bowie

Get This Guy a Guitar Strap, but First Let’s Talk About Bowie’s Choruses

Feb 242011

Bowie makes the effort to don an eyepatch, but no one thinks to pack a guitar strap for this promo shoot? Was this guy’s priorities straight, or is this an awkward attempt at holstering?

More importantly, though, I’ve been meaning to ask if anyone else too often feels let down by David Bowie’s choruses? Clearly he’s got nearly 30 winning choruses to his credit, including this one, but I wonder how many more Bowie songs I’d like if he didn’t climb up to the dramatic heights he so often attempts to climb. I thought of this a couple of weeks ago, while listening to The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. I was digging the verses on “Starman,” as I always do, then feeling like I was getting my chain yanked during the long, sweeping choruses, also as I always do. It sounds like an advertising jingle until that great guitar riff gets the song set up for the next verse.

“Soul Love” is another song from that album with a chorus that seems to try too hard. Station to Station, with one of my favorite Bowie songs, “TVC15,” is loaded with overblown choruses. Don’t get me wrong: I’m well aware that writing a great chorus one of the hardest things to do in songwriting, but there are times I wish Bowie would keep it simple. Following, however, is a cool performance I’d never seen before of a song of his that I think nails his goal of a grandiose, climbing chorus: Continue reading »

Putting One’s Rock ‘n Roll House in Order

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Feb 082011

I saw a recent cover of Rolling Stone magazine featuring an interview with Elton John. “Elton Remembers,” reads the cover copy, as the formerly flamboyant Glam star soberly stares out at me with his million dollar weave and horn-rimmed glasses as humble as those he wore during his 1970 tour introductory tour of America. I have not yet read this article, but I’m pretty sure I know what it’s going to focus on: the continuing process of John putting his rock ‘n roll house in order.

Artists Who Have Dabbled in Production for Other Artists

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Jan 282011

Mick Jones not included.

Excluding self-produced albums, what established artists who have dabbled in producing records for other artists most interest you? And I put an emphasis on dabbled to rule out established artists who are also established producers, like Steve Albini and Brian Eno.

For instance, I wish I could hear a few more albums produced by Elvis Costello, who somehow made both clear and extremely simple the clutter of The Specials‘ debut. He also produced the only (in my opinion) fully enjoyable Squeeze album, East Side Story, which was engineered by Friend of the Hall Roger Bechirian.

Andy Partridge is another artist I’d like to hear produce a few more albums. I’m a big fan of his work on Peter Blegvad‘s The Naked Shakespeare and Martin Newell‘s The Greatest Living Englishman. I wish he’d have taken the reins on his own band’s albums beginning with Skylarking, but that may have eliminated him from this discussion.

As far as I know Ray Davies only produced one album for another artist, The Turtles‘ Soup album. That’s a winner, but considering Kinks albums are typically no great shakes in terms of conventional recording techniques I’m not sure Davies had that much else to offer.

David Bowie has proven himself a pretty lousy producer, or at least a less-than-satisfying one, in his work with others. I’m not saying the bass-heavy version of Raw Power rectified the shortcomings of the original mix, but it’s still hard for me to fully enjoy that album. His production work on the biggest-selling singles by both Mott the Hoople and Lou Reed is amazing, but I’m not a big fan of his work overall on their albums.

Which artists do you wish you could hear more—or less—of in the producer’s chair?

David Bowie’s “Blue Jean” Is as Good as Anything on Low

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Aug 272008

Some of you are aware of my longtime struggles with the works of David Bowie. I’ve come a long way, but there are still issues to explore.

Recently I was discussing the artist with a friend. He’s a longtime Bowie lover–with limits. Although we’ve been generally like-minded music friends for years, we were a bit surprised to realize that, after accounting for his limits in loving this artist, we had essentially the same views on the man, for instance, agreeing that The Man Who Sold the World and Diamond Dogs pretty much sucked and that Let’s Dance was worthy of Rock Crimes.

As part of the discussion on Let’s Dance, we candidly acknowledged the superiority of “Blue Jean”, which was considered a weak lead-off single from Tonight, Bowie’s disappointing follow-up album to his mainstream blockbuster, to anything on Let’s Dance. Then, as is often when the two of us get together, our deep rock discussion on Bowie turned especially candid.
Continue reading »

Mr. Mod Releases the List of 30 Bowie Songs He Loves

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Nov 292007

It’s long been known that I’ve had trouble warming up to David Bowie despite loving 30 of his songs. That’s probably more songs than I love by a bands like The Rascals and The Turtles, both of whom I’m quick to defend at “underrated.” It’s less songs than I love by Iggy Pop, whose music with The Stooges I can say “I love,” excluding half of the Bowie-produced Raw Power, of course.

What I’ve kept to myself all these years is the list of 30 Bowie songs that I love. Today, at the request of Townsman Alexmagic, I am coming forth with this list. Thank you, Alexmagic, for encouraging me to publish these long-held secrets. Already I feel a weight lifting from my soul.

Rock Crimes

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Jan 152007

Rock ‘n roll is rife with ambitious failures and outright flops, and the marketplace has its way of dealing with artists who produce such works. One of the things we keep watch over at Rock Town Hall is Rock Crimes. In some cases, Rock Crimes are bitterly debated, but every effort must be made to guard against their spread, even at the risk of unfairly bringing charges against an otherwise fine and groundbreaking artist for inspiring countless bad imitators. Rock Crimes can be committed in the form of songs, live performances, videos, or even stage dress or cover art. Typically, they are the work of critically acclaimed, influential artists. Recently voted, ROCK CRIME OF THE CENTURY by our good townspeople is the 1985 video for Ja-Bo’s (Mick Jagger and David Bowie’s) cover of “Dancing in the Street”. Over the course of the video, the duo manage to offend and betray all sense of cool rock decorum, from the first ass-kissing geographical shoutouts and Jagger’s matching Day-Glo green sneaks and blouse to both men’s Zuba pants and Bowie’s longcoat – not to mention dance moves out of a Dr. Pepper ad and the gated drums necessary for any generic attempt at cashing in on Live Aid. All that was cool about Jagger and Bowie headed straight for the dumper; to this day, their greatest works are tarnished by memories of this collaboration. You will find that many Rock Crimes are self-directed, and you may ask, “What’s the big deal?” Listen, we need a few artists to remain larger than life. It’s part of what fueled the genre in the first place. The more time you spend in the Halls of Rock, the more you will become aware of the Rock Crimes around us. We trust that you will do your part in bringing these possible crimes to our attention.

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