David Bowie Fans Page 3

Quote: Nicky Liar @ January 31 2013, 8:52 AM GMT

I met Bowie in early '67 at a Traction Engine Rally in Pickering, North Yorkshire. He was still Davie Jones at that time and a member of the group 'Riot Squad'. He was clearly confused and trying to find himself when I first saw him licking the rear tyre on a Massey Ferguson 35X. Even in those days he was gathering a crowd, but sadly for the wrong reasons. I took him for a mug of Bovril and a sit down and we discussed our shared love of tractors and farm implements in general.

As it turned out this meeting was to have a gargantuan impact on Bowie's career and his meteoric rise into superstardom. Although never credited or even mentioned in the history of David Bowie I am content in knowing I had an influence.

I suggested a name change as people were confusing him with Davy Jones from the Monkees. What about Piggy Corndust? I said. David spat hot Bovril all over my wellingtons and started to laugh uncontrollably. I didn't know whether to be offended or pleased. Thinking back to the tyre licking incident I realised there may have been some substances involved so I let it pass. My suspicions were confirmed later on when David asked if I'd like to "...toke on his fatty" Luckily he then produced an expertly rolled joint which wiped the shocked look from my face.

We wandered round taking in the sights and sounds, stopping briefly to finger a magnificent looking A.J International Rotovator and Seed Drill. Little did I know at the time, David was gathering ideas for songs, although we did discuss an idea about a five year farming almanac set to music called 'Five Years'. It was meant to contain useful information on crop rotation, inter-planting and how to avoid carrot fly. However, David was in a morbid phase and chose to ruin the song by making it about the last five years on earth. Alas, looking at the lyrics I can see where his influence sprang from:

Pushing through the market square (Farmers Market section of the Rally)
So many Mothers sighing (They'd sold out of Jersey Royals)
News had just come over (Over the Tannoy)
We had five years left to cry in (Market was closing so there was five minutes left to buy in)

And it was cold and it rained so I felt like an actor (Felt like a tractor more like)

Similarly the chorus to the track 'Soul Love' takes me back to an incident with a stall holder. David was adamant he wanted to buy a dove but the seller wouldn't let David touch it until he showed him the money.

Inspirations have I none (I'm not going to hurt it)
Just to touch the flaming dove (He just wanted to touch the flaming thing)
All I have is my love of love (I love all creatures)
And love is not loving (I'm not feeling the love back, otherwise clueless)

I sympathised with David over the dove incident, I just think the stall holder took a dislike to him because of all the makeup he was wearing. David calmed down after rolling another herbal cigarette which he dragged down like a vacuum cleaner. He quickly became paranoid and kept shouting about an electric eye being on him and someone putting a ray gun to his head. David was becoming a real handful so I thought about getting him home before he freaked out any more.

There was clearly a reference to this in the track 'Moonage Daydream'

Keep your 'lectric eye on me babe
Put your ray gun to my head
Press your space face close to mine, love
Freak out in a moonage daydream, oh yeah!

David said he was proper hungry and had something he called 'the munchies' so we bought all the burgers and hot dogs left on a stand that was packing up. I suggested that we get a bus to my place so he could have a rest but David insisted on driving his Austin Morris 1100. I had a sense of foreboding about this but didn't want to leave him in the state he was in. Inevitably we were pulled over by the local constabulary and David being David started rambling on about a starman. David was charged for public order offences and I put up surety guaranteeing he would be in court on the following Monday morning.

I must confess I was one of many people stifling laughter when the policeman read out David's statement in the County Court with a broad Yorkshire accent:

There's a starman waiting in the sky
He'd like to come and meet us
But he thinks he'd blow our minds
There's a starman waiting in the sky
He's told us not to blow it
Cause he knows it's all worthwhile
He told me:
Let the children lose it
Let the children use it
Let all the children boogie.......Your Honour

The three magistrates were not as amused but luckily David was only bound over to keep the peace for 6 months.

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Yes.

Quote: Gordon Bennett @ January 31 2013, 2:28 PM GMT

Speaking of comebacks...Nicky Liar made a spectacular comeback on this site.

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I must have missed that.

Having been a bit of a fan of Bowie for some time, I must say if this record had been made by anyone else it would have been canned instantly. Thou cannot live by reputation alone. But apparently you can

Quote: roscoff @ February 1 2013, 9:49 AM GMT

Having been a bit of a fan of Bowie for some time, I must say if this record had been made by anyone else it would have been canned instantly. Thou cannot live by reputation alone. But apparently you can

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What do you mean by 'record'? Just the single or the album?

That's the "problem" if you're a fan. When you have the first 32 or so albums then you won't stop at numer 33 just because it's only 'meh'. BTW I'm a Bowie fan myself...

Quote: Gordon Bennett @ February 1 2013, 11:36 AM GMT

What do you mean by 'record'? Just the single or the album?

That's the "problem" if you're a fan. When you have the first 32 or so albums then you won't stop at numer 33 just because it's only 'meh'. BTW I'm a Bowie fan myself...

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Perhaps I'm not that much of a fan. I wouldn't buy anything by Bowie I didn't like. And to be honest, I didn't like it

I didn't know it's out yet...maybe only in Britain.

I've only heard the single not the rest.

Ah ok...

I do like the single...it reminds me of "Thurdays Child" of his last album of the 90s. That single was also a sentimental ballad.

Quite like his new single, not astoundingly original or great and doesn't add much to the Bowie canon, which has been pretty threadbare since lets dance, but OK

Quote: roscoff @ February 1 2013, 9:49 AM GMT

Thou cannot live by reputation alone. But apparently you can

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Yes, the new single is a bit flatly maudlin... Interesting that Bowie impressionist Steve Riks pre-empted the sentimental stuff two years ago with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbWNxutbB-0
(which is a grower)

Here's a collage of not entirely favorable reviews on Bowie's new song:

While public response to the new song was almost universally positive, that is often to be expected when dealing with such a beloved legacy artist as Bowie. However, we at The Shit are able to separate the artist from the song and to rationally critique "Where Are We Now?" on its own merits.

With that in mind, allow us to surmise that if this is any indication of what happens when a legacy artist disappears for a decade, more legacy artists should consider following suit. As much as we might love Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty or Paul McCartney, none seem capable of taking even two years off, much less ten. As a result, each new album arrives on a wave of respectful adulation that quickly subsides once the initial media push subsides. In the case of McCartney, while many of us may have bought McCartney's Chaos And Creation In The Backyard, when's the last time any of us actually gave it a listen?

As we prepared to listen to "Where Are We Now?", we also prepared to be disappointed. Mind you, we weren't necessarily expecting the song to outright suck, but listening to a mediocre David Bowie song is not as much fun as one would think.

Bowie's first single in ten years is awful, a trembling ballad in which the thin white duke is transformed into a milky-eyed old man. It isn't just bad, it's a depressing reminder of the inexorable passage of time and the inevitability of death. "As long as there's rain, as long as there's fire, as long as there's me, as long as there's you," he mews, voice slight and uncertain, seeming to anticipate the time when everything will end, including his own glorious career. On the other hand, this is not the first piece of garbage Bowie has committed to tape, so we're also business-as-usual.

It's a load of wank. I'm getting f**ked off with these middle class "I should love music so I will fake it" wankers Tweeting and Facebooking like they know what a good song is. My thoughts on the song are simple, don't bother, it's boring, dull, drab, grey, dreary like urine infection on holiday.

The video isn't up to much either, with David's turtle faced... f**king whatever it is staring at me the whole time. I wanted to punch my laptop just for existing. The video is as bad, if not worse, than the song. I don't know what this hullabaloo is all about with Twitter going loopy but I'll say this, it's a shit song with a shit video and the upcoming album will be shit. Bowie ain't done nothing good since he stopped wearing make-up.

I can't understand how a critic can crap real and seasoned artists that harsh for not doing exactly that what the critic wants him to do. Before the criticise those artists they should give statements on the loads of Talent show winners who do crappy karaoke versions of old songs or new conveyor belt made tunes before they dissappear into the woodwork again where they're coming from.
And how can one diss an album that hasn't been released yet?
Why do have real musicians have to take all the blame for the sad state of the music business.

Quote: Gordon Bennett @ February 1 2013, 11:50 AM GMT

Ah ok...

I do like the single...it reminds me of "Thurdays Child" of his last album of the 90s. That single was also a sentimental ballad.

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I knew there was something it reminded me of. The trouble is a lot of his later stuff is not that memorable. The last good album he made to my mind was Black Tie, White Noise.

Quote: Chappers @ February 2 2013, 11:16 AM GMT

I knew there was something it reminded me of. The trouble is a lot of his later stuff is not that memorable. The last good album he made to my mind was Black Tie, White Noise.

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I'm not that fond of the "Black Tie..." album. But the point is that in that stage of his career he was still unpredictable Not many seasoned artists would have released a single like Jump They Say; maybe only U2 (The Fly) where that brave...or arrogant. His next two albums flirted with avantgarde and drum n bass; they were an aquired taste and some songs didn't work. But they also had great singles and album tracks on it. But with the "Hours.." album he stopped being an explorer but has become predictable and solid. I really have a great sympathy for his last two albums...but they aren't cutting edge. Sometimes they are even boring...but never bad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aepBpZ3kXek

Bowie is amazing for having released records in Indonesian and Mandarin. His Indonesian singing is not brilliant but his Mandarin version of Seven Years in Tibet is kick-ass. I wish he would sing China Girl in Mandarin. I wrote to Stevie Riks (Bowie impressionist), asking him to do just such a cover, but he ignored me. Strange that.

Dang wo gandao xingfen
Wo de xiao zhongguo nuhai shuo
O baobei, zhishi ni bi shang ni de zui
Ta shuo, xuuuuuu....

Quote: Kenneth @ February 3 2013, 9:16 PM GMT

Dang wo gandao xingfen
Wo de xiao zhongguo nuhai shuo
O baobei, zhishi ni bi shang ni de zui
Ta shuo, xuuuuuu....

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Actually less spelling mistakes than most of SootyJ's posts (Sorry soots )