David Bowie

[starmandb]

Can we have hurt as today's track please
During the North American leg of his outside tour in 1995 he co headlined with nine inch nails who opened with there set before sharing the stage for 5 songs the last of which was hurt
Before bowie would finish the show with his set
By many accounts the audience was largely made up of 12 to 17 year old nine inch nails fans and bowie had quiet a hard time of it
But it is a powerfull collaboration
The version that seems best in both sound and vision appears to be from the desert sky pavilion in pheonix Arizona ( though on one of the you tube sites it says it's from virginia but I'm pretty sure it's a mistake as the Arizona show was professionally filmed and this is it)
The song was originally on nine inch nails 1994 album the downward spiral
For me though the definitive version of the song comes from Johnny cash who recorded it for his 2002 american1v: the man comes around album
He brings a world weary quality to the song from the perspective of a man who only had a year to live

[Zenith]

[starmandb]

Thanks zenith
Can we have it's gonna be me as today's track please
It's an outtake from the young Americans sessions recorded at sigma sound studios Philadelphia in august 1974
It did not surface till a 1991 reissue as a bonus track
It was also on a 2007 special edition release
The album was going to be titled shilling the rubes( an American slang for taking suckers for a ride
But it was felt that conning people might not be well received by his audience so the title of the album was changed to the gouster( a streetwise sharp dressed cool American dude) tony Visconti took the album back to london for mixing
The artwork was done for the cover( bowie in a black waistcoat white shirt a forerunner to the thin white duke)
But bowie went back into the studio and changed the album into what became young Americans
I think he was so keen to work with john Lennon that he ended up putting a rather lacklustre beatles cover of across the universe which to my mind doesn't fit on the album at all
I'm sure rca his record label were delighted to have the Beatle connection as well for marketing
There were limits back then to how much you could fit on vinyl
He played the track live on 28 dates of what turned from a massive spectacle diamond dogs tour to a stripped down Philly dogs tour in 1974
Maybe he believed that it would have deflected from can you hear me as a standout track
A couple of weeks ago cillian Murphy of peaky blinders fame was picking his favorite songs on 6 music and one of the tracks he chose was it's gonna be me
It sounded great hearing it for the 1st time on the radio
If you are unfamiliar with the track I believe you are in for a treat

[Zenith]

I'm no expert of the genre but I don't think there are many white specimen who have sung and composed a soul balad as good as Bowie has with this one. and to think DB left it in the shelf for nearly two decades!

[starmandb]

Thanks zenith
Yes indeed a perfect slice of blue eyed soul
Can we have bring me the disco king from the album realty as today's track please

[Zenith]

[starmandb]

Thanks zenith
God I was falling asleep as I was typing last night after getting in late from work hence the rather short message. It did have a couple of bits of significance does bring me the disci king or I would have left it at that.
I believe it's another towering vocal with lovely accompaniment by mike Garson
It was the last track on reality therefore it was his last solo recorded work for nearly 10 years before the next day come out.
He originally recorded the song for 1993's black tie white noise and again for earthling in 1997 but neither made it onto the album( however some believe this to be an invention of bowies making as no demo or outtake has ever turned up which is a bit unusual) carlos alomar does support the fact that the 1st version was kitschey in a kind of late 70's disco. The 2 nd is meant to be more muscular.
It's 1st release eventually was on the soundtrack of the film underworld it was titled the loner mix and featured nine inch nails guitarist danny lohner( who also produced this version) and red hot chilli peppers guitarist john frusciante
It's another epic track and I would love it were any of the other versions to surface

[starmandb]

Can we have reptile as today's track please
This was the other nine inch nails song that he performed with them during that 1995 outside North American tour
It's a bit industrial for my liking but one of the things I like about bowie is that he was never afraid to fly without a safety net

[Zenith]

[starmandb]

Thanks zenith
Can we have knock on wood from the album david live as today's track please
His cover of the Eddie Floyd song that was recorded at the tower philedelphia on his 1974 tour
It was the only tour he played the song on( it was also released as a single)
It's a slightly pallid interpretation of the song
I don't think it was helped by the band threatening to go on strike as they were not being offered any extra money for the live recording.
I quite like the album but a lot of people felt he reworked the songs too much

[Zenith]

[starmandb]

Thanks zenith
Can we have wild eyed boy from freecloud from the album space oddity as today's track please
The Original version was the b side of space oddity it featured just bowie on accoustic guitar and paul buckmaster on an arco bass( it's a bit like a cello?)
It was recorded a month later for the album with a 50 peice orchestra
I can't seperate them mate
Love em both and the version he did at ziggy fairwell concert is pretty cracking as well

[Zenith]

Arco means the double bass is played with a bow (as opposed to pizzicato which is done by plucking) and its ambitus lies an octave lower than the violoncello also known as the cello.

Let's go with all three of them instead so no injustice is done

[starmandb]

Thanks zenith
God , I'm gonna be all about the bass this week( arco of coarse)
Listening to them back to back I am leaning towards the stripped down b side version
It seems there was a bit of a spat between Gus dudgeon( b side version) and tony Visconti ( album version) the 2 producers
Visconti went with the throw the kitchen sink at it approach to the extent that bowie gets a little overwrought to be heard above the orchastration
Where as dungeons version is stripped down
For me the song still remains epic even with the sparser treatment
Really though I am analysing for analysings sake
I love all versions I had even forgot it went into a medley at the hammersmith concert with all the young dudes and oh you pretty things
It's a while since I have wached the concert in full

[starmandb]

Can we have joe the lion from the album heroes as today's track please
Bowie went into a recording booth and improvised a lyric over a track that had already been laid down by Robert fripp tony Visconti and the rythm section that he had been using for the 3 years prior so they were as tight as a drum
What he came up with revolved around a performance artist, Chris burden,who in 1974 in a piece called tran- fixed was laid face up on the back of a Volkswagen beetle and had nails hammered into both hands as if being crucified.
The car was pushed and out of the garage and revved for 2 minutes.
In 1971 he got an assistant to shoot him in the arm from 16 feet with a.22 rifle
Whatever alchemy took place it resulted in a phenomenal song