I did like the song.That was a wonderful work. Lets Dance, I think is a bit better... and just as artistic.
Always a joy when one of his songs made to the radio playlist.
I did like the song.That was a wonderful work. Lets Dance, I think is a bit better... and just as artistic.
I think it was Producer Niles Rodgers that brought the sound to Let's Dance that made it a stand out. Rodgers was quite surprised when Bowie quickly made 'Tonight' without him. Bowie stated later that he regretted rushing that LP and that he found it disappointing.That was a wonderful work. Lets Dance, I think is a bit better... and just as artistic.
I think it was Producer Niles Rodgers that brought the sound to Let's Dance that made it a stand out. Rodgers was quite surprised when Bowie quickly made 'Tonight' without him. Bowie stated later that he regretted rushing that LP and that he found it disappointing.
Kind of new to David Bowie, don't know why now and not 40 years ago like everyone else. A couple favorite LPs (yes my DB are on vinyl thus far) are Tonight, and Never Let Me Down. What else is good? Looking to expand my DB collection!
I hated roxy music 'back in the day' and when I found out Eno was part of them I was flummoxed, even though I really like Bryan Ferry.
My fav's areI no longer have a favorite Bowie album--just too many I like.
But "Ashes to Ashes" is his best single imho.
So I got to thinking, what are his other best songs? Changes, The Man Who Sold the World, Hang on to Yourself, Starman, Stay, China Girl, Beauty and the Beast, Heroes, Space Oddity, and on and on...but I think many of his best songs (on albums like Dogs and Low) weren't singles.
I finally figured out how to sell box lots of CDs and LPs--throw some Bowie in. If those are your favorite Bowies, you may not appreciate his hard-edged earlier stuff like Ziggy and Aladdin Sane. But who knows? I recommend "Young Americans" (his "soul" album) and maybe "Diamond Dogs" and "Scary Monsters" for a bit more edge.
Fun video too, though this is the abridged version of the song.
I applaud your analysis of Bowie but you left out the last 35 years of his career.
This is the era I most resonate with. Basically as I was a 16/17 year old and it was the soundtrack to a lot of parties, along with Spandau Ballet, INXS, Eurythmics, Duran Duran, Michael Jackson etc.
I applaud your analysis of Bowie but you left out the last 35 years of his career.
That might be... but yet, what I wouldn't give to time warp myself back to the 1980s, put on some of the "putrid fashion" (they had some cute things too, like the miniskirt crazy of like 1984/85... which is what I would probably opt for in my time-warp fantasy), have the "big hair", and go to one concert after another.The fashion (if you can call it that) was putrid. The clothes I bought and wore, I am ashamed of. Lurid colours, stripes, coloured shoes and socks, baggy pants. Oh my, it was bad, but the music was great.
I didn't mean to leave anything out, but only looked at his first evolution. Quite frankly, I am not that much a fan on his later stuff (although Blackstar is growing on me currently). It simply doesn't have the "edge" I like. It is a drastically different. To be quite honest, I simply don't know enough (or listen to enough) of his later things to be thorough and objective.
Agreed.
I think most fans concentrate on the cocaine fueled 70s because that's where his most inspired work resides. He could do no wrong. His worst record from this period was probably Pin Ups. Or not.
Someone else may choose Low or Diamond Dogs or Lodger. I don't know, I love them all, some more than others and all for different reasons. The same with his albums after Let's Dance. That was so huge that Tonight and Never Let Me Down seemed like let downs to me.I got distracted during the late 80s with post punk and industrial music and when Black Tie White Noise and Outside came around it seemed derivative. Still, going back now, they are some of his best work from the 90s. I never got onboard with Tin Machine. Probably his biggest misstep.
Still, it had to happen for what came later. The ying and the yang. The black and the white. The good and the bad... I really took notice of Heathen. I don't know if I was just really jonzin' for some new Bowie at the time or what but that CD really brought me back to his work. And the follow up, Tonight, again really solid. Which brings us to The Next Day and Black Star.I listen to my The Next Day record quite a bit. It's probably my favorite since Scary Monsters. It just seems personal and self effacing and without put on.I have not been able to buy Black Star.I've picked it up from the rack and tucked it under my arm several times and walked back and filed ft away. I'm just not ready yet.
There became a time when Bowie felt he "had to pander to his newfound audience and mass appeal"I didn't mean to leave anything out, but only looked at his first evolution. Quite frankly, I am not that much a fan on his later stuff (although Blackstar is growing on me currently). It simply doesn't have the "edge" I like. It is a drastically different. To be quite honest, I simply don't know enough (or listen to enough) of his later things to be thorough and objective.
That attitude is death to originality.There became a time when Bowie felt he "had to pander to his newfound audience and mass appeal"
Some time around the Let's Dance album.
"Critical reviews for Let's Dance as an album have been mixed, although Rolling Stone later described it as "the conclusion of arguably the greatest 14-year run in rock history".[9] Bowie felt he had to continue to pander to the new mass audience he acquired with the album, which led to him releasing two further solo albums in 1984 and 1987 which, despite their relative commercial success, did not sell as well as Let's Dance, were poorly received by critics at the time and subsequently dismissed by Bowie himself as his "Phil Collins years" "That attitude is death to originality.
I tend to want to put his career into a linear progression but you can't do that with David Bowie.
He jumps around from one era to another taking inspiration from each and mixing it with his current inspiration.
He even pulls from his childhood and events from his formative years before Space Oddity.
It reminds me of how his career flow is reminiscent of Brian Eno's;
strong in the 70's and ever evolving in the 80's and less impactful in the 90's and beyond but still, you have to give them props.
Maybe they weren't so much in the spotlight in the later years but they had done it all and had fine honed their craft down to the point of mastery.
"Critical reviews for Let's Dance as an album have been mixed, although Rolling Stone later described it as "the conclusion of arguably the greatest 14-year run in rock history".[9] Bowie felt he had to continue to pander to the new mass audience he acquired with the album, which led to him releasing two further solo albums in 1984 and 1987 which, despite their relative commercial success, did not sell as well as Let's Dance, were poorly received by critics at the time and subsequently dismissed by Bowie himself as his "Phil Collins years" "
As a Bowie fan, I tend to agree.