In the spirit of recently launched big-name-artist career spanning song-by-song threads on SHF, the purpose of this thread is to discuss the music of David Robert Jones (i.e., David Bowie) on a song-by-song basis (hopefully this thread has not been done, at least not in recent years - I searched and didn't see one). I will be going through all the songs by David Bowie, one song per day, to include all principal album tracks, bonus material that was included on reissued releases, b-sides, non-album singles, demos, cover songs and other unique entries from the large number of compilations released over the decades. Each day I will post a song for discussion/comment. I will be rating songs on a 1-5 scale (5 is highest), and participants are encouraged to provide ratings as well, although rating songs is not required to participate. The primary thread objective is to visit in-depth the music of this legendary artist, whether you choose to post numerical ratings, simply provide comments and opinions, or just follow along without posting. Song/album ratings will be tallied and averaged each day. More specifics on what will be covered David Bowie’s catalog is considerable, and it’s not the intent to cover every sliver of music he ever recorded over the course of his career. That said, when it comes to running and/or participating in song-by-song threads, I favor completism as much as possible. For Bowie, my goal is to arrange the songs in roughly chronological order, by release date for the primary studio albums, and by recording date for the ancillary material. To this end, I will be relying primarily on Chris O’Leary’s double volume traversal of Bowie’s work, as it presents everything in chronological fashion. This will be cross referenced against Nicholas Pegg’s Complete David Bowie, The Illustrated David Bowie website, Bowie Bible website, and other sources, as applicable. While O’Leary’s tomes might have some holes requiring plugging, I think it will be plenty exhaustive for purposes of guiding the content of this thread. Here is my general intention regarding how his oeuvre will be structured for the thread: Primary albums – All of his primary studio albums will be covered in order of release date, along with Tin Machine I and II and Toy. To better align with the era in which it was recorded, Toy will be slotted in the 2000 time period, not its 2021 release date. Non-album singles and b-sides – generally covered chronologically by release date, though there may be exceptions. Live material – Given the large number of Bowie live recordings, select albums will be covered as one-day only entries. Individual live songs will, generally, not be covered (there may be a few exceptions), but concert performances of songs will be added as applicable links to supplement the discussion of the studio versions. Re-recordings – Generally, alternate and demo versions of released material will not be covered separately but will be linked alongside the principal studio track they relate to. However, re-recordings that represent a follow-up release of a previously released single or album track will generally be covered separately, unless they are relatively indistinguishable (e.g., the re-recordings on Toy will be covered separately; as will, for example, the multiple recordings of “Hang On To Yourself”, “The Prettiest Star” and “Cat People”). Remixes will generally not be given separate entries, but will be appended as supplementary links and can be discussed when the principal tracks are covered. Other “one-off” re-recording situations will be addressed as they arise. Generally, though, the intent is to cover every song just once, except as noted above. Bonus material/unreleased tracks/demos contained on deluxe editions/compilations/etc. - Bonus tracks appended to primary album reissues will, generally, be covered after discussion of that album’s primary tracks. Unreleased/unique songs released on compilations will be covered chronologically by recording date (e.g., a 60’s recording released on a 2010 compilation for the first time will be covered at the beginning of the thread when we’re going through the early years, so as not to create “era whiplash”). I’m sure I haven’t addressed all possible circumstances, but this will be a living thread and will adjust on the fly, as needed, to include feedback from thread participants. More guideline info. forthcoming...
Below are the albums to be covered, and that will be the “hubs” around which the thread will revolve. The approximate dates for the beginning of the discussions for albums through Aladdin Sane are listed; the schedule is still being constructed, so the remaining dates are TBD. Because this is a comprehensive career thread, we will be covering all the early singles and recordings, as well as the oft-derided debut album. Which means it will be about two months before we get to the Space Oddity era - what many might consider the beginning of the “good stuff”. For those that might choose to skip the early years, but otherwise want to participate in the thread once the big albums and songs start coming into view, hopefully these dates will be helpful. I personally think the early songs and demos are fascinating, and find the debut rather charming, but I have no idea how widely my enthusiasm for these is shared! David Bowie (s/t) (May 20, 2023) David Bowie (Space Oddity) (July 2, 2023) The Man Who Sold The World (July 17, 2023) Hunky Dory (August 8, 2023) The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (August 22, 2023) Aladdin Sane (September 9, 2023) Pinups Diamond Dogs Young Americans Station To Station Low “Heroes” Lodger Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) Let’s Dance Tonight Never Let Me Down Tin Machine I Tin Machine II Black Tie White Noise The Buddha Of Suburbia 1. Outside Earthling Hours Toy Heathen Reality The Next Day Blackstar
The following live/performance albums will be given one day of discussion each: Live Santa Monica ‘72 Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture Cracked Actor (Live In Los Angeles) David Live I’m Only Dancing (The Soul Tour 74) Live Nassau Coliseum ‘76 Stage VH1 Storytellers Glastonbury 2000 Bowie At The Beeb A Reality Tour ChangesNowBowie Brilliant Live Adventures Selected compilation packages may be covered at the end of the thread, I’m still uncertain how that will be presented.
I'm starting this thread because I am a big fan of David Bowie’s classic 1970s-early 80’s output and wanted to celebrate that era. However, I am largely unfamiliar with the bulk of his output post-Let’s Dance and wanted to use the thread to explore this huge period of his career and do a deep dive into the overall catalog with folks on SHF. I do not consider myself or hold myself out to be a Bowie expert by any stretch, and I strongly encourage participants to share their knowledge, experience and stories. I will do my homework, though, and try to make this as immersive a song-by-song experience into his catalog and career as I can. That said, the thread is not meant as an academic course on David Bowie, and those who are completely unfamiliar with Bowie’s catalog, or only know the popular songs, are absolutely welcome and encouraged to join in the discussion! The first song will be posted tomorrow morning U.S. Central Time, and subsequent daily songs will be posted in that time frame, usually between 6:00-10:00 a.m. CT each day. I look forward to the discussion!
There are many print and internet resources that provide biographical context on David Bowie, and trying to summarize or collate them into an essay here would not be fruitful. Here’s the link to his bio on Davidbowie.com, which provides the essentials on his life story and career: David Bowie biography
Will you be paying attention to projects like Transformer, The Idiot, Lust For Life and various guest appearances ? P.S. Don't forget the Baal ep
This thread will be focused on songs where Bowie is the principal artist, and not on songs where he is only producer/writer or supporting performer. Guest appearances are in scope if he could be considered a primary performer. So the projects you reference will not be specifically covered. That said, Iggy's version of "China Girl", for example, will be posted as a link to Bowie's single as supporting material when we arrive there. Additionally, while the primary thread topic is the songs, everyone is welcome to discuss side projects and the like, as these do provide significant context into his career.
For reference, here is the schedule of songs that will be covered leading up to the debut album: May 1 - "Liza Jane" (non-album single) May 2 - "Louie, Louie Go Home" (b-side to "Liza Jane") May 3 - "I Pity The Fool" (non-album single) May 4 - "Take My Tip" (b-side to "I Pity The Fool") May 5 - "That's Where My Heart Is" (unreleased) May 6 - "I Want My Baby Back" (unreleased) May 7 - "Bars Of The County Jail" (unreleased) May 8 - "You've Got A Habit Of Leaving" (non-album single) May 9 - "Baby Loves That Way" (b-side to "You've Got A Habit Of Leaving") May 10 - "I'll Follow You" (unreleased) May 11 - "Glad I've Got Nobody" (unreleased) May 12 - "Baby That's A Promise" (unreleased) May 13 - "Can't Help Thinking About Me" (non-album single) May 14 - "And I Say To Myself" (b-side to "Can't Help Thinking About Me") May 15 - "Do Anything You Say" (non-album single) May 16 - "Good Morning Girl" (b-side to "Do Anything You Say") May 17 - "I Dig Everything" (non-album single) May 18 - "I'm Not Losing Sleep" (b-side to "I Dig Everything") May 19 - "Over The Wall We Go" (unreleased) We will begin discussion of David Bowie (s/t) on Saturday, May 20.
I like that you've outlined a pacing of the albums that will enable people to participate, ruminate and not feel rushed.
Great idea and excellent timing, as I just bought the Laughing with Liza box of early singles that came out for Record Store Day this year!
Don't know a single one of these songs...but that's on me. Can only suggest you deal with Bowie on an album-by-album way with some specific discussion about a number of the songs otherwise the possibility of the thread stalling out is high. Or maybe not.
I've thought about this, and definitely appreciate what you're saying. We'll see how it goes. It's true that Bowie doesn't leap out of the gate fully formed like some artists, nor are there those one or two super-well-known tracks among the lesser-known early songs that might help drive thread momentum. That said, I'm not a big fan of album threads. They tend not to get enough into the depth of the catalog, and usually require longer essay-like posts for one to capture full thoughts on a record and its songs. Which tends to create TL;DR situations for participants trying to wade through posts. I started the thread with the realization that the first couple of months might be a dead zone, and that traffic may be minimal (or that I may even be talking to myself). That's fine, once the early songs are covered, the albums and songs start becoming monumental in a hurry, and I think there's a good chance that activity will pick up. If not, I may re-think the approach. If we get to Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust and no one is posting, then there will certainly be a re-evaluation, and, possibly, a pulling of the plug. This will be a lengthy project, and I'm in it for the long haul. That said, I'm definitely always open to ongoing feedback!
Hey, this looks super interesting. I've always thought that I should know more David Bowie (other than the singles) and this may be a way forward. Unfortunately I don't think I can tune in consistently for the next little bit but will drop in from time to time...as I do want to become better acquainted with the discography. Many thanks @prymel for your willingness to take on such a huge task!
Welcome, I look forward to you stopping by when you're able! Bowie's song discography is definitely vast, but his output is incredibly well documented in print, on the web and in Youtube links, so a Bowie song thread is not nearly as imposing, onerous or time consuming as it might seem on the surface. Well, except for the couple of years it will take to complete it, but I think doing this is fun!
Thank you - I know how much work it is to run even a modest thread, so your few years of commitment are duly noted! Side note: my sister is a huge Bowie fan so I'm hoping to catch up her vast amount of knowledge...
I am a total novice to David Bowie (know nothing but the hits), I will try to contribute to this when I can as I would love to see what all the fuss is about. Thanks for making the thread and good luck!
Great idea and I’ll definitely participate. For the list of live albums there is a 1971 set that was released last year as part of the Hunky Dory SDE “Divine Symmetry” . It would be good to include that. There are also the well known In Concert BBC recordings that predate 1972 of course that have appeared officially a couple of times. There are also demos of unreleased songs that I believe are not in the Pegg book that even he wasn’t aware of and which have gained an official release on Conversation Piece since his most recent edition was published. The earliest of these I think hail from late 1967 into 1968 so if unaware of the details there is time to assimilate these.
You probably don't have to worry about this thread taking off. One thing I find interesting is that you've been here for two years, yet I've never seen you post in any of the many Bowie threads here. And now you're diving in really deep, like with the Squeeze thread. How does that work/come about ? I'm seriously curious (not criticizing). Would be really nice if this makes it to the end. There was a Bowie album by album thread around seven years ago that was album focused and moved along quicker than reviewing every song in detail. Fingers crossed.
I’ve got everything laid out up to Pinups, including some earlier, previously unreleased demos that are only cursorily mentioned in O’Leary and not in Pegg, so we may be thinking of the same ones. When we get there, if it looks like they’re not getting covered (I’ll be regularly letting the thread know what’s upcoming), definitely let me know, I’m happy to add songs and adjust as necessary. For other live albums, I can add these as a second daily entry when we get there.
I post mostly in song by song threads for artists I enjoy, not so much other ones. As long as I draw breath, and don’t encounter any serious personal or family emergencies, we’ll make it to the end. I enjoy doing these.
