This is just too cool. Carey Gustafson in Detroit does some incredible things with stained glass. And apparently has a liking for Bowie as well. The result?
Although it might terrify the little boy, I think I’m gonna get me one for the new house!
Got an email from this fella over there. He wanted me to check out his Myspace site. He mentioned he was a Bowie fan as well.
So I did.
He’s got a remake of Rebel Rebel on there that just absolutely nails it! It’s a very different interpretation of the song, much more so than mine. In fact, I like his a LOT better! I KNOW you will too. He notes that Mike Garson and Carlos Alomar have listened to this version of Rebel Rebel. Alomar notes they play it with a minor ( and lots of strings ). That’s the stuff I love. I remade it so I could karaoke in the car. Most of the other songs I’ve got over there I did because of the same reason. And, I always thought a lot of the earlier Bowie stuff could have been profoundly more exciting to listen to if Bowie had the technology in his prime that we have now. IMO, Nightflight proves it much better than I ever have. Garson and Alomar never have emailed me, so that should tell ya something!
Be sure to check out Nightflight’s version. And, when ya do, leave him a message and tell them Moon sent ya!
The beauty of the internet, and, the dismay of the major recording studios, is that anyone can put their stuff out there and it’s immediately accessible to the masses. Youtube is IMO the culmination of all the internet was meant to do in regards to the performing arts. Tonight I stumbled across a tribute band called Diamond Dogs. Here’s their version of Moonage Daydream performed live:
I love it for several reasons. They definitely have the essence of Bowie, if not the dress. The “bitch slap” between Bowie and Ronson, the mime routine from Width of a Circle, and, although someone unknowing complains on Youtube, the extended guitar solo Ronson blisters in the live version so Bowie could make a costume change. It’s almost all there. I even like the flute interlude. Good job Diamond Dogs!
A bunch called the Arbiters have done a mashup of Fame. It’s quite enjoyable actually.
( Best to go to their site and stream it. The download’s SLOW. )
Before Bowie was Ziggy, before he was The Thin White Duke, before he became African or animated, he was a long haired hipster singing folk songs, looking something like this:
However, also from the same album as Space Oddity was an odd little tune that gave everyone a truer idea of what he was thinking at that time, Memory of a Free Festival:
The Children of the summer’s end
Gathered in the dampened grass
We played Our songs and felt the London sky
Resting on our hands
It was God’s land
It was ragged and naive
It was Heaven
Touch, We touched the very soul Of holding each and every life
We claimed the very source of joy ran through
It didn’t, but it seemed that way
I kissed a lot of people that day
Oh, to capture just one drop of all the ecstasy that swept that afternoon
To paint that love upon a white balloon
And fly it from the toppest top of all the tops That man has pushed beyond his brain
Satori must be something just the same
We scanned the skies with rainbow eyes and saw machines of every shape and size
We talked with tall Venusians passing through
And Peter tried to climb aboard but the Captain shook his head
And away they soared
Climbing through the ivory vibrant cloud
Someone passed some bliss among the crowd
And We walked back to the road, unchained
“The Sun Machine is Coming Down, and We’re Gonna Have a Party”
OK, we’ve got Zen Buddhism, Woodstock, Heaven, God, ecstasy, aliens, bliss, and freedom. And, to finish it off, we’re gonna have a party. With the references to “Sun Machines”, bliss, and ecstasy, you’d think this song was written this year. However, it was written a long time ago, about 1967 or so. Somehow or another Bowie packed everything his world encompassed musically into one song. And, it also signaled a musical pattern Bowie would follow a lot for about a decade, meandering through a story without really saying anything. Who are the Children of the summer’s end? Hippies? Could be, we don’t really know. How many people would describe London as “ragged and naive, it was God’s land”? That’s not the London I know. Who is Peter and why do we care? Do Venusians speak English on Venus? So many questions, no answers. Just a strange, strange story. That’s what I liked about Bowie then. Every good song left you with the feeling of “WTF?”.
Here’s my version, I just did it on my new PC.
Here is the Music Player. You need to installl flash player to show this cool thing!
Here’s the original version via Sony, it’s like 99 cents or so.
Memory of a Free Festival originally appeared on 
Space Oddity ( Man of Words, Man of Music ).
I’d suggest the album first. I like my version a lot, but I refuse to allow anyone else hear me sing it!
It just suddenly struck me that in my desire to “interpret” some of my favorite Bowie tunes, I’ve forgotten probably his signature song, Space Oddity
It was basically the final farewell as Mick and David wouldn’t perform together for nearly two decades. The original demo to Space Oddity is a riot. But, it just doesn’t seem quite right here. So, I’ll save it for later. For reasons beyond my comprehension, the 1980 Floor Show has never been released in any capacity. Bowie would quickly ditch Ziggy after this show for the Young American and his glam days were over. But, boy, did he go out with a bang. More on that later.
While I’ve still got that poster from Luke up there, thought I might add another shot from Diamond Dogs and as well tackle a couple of tunes from Diamond Dogs. Two of my all time favorites should do.
Diamond Dogs was to be Bowie’s musical interpretation of George Orwell’s 1984. However, the Orwell family would have nothing to do with the project. So, Bowie had to set it up slightly different. In order to do this, he resorted to spoken word. The song was Future Legend. And, boy, did it EVER set the stage for what was to come:
And in the death
As the last few corpses lay rotting on the slimy thoroughfare
The shutters lifted in ancient Temperance Building
High on Poacher’s Hill
And red mutant eyes gaze down on Hunger City
No more big wheelsFleas the size of rats sucked on rats the size of cats
And ten thousand peoploids split into small tribes
Coveting the highest of the sterile skyscrapers like packs of dogs assaulting the glass fronts of Love-Me Avenue
Ripping and rewrapping mink and shiny silver fox, now legwarmers
Family badge of sapphire and cracked emerald
in the day of the dog
the year of the diamond dog…..
this aint rock and roll this is genocide
Bowie then cuts straight into the song Diamond Dogs. Which, quite honestly to me is a huge letdown from the buildup of Future Legend. The album then morphs from bawdy to downright suicidal as Bowie depicts a future totally void of hope with perversions around every corner. It gets ugly. Bowie then tries to bring the listener back up a little with the twisted hope of Big Brother, only to end his interpretation of the future with the very rocking and very bizarre “Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family”:
Brother
Ooh-ooh
Shake it up, shake it up
Move it up, move it upBrother
Ooh-ooh
Shake it up, shake it up
Move it up, move it upBrother
Ooh-ooh
Shake it up, shake it up
Move it up, move it upBrother
Ooh-ooh
Shake it up, shake it up
Move it up, move it upBrother
Ooh-ooh
Shake it up, shake it up
Move it up, move it upBrother
Ooh-ooh
Shake it up, shake it up
Move it up, move it upBrother
Ooh-ooh
Shake it up, shake it up
Move it up, move it upBro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro…………………………..
There it is folks, when all hope is lost, Big Brother’s gonna dance.
Feel better now?
“Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family” has by far one of the catchiest guitar riffs ever made by anyone ever. However, it clocks in at about 2:00 with stuck tape “Bro” repitition at the end. So, it never got any radio play. I always felt that if Bowie had added just a little extra something to that song to clock it in at least 2:30, it could have been a monster hit. It’s that much fun.
Even with a combined duration of 3:00 between the two songs, they are both absolule must haves for a Bowie collection. You’re not truly experienced in what Bowie used to do until you’ve memorized the lyrics to both. Just trust me on that. And, neither are on anything that I’m aware of other than the original Diamond Dogs.
Now, this is more my style right here:
Luke is selling this on eBay as well. If interested, here’s the link.
Good luck Luke!
I stumbled upon this very odd blog entry and thread a long time ago. I’ve been meaning to link it here, but keep forgetting. So, here it is:
The author of the entry has THE ENTIRE THING on their site. For nothing more than amusement and a good chuckle, read it.
At the very end of the comments, there is a little surprise about where this thing came from. Excellent excellent post.
One of my favorite songs ever made by anyone, because of RCA’s decision in 1972 to NOT include it on Ziggy Stardust, it’s teetered on the edge of obscurity even though it was a monster hit in Europe, Peaking at #12. Not too shabby for a song with no album to support it. Of all the bone-headed decisions major record labels made during this era, dropping this song from Ziggy strikes me as being one of the Top 10. It’s a hell of song, and fun to sing as well:
Well, Annie’s pretty neat, she always eats her meat
Joe is awful strong, bet your life he’s putting us on
Oh lordy! oh lordy! You know I need some loving
I’m moving, touch me!
John, I’m only dancing
She turns me on, but I’m only dancing
She turns me on, don’t get me wrong
I’m only dancing
Oh shadow love was quick and clean, life’s a well thumbed machine
I saw you watching from the stairs, you’re everyone that ever cared
Oh lordy, oh lordy, you know I need some loving
I’m moving, touch me!
John, I’m only dancing She turns me on, but I’m only dancing
She turns me on, don’t get me wrong
I’m only dancing
John, I’m only dancing
She turns me on, but I’m only dancing
She turns me on, don’t get me wrong
I’m only dancing Dancing
won’t someone dance with me?
Touch me!
Ohhh!
Now, I really don’t think I need to interpret this one too much. It seems to be quite clear in its intent. This was not a terribly typical Bowie song in that respect. It’s probably just as deceptive as any Bowie song could be, but he came across more sincere than usual. However, the interpretation of this song got it banned in the US for quite some time.
Now, John I’m Only Dancing managed to get banned nearly a decade before MTV existed. However, promotional short movies were used before MTV existed, and Bowie was the forefront of pushing it to the limits. As silly as the lyrics were, and as lively as the music was, Bowie put this oddly Gothic video to it. It’s downright disturbing:
The video marked one of the original collaborations between Mick Rock and Bowie. The “scary monsters” were Bowie’s backup singers at the time. The footage is actually a Bowie performance. Oddly enough, this video was only shown in the US, but effectively banned in England. An alternate version of the video was produced for England, much against Bowie’s desires. So, you could see the song in the US, but not listen to it on the radio. You could listen to the song on the radio in England, but not see the video. And, you could buy the album, but not get the song. And, to top it off, if you bought the original ChangesOneBowie early enough, you got a different version than if you bought the same album later. And, to make things even more confusing, Bowie re-made it as a disco song during the recording of Young Americans, but didn’t put it on that album either. So, “John, I’m Only Dancing” is possibly the only song in history to be recorded multiple times and never put on an album. It is on many greatest hits though. Later, if you bought the Rhino Ryko”Ziggy Stardust”, they put it on that as a bonus track, but it’s a different version than the other FOUR. And, for bootleg officiandos such as myself, there is the demo “lazy” version as well which is quite enjoyable. My personal favorite was the ChangesOneBowie version. It was tightest, crispest, and just sounded like a fun rock song. Bowie is often called a chameleon. That trait has passed on to many of his songs. “John, I’m Only Dancing” probably being the most chameleon like. It’s had about as many personalities as Bowie himself.
UPDATE: January 6, 2007: Finally found a most excellent midi of John I’m Only Dancing. So, I remixed it and had a little fun with it!
Here is the Music Player. You need to installl flash player to show this cool thing!