Well, actually, I think it is. So I'll just link to it instead. Gutless weasel that I am.
I should add that, upon re-reading the thing, although I still detest the Pin Ups album simply as music, I have moderated my view of Bowie's conceptual reason for making it, and of Bowie's stature as an artist generally.
That said, I stand by every nasty word I said about Bryan Ferry in the post, and not just because he doesn't get any sympathy from me for not being dead.
Incidentally, if you go to the link above, you'll find a) another link to a ZIP file of the original versions of all the songs Bowie covered on Pin Ups. Plus an audio clip of The Mersey's wonderful hit version of "Sorrow."
13 comments:
Oh my. You woke up on the wrong side of the bed the morning you wrote that.
Ya think?
:-)
Um, yeah...too soon.
Not my favorite Bowie album, but since I was 17 when it came out, it served me well in pointing me to the originals...although I had "Ummagumma" by then (hey-drug years), I wasn't hip to Syd's Pink Floyd
and wound up getting the twofer "A Nice Pair" shortly thereafter and threw "Ummagumma" away. (Although I'm in agreement about his version of "Let's Spend The Night Together" on Aladdin Sane...he took every last bit of soul out of the song.)
Re: Ferry–yeah, "These Foolish Things" was sucky, but I loved Roxy and bought Ferry's 2nd solo, and still blast the fuck out of his version of "The In Crowd" regularly. Spedding rocks *hard* on that.
And there were far worse Bowie albums, but right now and for quite some time to come, I'm not going to think about 'em. Just the innovator who jumped from persona to persona, making some lovely stuff along the way.
Not everything has to be powerpop, much as I like most of it. There's a shiteload of powercrap, too.
Correction: meant to write "Not everything has to be powerpop, much as I like some of it."
Seth McFarlane makes an Abraham Lincoln joke at the Oscars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qBA7Tp5MGw
"150 years later and it's still too soon?"
IMHO, Seth MacFarlane's way full of himself, and wasn't invited back to host for that reason, among others. Apologies, cuz I can tell that you must be a fan via your avatar, but I work in the toon industry, where most right-thinking folk feel the same way. And "American Dad"? Really? (That said, The Simpsons haven't been worth a damn since series 5 either. Looking forward to the Netflix show that Groening's doing, though.)
Ukk. Look, I'm still grieving Bowie and will shut up now, except to add a sad RIP to Dale "Buffin" Griffin, killed by that bastard Alzheimer's. And a half-hearted RIP to Glenn Frey, because I never liked the Eagles.
I understand that my sense of humor is an acquired taste, but in all honesty, I would have felt like a hypocrite if I hadn't said something negative about Bowie. I mean, it's not like my lack of appreciation for him over the centuries was a secret or anything.
In any case, by all accounts he was a nice guy in his personal life, and it is not my intention to pee on anybody's fruit loops if they are saddened by his passing.
I like Bowie's "Sorrow" better than the Merseys, which nobody heard of anyway. High point of a mediocre LP which could have been much better. Instead it's Anthony Newley doing beat group music. The production is also lackluster. It should have been a ballbuster. But...at least there was that Midnight Special to help us forget about it.
Another crystal clear memory: Was driving around with a guy named Mike in his blue metal-flake van through Chino, which was a pretty one-horse town back then. Lots of farmers and such. Mike had a violent reputation. He got a rush out of fighting. The adrenaline. Not abusive to women, just a brawler. And crazily self-destructive. But he could fuck you bow-legged.
We were drinking Everclear and chasing it with Mickey's. He wasn't too cultured and was listening to a Top 40 FM station of the day called KKDJ (which evolved into KIIS-FM). But in late 1973, Top 40 wasn't too bad. I distinctly remember "Helen Wheels," followed by "Sorrow" followed by "All the Way From Memphis." During the Mott song, we pulled up at a red light next to a black and white. Mike polished off the quart of Mickey's and smashed the bottle onto the street next to the cop car saying "Fuck you pig!"
Guess what happened next? And he had an ounce of weed too. On the plus side, I got to drive his van around for the next four days. I listened to a different station and put it to good use.
VR
P.S. Re: Frey - Not too cool to like The Eagles. Hey, I'm a girl and from California. It's fucking required. As necessary to Sundance and the River in the 1970's, as Creedence was in the late 1960's. Great craftsmen.
Buffin lost his child-like dreams. :-(
not too soon. think bowie would enjoy
In my haste, I forgot to mention that, the night Mike got arrested, he got in a scuffle with the cop. Not so bright. He could be such a dip shit. Later, to teach him a lesson, a group of cops knocked the shit out of him when he was in the holding cell.
We had a great day up until that time. Disneyland in the daytime and a Beach Boys concert afterwards. We were on our way from Anaheim to Tina's boyfriend's place in Chino to watch Bowie on The Midnight Special. The cop was nice to me and let me slide. I played him perfectly.
I made it to Tina's in time for the 1980 Floor Show. Fridays were great back then, late nights with good friends and "ABC In Concert" and/or "Midnight Special".
Mike, who lived dangerously, never made it to his 25th birthday. But it was an unbelievable freak (almost humorous) accident that killed him, not his insane lifestyle. I saved his life a couple of times, but nothing could have saved him from what killed him.
VR - City girls just seem to find out early, how to open doors with just a smile ....
perfidious jew. . . .
The second best Bowie album after Ziggy for me. Ronsons full blast Les Paul really makes it for me. Bought this the week it came out. Essence of glam in a lot of ways.
One man's meat etc. This is my second fav. Bowie album after Ziggy. I prefer every song on here to the original. I bought this the week it came out and think it us an under rated masterpiece!
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