Tag: David Bowie

The second David Bowie boxset in his career spanning set released in 2016, Who Can I Be Now? (1974-1976) came with Re:Call 2, a disc that mops up single edits, B-sides, and other stray tracks. The glam rock/punk style on the classic “Rebel Rebel” appears twice in slightly different mixes. “Rock ‘n’ Roll with Me” slows things down in a bit on a live version before a great run of singles appears.

The title track to his 1975 album, Young Americans was a shift in style as he incorporated funk horns and mega talented background singers to elevate the single.  John Lennon appears on Bowie’s first US #1 hit “Fame” before this soul period culminates with the staggering “Golden Years” where Bowie really makes his version of the Philadelphia sound his own thing.

Several songs from the Station to Station album appear including “Word On A Wing (Single Edit)”. Over those handful of years, Bowie had gone from character to character but on this he really bares out his soul on the moving track. This period that Re:Call 2 covers captures several classic Bowie singles.  That this all happened in two years is quite remarkable, most other artists would be proud to call this a career summation.

9/10

David Bowie started writing the songs that would end up on Station to Station in 1975 while working on the movie The Man Who Fell to Earth.  Deep in a cocaine addiction, Bowie in this time period was surviving on a diet of just peppers and milk. Co-produced by Harry Maslin, the sound of the album carries on some of the funk/soul influences he explored on Young Americans and adds a bit of a croon with a European shininess on an album that went top five in both the UK and US.

The title track is a 10 minute epic that begins with the sound of a train then a slow, trudging march of sounds.  The song introduces his newest character, the Thin White Duke.  The song gets sped up in the second half where it turns into a tour de force of drums and piano while Bowie sings, “It’s too late to be grateful”.  “TVC 15” is based on a hallucination of the TV eating someone’s girlfriend, the fun upbeat track adds a bit of a sci-fi element to the themes.  The twin guitars of Earl Slick and Carlos Alomar turn “Stay” into a dirty, funky jam that also features the throbbing bass of George Murray.

The first single is the highlight.  “Golden Years” carries on the funk rock sound he previously explored on “Fame”. The guitar riffing that starts the track gets punctuated with finger snaps and handclaps that beam the groove to life before Bowie’s vocal brings a bit of a bit of blue eyed soul to the disco gloss. Its an extraordinary song that the band + Bowie really nail.  Station to Station sees Bowie make the sounds explored on Young Americans truly his own.  How he created the album while in a deep drug addiction, barely remembering anything about this period is a minor creative miracle.

9/10

When David Bowie released the second boxset in a career spanning history, Who Can I Be Now (1974-1976) in 2016, the set also included The Gouster. This album was never released but eventually came in out in a revised form as the Young Americans LP. The two albums share four tracks in common, all in alternate forms including the sax driven “Somebody Up There Likes Me”.  It also contains the track of the same name as the boxset, a midtempo piano driven track with a lot of horns as well.

The Gouster contains two future singles. The first being “Young Americans” that brims with Philadelphia soul and the second being “John, I’m Only Dancing”. The disco soul number would eventually be released in 1979 in edited form. The version here clocks in at 7 minutes, a true disco dancefloor edit.  Leaving off a few upbeat numbers from Young Americans, The Gouster is a slower take on what eventually would become a big album hit for Bowie in 1975.

7/10

While other David Bowie’s live albums may have been recorded earlier, David Live was the first one released.  The disc was recorded during 1974’s Diamond Dogs tour at a stop in Pennsylvania. Having left behind the Ziggy Stardust personae the year before, Bowie adds horns to the mix including the work of David Sanborn (RIP) and piano player Mike Garson that play a heavy role in the songs performed for the album.  This adds a bit of a jazzy flavour to tracks like “Changes” and “Aladdin Sane”.

The band really let loose on “Moonage Dream” including a sizzling guitar solo from Earl Slick and Tony Norman going for it on the drums.  The background vocals on the Eddie Floyd cover “Knock on Wood” truly make it sound like an arena rock show from the 70s.  At times, Bowie’s voice strains a bit to get into range but the enthusiasm of tracks like Diamond Dogs’ single “Rebel Rebel” and “Cracked Actor” plus the impassioned performance of “Rock n Roll Suicide” make it easier to overlook. 

Several singles up to that point are left off the performance such as “Space Oddity”, “Starman” and “Live on Mars”. In truth, he had so many songs to choose from even at this point that they are not hugely missed. In all, David Live captures Bowie between Ziggy and the Young Americans phase that was just a year away.

7/10