David Bowie - where to start?

As promised, I am writing a post about David Bowie.
Here is a comment I left to a friend when he mentioned that he wanted to listen to David Bowie

I think my first complete David Bowie album was Aladdin Sane (1973); that's a good place to start. If you don't mind slightly inaccessible albums, I recommend Station to Station (1976) and Diamond Dogs (1974). These are all from the seventies. If you like crazy awesome stuff that's Eno-flavored, then I recommend the Berlin Trilogy - Low (1977), "Heroes" (1977), and Lodger (1979). Some nineties Bo is good. I recommend 1. Outside 1995, also made with Brian Eno. Earthling (1997) is kind of a more dance music album with light flavors of industrial. I don't really pay attention to Buddha of Suburbia (1993) or 'Hours ...' (1999).

There are only two albums post 2000 - Heathen (2002) and Reality (2003). I think Heathen is pretty great. Reality is pretty solid as well.

80s Bo is when he went pop to compete with New Wave artists. It's okay if you like pop. It's better to pick and choose singles from this time period. I like "Blue Jean", "Modern Love", and the Labyrinth soundtrack (1986) is okay.

And that's a bit of an overview of Bowie's musical career.

David Bowie!

CCHH sends happy birthday wishes to David Bowie on this, his 62nd birthday. I love this man. I think it's safe to say that watching Labyrinth was a life-changing step in growing up, not just for me but for many others. Nobody can come through a close encounter with the Area clothed in tights unaltered. Perfect: as I typed this, "Underground" came on.

I wonder if David Bowie has ever watched this after he recorded it.

He should watch it TODAY.

Maybe in a future post I will say more about David Bowie.

Diamond Dogs by David Bowie

Diamond Dogs (1974) is one of my favorite albums of all time. In this day and age (as I type this I'm waving my cane menacingly at some kids driving too fast) where no one listens to albums anymore and players are always on shuffle, it seems rare to talk about an album as a complete work of art rather than a collection of songs. Which is why I quietly recommend favorite albums.

I feel that Diamond Dogs should be listened to all together. It doesn't take long, the runtime is only 38:25. And all the songs are gems, from the intro track "Future Legend" to "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family" the album flows smoothly. It's odd how cohesive this album is when considering that many of the songs were written for a failed theatrical production of George Orwell's 1984. David Bowie smooshed together the 1984 music with other tracks and bam - concept album centered around the theme of a post-apocalyptic society. MUSICAL ALCHEMY.

My particular favorite moment is the "Sweet Thing"/"Candidate"/"Sweet Thing (reprise)", what, suite? That's how it's referred to on Wikipedia. It's absolutely gorgeous. Equally lush is "We Are the Dead".

The album was co-produced by Tony Visconti, whom I lovingly refer to as Tony V, despite the fact that I probably shouldn't take such liberties. Visconti would go on to work closely with Bowie for much of the rest of the 70s.