And now I turn my attention to David Bowie's catalog. I just wrote my initial comments on him & his music at my blog, and I'll start writing about the albums next week. I'd love to hear from any Bowie fans here.
http://kamertunesblog.wordpress.com/201 ... an-artist/

As I've written in my previous IMWAN threads: For those of you who don't know me, I'm revisiting the complete catalogs of artists in my music collection, and posting my thoughts on a few albums at a time. Instead of focusing on my favorites, I'm choosing artists whose catalogs I own but haven't spent enough time with and fully embraced. So far I've covered Van Morrison, Talking Heads, The Band, Roxy Music, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell and Television, and I've become a bigger fan of each artist in the process. If you'd like to know more about me and the reasons for starting the blog, check out the "About" page here:
http://kamertunesblog.wordpress.com/about/

Since the main purpose of the blog is to start a conversation about each artist, I invite you to share your thoughts here or in the "Comments" section at the blog. Thank you.

I hope everyone's enjoying the weekend. Now it's time for me to go outside and mow the lawn, hopefully for the last time until next Spring.

i love bowie up to and including "tonight", with "ziggy stardust" being one of my all-time favorite albums, one of those perfect albums for me, with nary a song to skip.

however, from "never let me down" onward i find his albums almost unlistenable, save for a song here or there, and yes i do have them all.

"Never Let Me Down" was one of the last CDs I got, mostly because it always got awful reviews, and even Bowie doesn't think much of it. Because of that I was prepared for the worst, and although it's by no means a good album, I remember liking at least some of it. I'm curious to see what I'll think of it in the context of his catalog. However, I know I really liked at least one of his last two albums, but I don't remember which one.

Rich, will you be going all the way back to his early '60s Mod singles and the Deram album?

Linda, I have the "Starting Point" early-songs compilation on LP, and I borrowed a copy of the "David Bowie" CD (not the 2-CD deluxe edition, though), so that's as far back as I'll be going. My Bowie CD collection starts with "Space Oddity" and continues through all of his studio albums and a couple of live albums.

Veering dangerously away from the topic, but it seems like a logical place to post these.

Very cool cover of "Space Oddity" by an unknown band:



And one by the criminally unknown Happy Rhodes (and recorded in IP's backyard, which seems to be a big area for her):

Alan, thanks for posting those videos...and they're definitely not off topic. If this thread becomes the new place for IMWANers to discuss David Bowie, I would be very pleased.

I'm always skeptical about cover versions on youtube, since there are millions of them and most are probably crap...but both of these are excellent. I'm already a fan of Happy Rhodes (I have four of her albums), so it was nice to find someone else here who likes her music. I love how husky her voice is here. As for the other clip, it looks like that's a stripped-down version of KC Roberts & The Live Revolution. Their version of "Space Oddity" makes me want to hear more of these guys. I'll have to check out their website (http://www.parkdalefunk2.com/) when I have some free time.

Rich, being a huge DB fan & collector, I would suggest you spend a but of time with the early stuff before starting. At minimum, check out:

the 2 cd UK Decca comp, and either the USA "Early On" comp or the UK "1966" (Can't Help Thinking About Me is on both, & is probably the first recorded instance of DB sounding like the Bowie we came to know), & I also suggest one of the pre Mercury boots (at minimum you have to hear "Little Toy Soldier"), as DB's unoffical material from the time was also a bit more like Ziggy period (& less British music hall) than the official releases. One other boot really worth hearing for a definitive Bowie exploration is the BBC session that included Dana Gillespie & Arnold Corns. It includes a rather amazing hard rock version of Andy Warhol & more.

Thanks for the input, Geff, but the purpose of my blog is for me to revisit the albums I already own by each artist. Once I get to know all of those albums after listening to them numerous times, then I can go back in the future & explore albums/bootlegs/live recordings/etc that I didn't already have. I will definitely refer to your recommendations when I'm ready to explore further.

Is that KC Roberts? In the thread where I got the "Space Oddity" link, there was a link to a cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" that was identified as KCR&TLR, but it was a more jazzy feel.

I have one of Happy's CDs - I actually thought the one song was a duet because of how low her voice was on part of it. She's one of those artists I like but haven't tracked anything else down. I've looked a couple times, and it felt like information overload - a lot to sort through!

Never heard of KC Roberts before seeing the video you posted. They describe themselves as an independent funk/soul band, but I can imagine them doing something with a jazzy feel.

I'm not an expert on Happy Rhodes, but I like everything I've heard. I have a friend who's a huge fan, has all of her albums and loves them all.

The long and busy Thanksgiving weekend kept me away from music for a few days, but I'm back in the groove now. Over the last two weeks I spent a lot of time listening to the first four Bowie albums, and I just posted my thoughts on them here:
http://kamertunesblog.wordpress.com/201 ... air-years/

I've listened to albums #2-4 numerous times over the years, but so many songs that had previously slipped under my radar have now become essentials. Would love to hear from Bowie fanatics to see what you think of these albums. Other than "Hunky Dory," I always assumed most people considered the others relatively minor works, which is definitely not the case.

Thanks.

IMO, no Ziggy period DB album is minor! I love MWSTW & HD. The whole Ziggy backstory started with Memory & Freecloud from DB/SO & was expanded on Man & HD. Without the first 3 "major" releases, the Ziggy myth loses much of it's power & coherence.

The only issue I have with Man is the LAME version of Supermen; my personal copy replaces the Man version with the superior "Glastonbury" (really studio) remake.

Hunky Dory may be DB's best album; it's definitely in my top 5.

As far as what you're calling the first album, as I posted before for me the standard 1 cd Deram doesn't do the material justice; I find both the Rhino & the expanded UK 2 cd more enjoyable musically though both show very little of DB's future direction.

Can't Stop Thinking About Me, Let Me Sleep Beside You, Conversation Piece & Little Toy Soldier (boot only) are the only tracks that really show off the future DB for me, & even with those comparing the original LMSBY with the BBC Spiders remake is like night & day.

I was thrown by the 2-4 albums, until I saw the blog, and that you are considering (rightfully) the Deram release (most reviews of his output set this aside as a curio to the initial main output).
When I get some time, I will add something, but put it in your blog.
But I do agree Geff - but I would extend that IMO DB was solid through Let's Dance, and actually regained his footing again in the 90s-on. One may not like each and every release of the 70s but I attribute that more to the listener's bias's toward types of music. If you don't like philly soul - hard to get into YA; but if you do, it's a great album.

I can enjoy Let's Dance today, though at the time i felt like DB was channeling Tony Bennett!

Agree on 90's, I love the Tin Machine albums. I do despise YA, & am not fond of Buddha Of Suburbia, Labyrinth, or Black Tie White Noise (though sick puppy that I am i still bought the 3 disc BTWN!), & Glass Spider at best worked better live; but i can find something to like in almost any other Bowie album.

Geff, I really like your following quote: "Without the first 3 "major" releases, the Ziggy myth loses much of it's power & coherence." I think that's what makes these earlier albums just as essential as Ziggy & Aladdin (although I'll confirm that after reviewing those albums along with Pin-Ups and Diamond Dogs in my next post).

Regarding the first album, obviously I only know the songs on the 14-track single disc version as well as the additional songs on Starting Point. You've read what I like about those songs, so I'm wondering if it'll be worth it for me to spend the money on the 2-CD deluxe edition, or perhaps just get the Deram Anthology (or neither?). What do you think?

FYI, I don't have Buddha Of Suburbia or Labyrinth, and I may be missing one or two live albums (I do have "David Live" and the 3-CD BBC set), but I believe I have every other album he's officially released. Once I'm done revisiting everything, I have a feeling I'll be delving into his rarities, but I want to focus on the albums I already have.

NoURider, I'll be curious to see how Let's Dance holds up when I listen to everything in sequence. As I recall, I absolutely LOVED Scary Monsters, which at this point I would rate as my favorite Bowie album (that could change as I revisit everything), so how will Let's Dance compare as a follow-up? I'm also eager to return to his 90s albums, as it's been a long time since I checked them out, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. The whole point to this project is to spend time with each album and really get to know them before moving on.

Thanks for being part of this conversation, guys. I really appreciate your comments.

Richman, I will post on the early stuff soon.

Re: live albums, Santa Monica & the "Ziggy Movie" are beyond essential. While in general I tend to prefer DB live over studio, those 2 are truly can't live without's, though the mixing on the 2 different official versions of the Ziggy Movie have both been missed opportunities (Ronson's guitar was out of tune & there were varying attempts to "fix it in the mix" that didn't work). IMO, the 2 cd version's mix is superior to the 1 cd. The original TV mix is the best of all, but I've yet to find a boot of it with decent sound quality.

I also consider the "1980 Floor Show" boot (Midnight Special 1973) to be essential, & there are now very decent sounding boots of it out there & even a 6 (I think it's 6) dvdr set of video outtakes

Also, many of the b-sides from this period (almost all now released either on the EMI 2 cd editions & the Rykos) are essential; some are better than some of the album tracks.

Geff, I don't have either Santa Monica or the Ziggy sdtk (although I watched the movie on VH1 Classic last year and loved it). If I find either of them for a decent price while I'm revisiting his catalog I'll include them in my appraisal. Otherwise, I'll look for them in the future. Hopefully the 25-30 Bowie CDs I already own will paint a complete enough picture, and I can look into bootlegs in the future. If only there were 36 hours in every day, where the extra 12 hours could be spent listening to music and nothing else.

It's likely going to be another day before I can answer your ? on the early stuff; the stress of xmas at retail seems to have robbed me of needed sleep. I am brain dead at the moment.

I always thought that "Buddha Of Suburbia" was just a soundtrack album, but based on what I've read, it started out that way but became its own separate album. I don't own it and never heard it. Does anyone think it's an essential release that I should add to my collection now so I can include it in my reappraisal of his catalog, or is it something that I can skip and not feel like I'm missing something important?

I think it's dreadful & forgettable (of course i own it..........)

Thanks, Geff. I understand the "dreadful...forgettable...of course I own it" mentality, as most of us here do. Unless someone says this one's essential for me to fully understand Bowie's artistry, I'll skip it for now and pick it up if I ever find it for a good price.