I've been wanting to do one of these for awhile, so I thought I'd start with one of my favorite artists.

I'm coming at these albums from a different perspective, as I wasn't around when most of the best ones were made and am listening to them largely for the first time (though I've listened to Best of Bowie dozens of times).

Interested in your feedback as we go!

David Bowie (1967)
UK #nothing
US #nothing
Hit singles: None

Side one
No. Title Length
1. "Uncle Arthur" 2:07
2. "Sell Me a Coat" 2:58
3. "Rubber Band" 2:17
4. "Love You Till Tuesday" 3:09
5. "There Is a Happy Land" 3:11
6. "We Are Hungry Men" 2:59
7. "When I Live My Dream" 3:22

Side two
No. Title Length
8. "Little Bombardier" 3:23
9. "Silly Boy Blue" 4:36
10. "Come and Buy My Toys" 2:07
11. "Join the Gang" 2:17
12. "She's Got Medals" 2:23
13. "Maid of Bond Street" 1:43
14. "Please Mr. Gravedigger" 2:47

An album that had the misfortune of being released on the same day as "Sgt. Pepper", this debut album was largely ignored by everyone. David Bowie's voice is unmistakable, but his style was not yet apparent. A commercial and critical failure and quite a bit overshadowed by what would come, starting just two years later.

I like "Rubber Band" as the horn section gives it a bit of a Sgt. Pepper feel and it sounds a little like the later "Life on Mars?" I also like "Silly Boy Blue" on side 2. The rest of the album is pretty forgettable, though, and "We Are Hungry Men" is downright annoying.

Unusually for a British recording artist of the late 1960s, there are no cover songs. Bowie hardly ever dabbled in them, which was both a blessing and a curse as new fans had nothing to hang their hat on. In fact, every song was written and arranged by Bowie. Luckily, the next album would erase all apprehension and cement Bowie's place in rock history, critically if not yet commercially.

Btw....today's NY Daily News has a photo of Bowie on the streets of NYC and he doesn't look well. I can't pull up the photo on this iPad but he looks frail.

Good time to do a career retrospective. I do worry that he's not long for this world, especially since he's given up touring or making records.

I will start commenting soon, though I think a lot of my thoughts are on Rich's earlier blog pointer thread:

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=76754&hilit=bowie

More discussion on Bowie himself would be appropriate here...

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=9515&p=2250360#p2250360

I remember that Rich had done a blog about this subject. I'm trying not to read it so as to provide a fresh perspective.

For a second I thought IP had flipped and had a third concurrent thread!

Steve, great idea. We can't get enough of these!

I do love Bowie, but my knowledge of his work is pretty much his seventies stuff. And even that, I'm not a hardcore fan, so there's things I'll learn from a thread like this. I always think of Space Oddity (aka Man Of Words, Man Of Music) as the first Bowie album, so I'm glad you started it off proper with the self-titled album.

Looking forward to your (and everyone else's) posts in this thread!

An artist I've always wanted to familiarize myself with. I guess this would be the time.

never bought this one.

Yep, never owned this one. You would have to be a major Bowie fan to spin this one regularly. Amazing how some artists make an immediate splash with their debut and other not so much.

I'm very interested in this thread. I have a bunch of comps, but only a couple of albums. Like everyone else, I'm familiar with the hits, but don't really know the deeper tracks.

this thread will be interesting for me, i have been considering purging most of bowie's later albums, i never listen to them, and rarely even put a song form them on any comps i burn.

i will be watching (and listening) closely.

Does anyone own this album?!

Pretty sure this never got a US release until the material was packaged as part of the Images 1966-1967 double LP, issued by Mercury in the mid-70s.



These songs have since been recompiled and reissued many times over.

I picked this up last year and really enjoyed it. I admit I haven't played too much Bowie lately other than this, The Man Who Sold the World and Let's Dance.



Disc: 1
1. In The Heat Of The Morning
2. London Bye Ta Ta
3. Karma Man
4. Silly Boy Blue
5. Let Me Sleep Beside You
6. Janine
7. Amsterdam
8. God Knows I'm Good
9. The Width Of A Circle
10. Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed
11. Cygnet Committee
12. Memory Of A Free Festival
13. Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud
14. Bombers
15. Looking For A Friend
16. Almost Grown
17. Kooks
18. It Ain't Easy

Disc: 2
1. The Supermen
2. Eight Line Poem
3. Hang On To Yourself
4. Ziggy Stardust
5. Queen Bitch
6. Waiting For The Man
7. Five Years
8. White Light/White Heat
9. Moonage Daydream
10. Hang On To Yourself
11. Suffragette City
12. Ziggy Stardust
13. Starman
14. Space Oddity
15. Changes
16. Oh! You Pretty Things
17. Andy Warhol
18. Lady Stardust
19. Rock 'N' Roll Suicide

Disc: 3
1. Wild Is The Wind
2. Ashes To Ashes
3. Seven
4. This Is Not America
5. Absolute Beginners
6. Always Crashing In The Same Car
7. Survive
8. Little Wonder
9. Man Who Sold The World
10. Fame
11. Stay
12. Hallo Spaceboy
13. Cracked Actor
14. I'm Afraid Of Americans
15. Let's Dance

Give Hunky Dory a listen. It's Bowie's fourth album released in 1971. It features Rick Wakeman of Yes on the piano for "Oh You Pretty Things" as well as other tracks on the album. "Life On Mars?" is like a thundering mini opera and you can't hear "Queen Bitch" without thinking of a raucous night in Greenwich Village. He dedicates songs to Bob Dylan and Andy Warhol on the album so the whole attitude of the piece makes you feel how tuned in to those times he was as well as being an integral personal part of the proceedings.
I HAVE LOVED THIS ALBUM FOR DECADES!!!

Dr. Jack: my baby brother, ladies and gentlemen!

First, I'd suggest skipping this & getting one of the 2 expanded editions:
"Deluxe Edition" 53 songs
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002W1GCX4/?tag=imwan-20

or

this 27 track version that has a couple songs including an early Space Oddity not on the 53 track version!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000003TW8/?tag=imwan-20

There is also a comp from a period earlier than this, that includes 1 essential song Can't Help Thinking About Me, which imo is the first & only time Bowie sounded like Bowie until Space Oddity (the LP)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000003SZW/?tag=imwan-20

IMO the best song from this period is only on boots, Little Toy Soldier. It's somewhat stylistically like Laughing Gnome, but it's about S&M & is kind of amusing.

With all that said, this period in general is really just for hardcore Bowie Fans like me or folks who like British music hall (which is 1 step above easy listening). Pretty much all of it except Can't Help Thinkng About Me is British Music Hall Pop, in the style of Anthony Newly, one of Bowie's heroes of the time. Most of this is not rock.

The other song of major note is Let Me Sleep Beside You, but not for this version; he re-did it a couple years later as a rocker for the BBC & that version smokes.

I definitely recommend either of the expanded versions over the basic 14 track. The 27 track adds the dreadful Ching A Ling from Feathers which for years was pretty hard to find, London Boys (T Rex had a minor hit with that), Let Me Sleep Beside You & the early demo of Space Oddity. The 53 track gives all in stereo & mono + a ton of "bonus tracks". If you're a completist, you would need all 3 I mention above + a bootleg or 2.

The good news is all are cheap.

I like a lot of these tunes. First heard them on the Deram Anthology. "Little Bombadier" and "Maid of Bond Street" are both cool 'cause of the three/four time signatures. I agree about the horns on "Rubber Band" -- cool song. "Uncle Arthur" is bouncy and catchy, and it references Batman comics. "Come and Buy My Toys" has a great acoustic guitar part and a good vocal melody, but the lyrics are pretty fey. Overall I like this era of Bowie -- much more whimsical than the stuff he became known for.

Not that I have an inside scoop or anything - but i think David Jones - as he has apparently returned to his proper name - may not be as close to demise as some may fear. Yes he is older (65) and he does show his age, but not much worse, and better I may say, than many men his age, but it just appears he has decided to pull Lennon's househusband later in life.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/ar ... ds-newsxml
would love to see him put out more music - this afternoon I was thinking he could release that supposed desired sequal to Pin-Ups (which I listened to this afternoon on my homeward flight from Turks and Caicos).

I don't have this album.....the XM Underground Garage channel keeps playing a song from this time that I never remember the name of......it sounds a little too go-go/Swinging London for me, and I'm not too crazy about it.

I have a David Jones & The Lower Third song on the Nuggets II box set - You've Got A Habit Of Leaving - that I really like. There's a few others I've only heard over YouTube that I liked.
I should really check to see if there is any sort of Lower Third CD.