Greatest, gayest, album of all time?
Posted by Moonage | Filed under Interpretations
A while back I did a post on “Bands that make you gay“. It was a fairly all-reaching list that included pretty much anyone that ever recorded a song. Bowie didn’t fair too well on that list. However, once one of those bands has made you gay, Bowie apparently fairs much better. According to Out magazine, the greatest, gayest, album of all time is Ziggy Stardust. Bowie gets later mentions for Hunky Dory and Diamond Dogs as well.
As with any list, I find this one rather conspicuous. For me, the gayest album of all time, bar none, had to be Village People’s Macho Man and Cruisin. Before that point, it was one thing for people to think someone was gay, after that point, EVERYONE had to be gay. Otherwise normal teen boys were suddenly running around doing dances and moves that they learned from extremely open gay guys. What everyone thought meant the Young Men’s Christian Association suddenly meant a place to get hit on by old gay guys. No longer was it suggested that a singer was gay, they tossed it at you as part of their marketing. Village People busted down the doors the Elton John and others would strut through poudly and loudly. YMCA’s not even on this list.
A close second would be Frankie Goes To Hollyood’s Welcome to the Pleasuredome
Ziggy Startdust on the other hand I never interpreted as being about being gay. It was a story about the moral decline of civilization right about the time it finds out it has only a few years left to survive and how some of the indivual characters responded. It wasn’t sending the message that it was OK to be confused about your sexual orientation, it was painting the picture that they just were confused. Elton John was sending that message at about the same time, but Bowie really didn’t on Ziggy. There were all kinds of people illustrated on Ziggy, gays faired no better or worse than cops, priests, robots, or anything else. They faired a lot better a few years later with YMCA.
As far as the individual effect of Ziggy went, I think it meant different things to different people. Sure, “you’re not alone” might appeal to the sexually confused young teen struggling to find their identity. But, it appealed equally to the thoroughly straight teen who couldn’t grasp how to relate to members of the opposite sex. Moonage Daydream wasn’t about sticking a penis shaped object close to one’s face, to others it was a fubar drug trip with sexual overtones. And, I always felt it was about mechanical sex devices, like in robots. Another great, gay, musician that was totally omitted from the list, Gary Numan, would take that trip even farther with “Are Friends Electric?“. His “friend” was “a man outside”. There was no ambiguity.
The beauty of Bowie’s early stuff, especially in the three albums Out mentions, Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, and Diamond Dogs, is the ambiguity. They can be interpreted so differently by anone listening to them that you almost wouldn’t recognize what people are comparing. The fact that Out seems to think Ziggy is the greatest, gayest album of all time I think is simply a statement to how incredibly masterful Bowie was with that ambiguity in 1972.
Tags: are-friends-electric, cruisin, david bowie, diamond dogs, elton john, frankie-goes-to-hollywood, gary-numan, goodbye-yellow-brick-road, hunky-dory, lady-stardust, macho man, moonage daydream, pleasuredome, relax, rock-n-roll-suicide, village people, ymca, Ziggy-Stardust
Arnold Corns
Posted by Moonage | Filed under Sound
In 1971, Bowie was busy touring, sorta, busier chasing records companies, and writing music. Now, this is pre-Hunky Dory we’re talking about. Bowie wasn’t too heavy at this time. However, he was already into his changing personnas. And, while bored on the road, he was writing his big project. As the story goes, RCA wasn’t too keen on his new project since basically no one knew who Bowie was, but he was wanting to do a double-lp anyway ( which was pricey in those days ). So, Bowie decided to do a test run with his new line-up and release some of the songs RCA was bucking. His new line-up was quite odd to say the least:
He enlisted Freddi Buretti, aka Rudy Valentino, to be his front man. According to legend, Rudy didn’t really sing or play any instruments. He eventually became Bowie’s designed for the Ziggy tours. Rudy eventually became immortalized in song:
Tony went to fight in Belfast
Rudi stayed at home to starve
I could make it all worthwhile
as a rock & roll star….
That’s opening lines to “Star” on Ziggy Stardust
- “Hang on to yourself”. This became a staple opening song for Bowie on several tours.
- “Looking for a friend”. Pretty much disappeared after it was recorded.
- “Man in the middle”. Pretty much disappeared after it was recorded, but has been a cult favorite for Bowie fans since. And last but not least:
- “Moonage Daydream”. Now, to me, this is where it gets odd. This ain’t the Moonage Daydream you’re used to. This is something completely different. I had it bootleg version for a long time and loved it. However, the CD did what all CD’s eventually do and refused to play after a few years. I went a long time without hearing it. However, a while back, JeniQ wondered why her version of Moonage Daydream didn’t have the common opening lyrics of “I’m an alligator”…… To which I had to reply with the only idea I had, she MAY have the original Arnold Corns version. To say the least, it’s different. I bittorrented and found a copy of the original Arnold Corns demos. It flooded me with memories. And, it was exactly as I had explained. It has almost totally different lyrics. So, I was trying to figure some way to host the songs here when I stumbled upon a youtube edit some guy did with the original Moonage Daydream. I was flabbergasted. So, without further todo, here it is. Moonage Daydream as performed by Arnold Corns:
It’s so different, yet eerily the same. I love both versions!
Needless to say, after Bowie formed the Spiders, Ronno was no more. Freddi returned to the fashion industry as far as I cantell. I can’t find anything on the guy at this time. Not sure what his contribution was to creating Moonage Daydream, if any.
Tags: arnold corns, david bowie, freddie-buretti, hang-on-to-yourself, looking-for-a-friend, man-in-the-middle, mick ronson, mick-woodmansey, moonage daydream, ronno, rudi-valentino, Sound, star, trevor-bolder, Ziggy-Stardust
Ziggy Marley played guitar?
Posted by Moonage | Filed under The World Of David Bowie
I read something interesting this morning:
Ziggy Marley’s a Bowie fan? Now, I’m not so much incredulous that he likes Bowie’s music, but Ziggy Stardust? I mean, try to figure two more polar opposite musical genres than reggae and British glam. About the ONLY thing Bowie’s never done is reggae. For his 60th birthday present, I think it would be appropriate for Bowie to try something completely different. It’s definitely past-due for Bowie to team up with his namesake and cut us a remake of “Stir It Up”. ( Those are my versions linked ).
Here’s some Ziggy stuff, Marley that is:
And here, of course, is the original:
Tags: david bowie, The World Of David Bowie, ziggy-marley, Ziggy-Stardust
John, I’m Only Dancing
Posted by Moonage | Filed under Interpretations
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!
Tags: david bowie, Interpretations, john-im-only-dancing, mick-rock, Ziggy-Stardust
Ziggy Stardust
Posted by Moonage | Filed under Sound
No Bowie fanzine would be worthy of its bytes unless it had a tribute to the song that really kicked Bowie into hight gear. Although other songs that will be saluted here sold more, Ziggy was what set the stage for all the rest to make it. It put Bowie on the level of the various members of the Beatles, the Stones, Elton John, and the other great writers of the 70’s. From this point forward Bowie could pretty much do whatever he wanted musically. Ziggy shattered the bubblegum mystique that big stars had to be pretty, wholesome, sing well, or write songs about important issues. Ziggy was none of that. An ashen skinny kid with orange hair and dressing in curtains singing about questionable sexually oriented aliens and the end of the Earth. Yeah buddy, that’s gonna sell. Oh, and did we mention we’re gonna do mime during the show as well? If that don’t get it, we simulate homosexual felacio on guitars.
Well, to the surprise of everyone except probably Bowie, it did sell. All of a sudden, everyone was going over the top, the punks were accepted, Elton John came out of the closet, Bowie taunted John, Right when it was pretty much accepted that Bowie could do glam and hard rock forever, he ditched it for soul. Ziggy sold the world, and Bowie then set out to sell it again.
And possibly the second best remake, outside of my own, Bauhaus’s version:
Tags: david bowie, Sound, Ziggy-Stardust
Moonage Daydream
Posted by Moonage | Filed under Sound
Moonage Daydream was the song that would make Ziggy famous. Somehow it morphed from a funky folk ballad Bowie originally sang as Arnold Corns with Freddie Buretti. That version was a classic in itself, but to me, the Ziggy Moonage Daydream was the heaviest thing I’d ever heard. I don’t really know what Mick was doing to his quitar, sounds like he was playing along with synthesized strings, but his solo just went everywhere. It was the closest thing to rock mayhem Bowie would get on vinyl for a long, long, time. I’m not sure who convinced Bowie to let Mick loose for once, but it worked. They should have done it a lot more, Mick’s talent was rarely fully explored with Bowie. Moonage Daydream has always been my Bowie staple. Other songs come and go in my Top 10 list, but Moonage Daydream, both versions, have remained way up there on the list, usually #1.
Here’s my version, I like it. It’s one of my favorite remixes.
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If you want just the song, you can get it on Itunes |
September 25, 2006 UPDATE: Here’s Bowie’s best performance EVER of Moonage Daydream.
Tags: david bowie, mick ronson, moonage daydream, Sound, Ziggy-Stardust
