Cats and kittens, this weekend I have a very special treat for you. A certain young man of my acquaintance suffers from a deep and all-pervading prejudice. Put simply, he does not know good music when he hears it. Readers: he does not like David Bowie. Therefore, behold this guest post in which Amy tries sitting around in her pyjamas and not writing anything for her blog (again). Pass Ash the mic, he’s about to Try Again.
Not long ago, I was in Amy’s kitchen singing The Man Who Sold the World. Of course, ever faithful, she assumed I was singing The Man Who Sold the World.
Spot the difference? It turns out David Bowie, the skeletal coke-sack who just refuses to die, wrote that song as well.
And dear old Nirvana? Just another in a long line of Bowie coverers.
A very long line indeed: Tina Turner, Stone Temple Pilots, Duran Duran – and not just these shit bands either! Tori Amos, A Perfect Circle, even Nine Inch Nails have Bowie covers tucked away in their collective discographies.
What the hell is going on here?
Black MC Saul Williams has a whole album titled Niggy Tardust, a reference even Bowie haters like me can pick up on. Now, aside from clearly being on the same pharmaceutical diet, I can’t see any connection between Saul-Freaking-Williams and the whitest guy on the planet.
So what’s this all about? Is Bowie another Velvet Underground, an act inexplicably influential but nonetheless unlistenable? Should we finally place him – along with Woodstock and Bob Dylan – in the ‘you had to be there’ category? After all, maybe he’s just an artefact for die-hards and the historically curious.
Sadly, like a zombie from The Return of the Living Dead, Bowie refuses to go gentle into that good night. I’ve talked to real people, many of them under 30, who seriously believe David Bowie is the greatest artist of the 20th century. Since when did glam rock mean anything to anyone?
Isn’t there something inherently suspect about a guy who once said, “I’m always amazed that people take what I say seriously. I don’t even take what I am seriously.”?
By this point I hope you can all see where this is going. I’m going to try David Bowie again. Tomorrow I intend to listen to three Bowie albums, in full, in rapt attention.
Be afraid. After years of hairspray misuse, and with the passing of Michael Jackson, David Bowie may be the most flammable artist on the planet. I may not come out alive.
I may be driven completely insane, my ears clawed with the demented savagery of GG Allin at John Farnham’s latest farewell tour. More to the point, I may actually find I enjoy David Bowie.
Guest blogging for Amy Tries Again, this is Ash Tries Again.
To Bowieland!
So, Bowie fans: which 3 albums do you think Ash should listen to?
8 Comments so far
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Amy Tries Again 
I think I might be a fence-sitter on this; I don’t -love- Bowie, I don’t hate him either; I’m somewhat indifferent. I find I tend to enjoy him more when he’s covered or sampled by someone else – with the exception of his appearance in Jim Henson’s Labyrinth which was a movie that did nothing wrong.
I do remember once, however, I was given an David Bowie album to review for a paper I worked for; and I actually liked it. I’ve since lost it, but it was called Earthling, I believe. Since it was him trying to reinvent himself I think it was generally completely ignored at the time (late 90s?).
That said, I’m with you… I don’t quite understand how he’s held on such a high pedestal.
Comment by theshylion May 29, 2010 @ 2:06 PMmanaged to pay out velvet underground and david bowie in one post? i think amy might be right about ash not knowing good music when he hears it… maybe try a greatest hits to warm yourself up to the greatness?
Comment by Bianca May 29, 2010 @ 2:25 PMTony Martin once said of the third disk of the platinum collection. “Listen to it once, then it’s a coaster.” so maybe avoid that one.
Comment by Dan Beeston May 29, 2010 @ 2:58 PMOutside
hunky dory
low
3 different albums, 3different bowies
Comment by Dan May 29, 2010 @ 6:38 PMI should have added that Ash must listen to The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. That is all.
Comment by Amy May 29, 2010 @ 7:47 PMYou jest, surely? Ash has pretty much dismantled his own argument. David Bowie is popularly and critically acclaimed. Musicians covered him, rap stars named their alter-egos after him and there are two mind-screwingly good shows named after his songs.
I put it to you that Ash has written an incendiary post designed to stir up the easily stirred up. And I, for one, am stirred up! NYARRRRRGGGGGHHHHhHHHHH!
P.S. watch ashes to ashes if you haven’t already. they use the clown costume to amazing effect 😀
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