was
gearing up to enter the Record Plant in late November, the machine had
already been going full bore for two years. The staff at Isolar had
started planning and arranging the 83 tour, back in 1980. Listen to
this, because I want to ask you something after. Bowie called Visconti
and told him to set some time aside, he was going to use him to produce
Let's Dance. Visconti waited for the phone call. Nothing. Time was
getting close and Visconti called Coco for a plane ticket. It was
classic Bowie style, no warning. "He met someone else," were her words.
Well, here is my question, and something to think about, "What would
have happened if it was Visconti, and not Nile Rogers on Let's Dance?
Would the result have been different?" That really is something to
wonder about now, isn't it? Personally, I say yes, but as to what and to
what extent I still do not know. I wonder, I really do. Over at Isolar
it wasn't just the tour either, the contract with RCA would be up in a
matter of months, and the courting ritual between Bowie and the labels
would start. Profiles. Bowie gave instructions to his people at Isolar
to prepare detailed profiles on all the bidding labels. They were not
only to include the financial aspects of the offers, he wanted some
other things. He wanted to know what else beside money he was going to
receive, among them marketing plans, distribution ability, and support
for special projects.
He was still adamant about making films, and even with his limited
successes, he still  managed somehow to strike a deal with United
Artists. They were prepared to develop his projects, but due to the lack
of ideas for suitable script material, the partnership did not produce
anything.

Switzerland was home,  New York was battle headquarters, and Bowie had
returned to his place in Chelsea. His return to the limelight was to
come soon. This time there would be no characters, no gimmicks, and he
had a clean lifestyle. This time there would be no bullshit, this was
the REAL DAVID BOWIE. It was from here that his new character, called
"THE REAL DAVID BOWIE" would be fine tuned. This "REAL DAVID BOWIE was
the first character that was actually planned. Apart from his other
roles in life, which sort of developed over time both consciously, as
well as unconsciously, this one was designed and built from scratch to
perform a function. This creature was constructed with a goal in mind,
so every minor detail was attended to. What proved to be a challenge was
the creation of a world to insert this REAL DAVID BOWIE, as it had to
also be manufactured. That wasn't the major issue however, because once
the world was built, you had to operate it, and to operate an entire
world, is not always that easy. To operate this illusion effectively,
everything in this world would be designed to complete a certain task.
Everything would be fully functional. I have often wondered if he got
the idea how to do what he did in 83 from the movies. There is a
striking similarity between all of this, and The Wizard Of Oz. The only
difference I can see, is that instead of any wizard, there was a REAL
DAVID BOWIE  behind the curtain. Remember, in the movie the streets were
also paved with gold. Bowie, however had to make his own gold. That was
done at The Power Station.

If you really look at the whole thing the planning behind it is fucking
incredible. After 1980 he starts crawling into the wood work, slowly
disappearing. From here it becomes a juggling act, to appear and
disappear just enough. Artists die when they part from the media, Bowie
had to be seen enough so people would know he's still there, but quiet
enough that people realized that he was gone, the same with his work. If
you notice his work slowly dried up. Did you know he was going to tour
in 1980? WAS, that is. As the supply of new work from Bowie slowly
became non existent, the demand from his listeners increased, so did the
desire for a tour.  By now this was DOUBLE the time that he had ever
been absent from the stage. He would have a new album ready BEFORE he
signed with a label. The tour all would be arranged, and the videos
would be ready to air beforehand. He had a personal appearance booked at
a music festival as promotion. The media was courted, and the coverage
controlled, in order to suit his needs. All that was necessary was the
word, "GO!"

It's 1982, and there is one thing which David Bowie has still failed to
accomplish. He has failed to sell any records. He has yet to break much
over 1.3 million on an album in America, and only two have ever broken
the million mark.  There was only one goal. All the thought. planning,
design, orchestrating, and building that was being done now was for one
reason only, to achieve a goal. He was envious of his peers success, he
was burdened by his inability to do what other artists had done. The
goal was SUCCESS, and all of the trappings that come with it. Fame,
recognition, and yes, he has admitted it, money.  Bowie muttered once,
"You sort of think, Well, hey, I've made it. Made what exactly? If your
ambition when you began was to be really, really famous and really,
really rich, then, yes, you've made it. You've got what you wanted. But
if you were stupid enough to believe you were an artist, you've got to
understand that has a different set of values attached to it. And
commercial acceptance can be very painful... "You think, How can he say
that?" The commercialism was all planned.

It doesn't take long for Bowie, and therefore it was four weeks that
were booked as studio time at The Power Station.  There was a "this was
going to be it" attitude before he went into the studio. This was the
"one." He was going to make the most mainstream commercially viable
record possible. "In commercial terms, if you want an album to sell, you
must make things graphically clear and keep them as simply defined as
possibly so that it's fairly easy to pop
them into a category," Bowie said. The category we know as "Pop." This
album was to be completely mainstream, there would be no "music" on it
in the sense of music as art. This was a "PRODUCT," it was built to
perform a function, and to complete a task. It was designed with one
goal in mind, to sell. The album would have manufactured songs, rather
than music, and almost all of them capable of getting airplay and
becoming hits.  "You can pretty much thumbnail sketch each album on the
charts. In one phrase, you can say what it represents. Anything that
starts to explore falls into that periphery area," Bowie said. He is
right, and there would be no "periphery areas" to be found on Let's
Dance. There would only be songs, and like all songs, there would be
nothing intellectually enriching here, the focus would all be on the
sound. Say what you want about Let's Dance, but you are unlikely to find
a "slicker" album by anyone. It is a testament to genius.  On the
production and engineering aspects I can't say it is the best overall.
This is because of the vast difference in sound on some albums. The need
to achieve the desired results on each work led to a need for wide
variations in these techniques, and to try and compare them would be
like trying to compare Jennifer Lopez to Music. There are however
certain albums where certain characteristics emerge which are unique,
the vocal sound on Heroes for example. I fail to see where out of all
of  Bowie's albums to this very day, where you are going to find a
smoother pop sound, and  in that regard Let's Dance is an amazing piece
of work. The engineering and production of that album is brilliant,
leading to a sound quality that is quite special, it's  so "clean."


"A number of people have said that album has in spirit the same  feeling
as the Young Americans album. I would agree but I think the  balance has
changed somewhat. On the Young Americans, I was so overwhelmed by the
Philadelphia sound... that I was writing songs specifically to point out
the rhythm & blues and soul elements. This time around in Let's Dance, I
think it's far more a case of my working with rhythm & blues to enhance
the songs themselves. The approach is kind of the other way around from
that of the Young Americans
period," said Bowie. Do you buy any of that? Not me. He compared the
sound of the tracks by saying they're roots were in  "rhythm & blues?"
Who the fuck is he trying to fool. The root of those songs is not rhythm
& blues, it is "COMMERCIAL POP." What is pop structured around? A beat,
rhythm and a few  "catchy" verses.  If you want beat and rhythm, you
want Nile Rogers.  This caught me really off guard, Rogers. "Because of
the nature of the business, people are not that keen on intermingling
between blacks and whites. They  don't expect that a black producer can
go in and do an artist of the calibre of David Bowie." I was quite
shocked by that remark, and I found the racial overtones quite
offensive, this however in no way effected my regard for Rogers work.
Davis, Murrary, Vandross, Alomar, Eva Cherry, Rojhas, and Iman are all
blue, or orange?
Why would Rogers not expect Bowie to use him? Colour! Fuck off. The
Stones, Beatles, Gabriel, and the list goes on, have used people of
other races. What does race have to do with music, or anything else for
that matter? Any artist who would not use talent because it doesn't come
in the right colour isn't worth bothering with, professionally, or as a
person. This is a classic "chip on the shoulder" attitude, and I was
surprised to hear it coming from Nile Rogers of all people. Especially
concerning Bowie. Bowie didn't just use him once either, did he? The
call came one evening in early December, "David could have had any
producer-white or black-he wanted. He could have gone with Quincy Jones
and a more sure fire chance at a hit. But he called me up, and for that
I feel honoured."

What Rogers did not know is that he was about to feel the physical
battering, assault really, that many have experienced due to the
veracity of Bowie's work habits. Eno could not understand how he did
it.  His work on Low took three days, Fripp on Heroes, that was
accomplished in twenty four hours.  "This is the fastest I've ever
worked in my life. We went in from about ten a.m. to the early evening
for six days a week and worked.. David has a deep understanding of
music. He knows a lot more then he gets credit for. We spent time
discussing chords , notes and different approaches to music. At one
point  David was so enthusiastic about capturing that rock 'n' roll
flavour that he wanted to cut everything live-rhythm, horns and vocals.
That's how open he was to doing the unusual," according to Rogers. This
next quote however speaks volumes.  Rogers stated that, "Before
recording here we spent three days cutting demos of his  songs, so when
we actually got into the studio, we knew exactly what we wanted.." That
is incredible, unfathomable, and unbelievable. That tells you that this
album was not just planned, it was contrived. To understand this, let me
say this. Bowie NEVER  plans ANYTHING. IN ADVANCE. He goes in virtually
EMPTY HANDED, he writes as he works. The lyrics to Heroes were written
at the microphone in three takes. He walked into Cherokee Studios with a
sound effects records, and two songs that became so radically altered,
the originals were unrecognizable. Station To Station, written after
four days of no sleep during a  Bowie style coke binge, by candle light,
and in fifteen minutes. Two Marshall amplifiers died.  from abuse in the
process.. He wrote stuff in the fucking bathroom of all places. Lodger
was an exception, but only for the lyrics, they were written after the
recording in Switzerland, in New York.  "Three days cutting demos," is
unheard of. Never had this been done in the past. It was all planned in
advance, like everything else.

I was going to tell the judge the gun went off when I dropped it. Then
clumsy old me dropped it again, and it went off. It was an accident. I
dropped it twenty six times by accident. It wasn't my fault Bowie was in
the way. Then I thought, "No.." Here's how it happened. I was
sleepwalking when I got on the plane and went to Bowie's house.  No. I
was drunk.......That won't work either. Shit! You know, I thought up
every excuse I possibly could to beat a murder rap after hearing Let's
Dance for the first time. I came up with nothing that I thought could
work. This was truly a disappointment. Time heals all wounds, except two
I suffered in 84 and 87, and my view on this album has somewhat changed.
I love that album, and as a matter of fact, Let's Dance is the greatest
album Bowie ever made, for what it was designed to do. Let's Dance is
his best in that regard, and there is not one person that can prove
otherwise. It was designed to sell, and it out sold ever album before
it, or since it. So, for what it was designed to do, Let's Dance is the
greatest album Bowie ever made.

Bowie and Nile Rogers met in a nightclub in New York during Bowie's
stint in the Elephant Man.
To underestimate Nile Rogers would be a big mistake because some of his
achievements are unsurpassed. Rogers" talents include producing,
arranging , writing, orchestrating, mixing as well as being a competent
musician.  Rogers is most associated to Chic, a disco band which debuted
in 1977. There are two fascinating similarities between Let's Dance, and
Chic's first single. Both were made while the artists were not signed to
a record label. Chic recorded a single Dance Dance Dance and shopped it
around to the major labels with no success  until Atlantic Records bit,
and it was a nice bite too.  Dance Dance Dance sold a million copies in
ONE MONTH, and subsequently three of their records outsold everything in
the history of Atlantic Records.  Here are some names that will hit
home. Two of the founding members of Chic were Nile Rodgers and Tony
Thompson who later left the  band and was replaced by  drummer Denis
Davis. Bernard Edwards was a  third founding member of Chic, and he
appears on Let's Dance. Edwards plays bass on Without You. Rogers did
not lock himself into the area of disco/dance and pop either. He has
worked with  other notable artists such as Peter Gabriel, Blondie,
Stevie Wonder, UB40, Roxy Music, Kate Bush and Paul McCartney, and I
have only named a few from a very long and impressive list.

It always happens, doesn't it? You always forget something. Pack a
suitcase, leave the grocery store, I always forget the groceries, there
is always something you forget. It's a good thing our heads are
attached, too bad about some people's brains though.  No big deal,
that's why glue and staples were invented. Too bad these people forgot
where they left the glue and staples. Do you know how many parts are in
a REAL DAVID BOWIE character? No? Let's just say a lot,  and these
things aren't easy to build. If you leave out some parts then you risk
the chance of the whole thing becoming hopelessly defective. This was
not the case here though, with the REAL DAVID BOWIE.  There was however
a flaw. The amounts of respect and decency, and the amount of
selfishness and disrespect, were improperly mixed when they were put
into the character. This caused the character to become quite unliveable
with at times, as it severely effected its ability to treat others
fairly. This flaw was not considered important enough to go back and
correct, and beside that, there was no time. He needed a band.

How do you get rid of a guy like Carlos Alomar after nine years? Easy,
use the money. Carlos was called to play on the record, but offered less
money, and so much so that it guaranteed that he would not accept the
offer. Gone. As I said, the mixture was off. The decision was not
Bowie's, but it still could have been handled. Roger's wanted a few of
his own people, and he was used to control. If Rogers needed certain
people to get the sound that was essential to the success of the album
then so be it. He was an unknown guitar player, one that Bowie saw at
the Montreaux Jazz Festival, that became his choice. It was "instinct"
that made him decide that Stevie Ray Vaughn had the sound he wanted. A
good choice too. Dennis Davis was recording with Stevie Wonder, so
Rogers called in Tony Thompson The rest of the musicians were Carmine
Rojas, bass, Omar Hakim, drums, Rob Sabino, keyboards, Mac Gollehon:
trumpets, Robert Arron, Stan Harrison, tenor and flute, Sammy Figueroa,
percussion, Frank Simms, Geoge Simms, David Spinner:, vocals, Nile
Rodgers, guitar, Bernard Edwards: bass, and David Bowie of course on
vocals. This is a massive line up by Bowie standards. Hey, notice any
"musician" that is missing? C'mon, who is missing? BOWIE.  See, "David
Bowie on vocals." Vocals. Bowie did not pick up one instrument during
the recording of this album. When did that last happen? Right, never.
Credit becomes due here. For Bowie to turn control of an ENTIRE album,
over to the hands of someone else is an amazing display of trust. He
deserves a nod in his direction for that.

I have really developed a love for this album. BANG! I'm dead? Fuck off,
you missed. I LIKE LET'S DANCE!  Now, I have to clarify this a bit,
there are only certain aspects I like, and in some areas it rates really
low. Hear that, "low." First, lets dispense with the obvious, actually
Bowie did that already, the depth is gone. Like most, who started
listening in the early seventies it was the depth, substance is more
descriptive, that attracted us, and held us.  The cult that we were.
Music, lyrics and Bowie as a forward thinking artist were food for
thought. There was something there to be heard, something to learned as
well. It was an enriching experience back then, one I damn well miss.
Bowie turned me on to other bands, and not ones like Puff Diddy. He
would never have done anything like that in those days. I got some
reading material recommended to me, and started looking at art. On a
scale that measures lyrical substance, meaning other than Chinese girls
under the serious moonlight shaking it without you, Let's Dance is a
burp. Ricochet, Criminal World, and maybe there's another in there which
sparks a thought, but not much else. There are however. some nice Bowie
clich s to be found in places. The music on Let's Dance? There is little
in the way of music to be found anywhere on that album. This was a fact
that angered me to no end when I first heard it. Truthfully, this is
where the whole problem was.  I bet I am talking here for a lot of
people, I know for a fact that most of the pre 83 bunch will back this
up. The whole problem with Let's Dance is that you couldn't find what
you were looking for on it., and that is substance. Since this was the
overall reason you were listening to Bowie in the first place, and found
in large amounts on his previous work, you naturally expected to find
some here. For those of you who are post 83 fans, this here is something
you have never thought of, there was no reason for you to in the first
place, so do not take this remark as condescending. It isn't. I am
saying it to illustrate something. Suppose you started in in 88 for
example. What Bowie albums could you have purchased? Silly question? No,
it isn't. The answer is any one you want, right? Think about it, WE
COULDN'T! The point is if you started in, say 74, you would have
collected the previous albums in no time, as there were not many to
collect. After that you are going album by album as they are released.
What was before Let's Dance? We were looking for what? There you have
it, that made it a whole lot worse. I know a lot of you fans who came
later can't understand the loathing and absolute hatred you hear from
listeners of my generation towards Let's Dance.. See, from the
beginning,  you looked at Let's Dance from the point of view I had to
learn in order to see any value in it. Naturally,  you could not
understand this bad attitude towards it. You will in a minute though. We
are just coming off of the Trilogy, Bowie's three album "experimental"
period, ending with Lodger, his most experimental album. Any substance
there? Yeah, right. So, next? We get handed one of the greatest
commentaries on the ills of society ever spoken. This commentary is set
to the notes coming off the guitar held by technically, the greatest
talent in existence, Robert Fripp. Throw in Roy Bittan, a bit of Pete
Townsend, tracks like Ashes To Ashes, Teenage Wildlife, It's No Game and
you have a rather luscious mixture. You add Scary Monsters to the
Trilogy, then you can see that for the reasons we are listening to
Bowie, we are literally in Heaven. Any older fan will repeat this story.
Now, you should have been there, and any of these older fans will
remember their own personal experience at this moment. The Trilogy,
Scary Monsters and it doesn't get any better, the needle falls, we
suffered through Disco remember, Modern Love, China Girl, Let's Dance.
Get it? That's why.

To those of you who like the heinous Let's Dance, you can add me to your
crowd, because I finally learned. The only way to find the treasure in
that album is to STOP LOOKING FOR WHAT ISN'T THERE! It isn't an
"intelligent" album. There is NO INSIGHT, there is NO POINT, there IS NO
WISDOM, there is absolutely nothing there to be "learned."  You have to
also know that there is NO MUSICAL INTERPRETATION, you are NOT GOING
ANYWHERE, there is NO INNOVATION, and you are not going to wonder how
they did anything. If you continue on this path, as I did for many
years, then you are torturing yourself, and it really fucking hurts. I
know it does. The album is mindless. Now, try this. Look at it as a
mindless commercial pop album, loaded with catchy songs with no
substance, and made only to appeal to the average idiot. Now what do you
see? The thing's a fucking masterpiece like nothing else I have ever
seen. Bowie and Rogers made one of the greatest mindless albums to
appeal to idiots I have ever seen. Laughing? I know, me too. But look.
What was the thing designed to do? Break the market, right? It has to
sell. What kind of "people" are the average record buyer? There you go

The problem with the average idiot who thinks he knows music, is that he
equates music to some kind of a nice thumping beat he can bang his
stupid head against the wall to, or some "cute" riff. Like Modern Love
for example. It works on me. Every time I hear that song something
starts moving. That riff at the beginning as an attention grabber is
genius.  Cute gimmick noises, rather than music, always work on  the AM
Radio listeners. Warszawa would get a radio station changed, "what is
that shit," or turned off altogether. Cute gimmick noises get the volume
turned up. These "cute gimmick noises" are like the ones you hear at the
start of China Girl. Yeah, I have both picture disks, the uncut video
and the original 45. SO WHAT! I have lots of Iggy boots and video with
China Girl. Mr. Osterburg, the trailer park trash from Michigan, and his
China Girl are enshrined in my heart. Nothing comes close. Bowie's
version however, in terms of being produced only for the reason of being
able to top the billboard charts, is perfect. Everything that makes a
pop song work is done to absolute perfection in that song. The sound is
so "POP PERFECT," I can only marvel at the engineering and production
work. What's music for? Artistic interpretation? Fuck that, music is
there to dance to. I can dance to Speed Of Life. It's true, I can do it.
Most however, can not do this. For bragging rights I can dance to Move
On as well. The average person out there puts on red shoes, records made
by "YELLOW REAL DAVID BOWIE CREATURES," and dances to blue, orange,
pink, off white, turquoise and other colours of the spectrum. Sort of
like "Let's Dance." I will defend that song musically however. That
demented, twisted, warped, insane saxophone is worthy of a Fripp guitar
beside it. Insightful lyrics, like the ones contained in weeping
testimonials of how much some guy loves some girl, are always
appreciated by the thoughtless. I'm surprised Without You didn't make
Single Of The Century. Bowie's voice is at its "crooning" best in that
song however.


The most dismissed song on the album is my favourite track. That's
Ricochet. You could throw that song on Lodger, Scary Monsters, and a
couple of other Bowie albums and not cause them any disgrace whatsoever.
Music wise, it is. lyric wise, they're there. Am I alone here? Am I? I
mean Criminal World. Am I the ONLY ONE OUT THERE who finds any merit in
this song? Well?  I can handle some pretty demented sounding music, I
prefer it, but the original version of this song by Metro is pushing it
in places. If you ditch this track, dismissing it as nothing, then I
feel truly sad for you, because you are cheating yourself so bad that
you have no idea to what extent. Here, let me tell you. You are missing
a rare opportunity to see EXACTLY how Bowie perceive music. Yeah,
Criminal World can show you how David Bowie perceives music. Where, may
I ask are, you going to get that opportunity? Also, as a serious Bowie
listener, would you ever miss that opportunity? Well? If you want to
take advantage of this rare opportunity I will tell you how. Get Metro's
version of Criminal World and listen to it. Now, get Bowie's version of
Criminal World and listen to it. Now think, "How the hell did he hear
that in that? In Metro's version, look what you heard,  and look what he
heard" How?" What a fucking mind. Try it with Johnny Mathis' version of
Wild Is The Wind, and the cut from Station To Station. That one will
make you drop. How? What a fucking mind. Vaughn's  guitar work on
Criminal World is stunning, and the production and engineering give it
one of the  most crisp and cleanest sounds I have ever heard on any
record. Bowie's vocals are used, and all around this track is worth
owning, and listening to. It is worthy of being called  music by David
Bowie. Follow the bouncing empty head and sing along to the catchy
verse. "Putting out fire with gasoline." and "its been so long." Yeah I
follow it sometimes too. Again, so what. You deny it, but I KNOW YOU DO
TOO.. Yes, you do. Here sing, "I've been putting out fire with gasoline,
putting out fire WITH GASOLINE." Keep going, "Its been so long., so
long., so long.. Its been so long, long., so long, putting out fire,
been so long., so long., so long, I've been putting out
fire..............."  Gee, I can't help noticing  you sound like you
have had a lot of practice. Right? I said, "RIGHT?" At least I admit it.
Oh God, I did it in public too. What a moron I am. Shit. I'll never hear
the end of it now. What an idiot. Ah, ha, I will save myself. Although I
find Cat People a nifty "sing along" song for the top forty crowd, the
true worth of that track is manifested on the version used in the film
Cat People. Moroder and Bowie? Trash this and you need help, and you
need it badly.  Don't wait, please. Go now, there is something wrong
with you, get it checked out before it is too late. "It's too late, to
be grateful, It's too late, too be late again, It's too late, to be
hateful." Sorry, I can't help it. I can't. "The European cannon is here"
I CAN'T HELP IT. SORRY! Do you think I'm only one in a million or
something? Shake it. So, Shake it if you must. YUCK!

Is Let's Dance amazing? Look at it as mindless pop. Is it? Bowie is a
genius. It's the best mindless pop there is. I'll be back.

Aladinsane

Oh, I have some great stuff on the 83 tour coming up. That's part of
your Christmas present.
Hang in, okay?

Last edited by homebrew on 2025-12-20 14:28:18



""I don't begrudge any artist for finding an audience"
- David Bowie abt. 1987
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