Top of the TSMM's! David Bowie Edition

 Not so catchy a title as Top of the Pops...

FACT: There is no one cooler than Bowie in '77.

I love that Bowie is an artist that accompanies a person across many ages, experiences, and tastes. The first Bowie album I fell in love with was Hunky Dory ("She's a queen, such a queen!"), traveled alongside Young Americans to Low and Heroes, and I'm currently into Lodger in a big way; yet more albums await thorough obsession!

It was a sweet experience, in my History of Rock class last year, to realize that Bowie is still shocking. His androgyny remains threatening in its liberation, and unlike artists who these days contrive to shock, David Bowie always had soul; his music endures because it has emotional range.

So much music I love, Punk and New Wave, just wouldn't have happened without this guy....everybody since owes him.

Without further ado, some of my favorites:

"Sound and Vision" from Low

This song makes me dance and sing every time I hear it...I even do vocal keyboard imitations.

I love the joyfulness of the song, and the declaration of artistic intent. 

"Weeping Wall" from Low side 2

This song knocks me out- haunting, filled with yearning. 

 "Red Sails" from Lodger

I love the feeling of barely controlled chaos in this song, and that it feels like a sonic ocean journey. My favorite part is this lyric near the end:

The hinterland, the hinterland
We're gonna sail to the hinterland
And it's far far, far far far, far far far away
Its a far far, far far far fa da da da-da da

"John, I'm Only Dancing"

Apparently this one was too racy for US markets. Love the dissonance of the chorus.

Bowie looks great in this video! It also includes spectacularly weird dancer/alien/people/? things.

"Be My Wife" from Low 

Did I mention Low  is my favorite Bowie album?

Sometimes you get so lonely
Sometimes you get nowhere

 Yes, so the solution is getting married!! ;)

But on a more serious note, it's really cool that Bowie is exploring the loneliness that probably led to his drug use. He had just gotten clean before he made this album, and I think that's one of the reasons it IS such a GREAT album.

"Andy Warhol" from Hunky Dory

Yo, Adrienne, this one's for you! :)  <3

"Queen B****" from Hunky Dory

To quote Ryan, "Not just anyone can rock a blue guitar!"





And finally, in one of his most pleasingly desperate vocals, and a fantastic video:

"Heroes" from Heroes

Pulling the Pin

Kate Bush is on my mind due to the exciting news that several of her albums are being remastered (The Sensual World and The Red Shoes), and she is revisiting songs from those albums to create what she's calling The Director's Cut.

The other thing on my mind tonight is the United States military engagement in Libya. Yes, I want the people of Libya to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi...but I can't find it in me to feel optimistic about the US getting involved, especially in the midst of the education/public services funding crisis happening in the United States. I'm flashing back to 2003 when the US bombed Iraq...(eight years ago!!)...

Kate Bush, as it happens, is fairly prolific in her anti-war songwriting. I pulled the three most relevant of those songs to share with you. They are fantastic, affecting songs.

The first of those three is "Army Dreamers," and since it was a single, you might be familiar with it. It's a quiet song sung from a mother's perspective as the body of her son is returned home to England. There are so many things her son could've done, but never got the chance. It seems that the army may have been the only viable option for him.

...He never even made it to his twenties

What a waste  --

Army dreamers

The song is in waltz time, which is interesting, and beneath the guitar-plucks and clicking (of a camera?) you can hear a man yelling what sound like orders. There are also male voices layered beneath Kate's vocal.

Within the context of the video, I think Kate might be portraying the mother imagining herself in her son's shoes, or at least with him in the battlefield. 

Click on song titles for links to lyrics.

"Army Dreamers" (from Never for Ever)





"Pull Out the Pin" (from The Dreaming)

This song...whew...this song is as good as anything anyone's ever done. You'll want to check out the lyrics for yourself (if you follow the link embedded in the song title above, you'll see a great piece of analysis below the lyrics by Theresa_Gionoffrio). 

Essentially, this is a Vietnam War song sung from the perspective of a Viet Cong male. 

The part of the song that effects me most, that has often brought tears to my eyes, is in the chorus.

Just one thing in it,
Me or him and I love life
I love life
I love life

You know it's bad, when loving life means you're willing to destroy the life of someone else. Her vocal...says it ALL.

"Breathing" (from Never for Ever) This song was also a single.

"Breathing" references nuclear bombing, and a lot of people think it's about a child's reaction to that reality from within the womb. In fact, the womb is a metaphor for the bigger picture of our relationship with the earth, our dependence on it, and our interconnectedness with each other. When something terrible is carried out somewhere in the world, everyone is affected.

After the blast,
Chips of Plutonium are twinkling in every lung.
I love my beloved,
All and everywhere

And there's no escape from what others do to this world, to us, because we all have to keep breathing.

Only the fools blew it,
You and me knew life itself is Breathing.

Finally, I'd like to leave you with one of my favorite poems of all time.

The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner
by Randall Jarrell

 

From my mother's sleep I fell into the State, 
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze. 
Six miles from earth, loosed from the dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.

Backsides Only

My jaw is hanging open right now....this is Webster's definition of a B-side:

B-side
noun
the less important side of a pop single record.

Uh, to quote Depeche Mode, WRONG ! Every single lovin' kid since Elvis' cover of "Hound Dog" knows that the "b" stands for buried treasure!

I've got two fistfuls of b-sides here for your listening enjoyment.

These are songs I've listened to obsessively because they are every bit as good as an A-side. ¡No te preocupes! I've limited myself to one per artist, so this isn't just a page full of PJ Harvey, Tori Amos, and Smiths b-sides, although it rightfully could be. In no particular order...

"Orpheus," Grant Lee Buffalo single Mockingbirds, from the album Mighty Joe Moon

This is an incredible song, musically and lyrically. There's a melancholy and menace here that has something to do with starlight and the American plains...this is an American band...more so than any other I've heard.

"Carry Us All," the Oasis single Sunday Morning Call, from the album Standing on the Shoulder of Giants

One of the wonderful things about being a Yankee that loves British music (should I say EngRock?) is that I don't have to take sides in the Blur/Oasis love match (to the death!). I can quite jump in on the intense Noel worshiping. And though Liam is hilarious, and a great stand-up comic who plays a mean dumb-arse, Noel is ultimately the better, more heartfelt singer. I also relate to Noel's working-class idealism, and find his faith in humanity touching.

Be forewarned, there are more pictures of Noel in this video than you ever wanted to see.

"Take to the Sky," Tori Amos single Winter, from the album Little Earthquakes 

This song was really good to me and became one of my anthems when I was first realizing the position the world puts women in. If life was a musical, I'd hope for a rousing, pint-raising, stool-spinning rendition of this song in the local pub. This song is simply meant to be sung along to.

"Love in a Void," Siouxsie and the Banshees single Mittageisen.

One of Sioux's earliest lyrics. I find this absolutely irresistible. I love Siouxsie's voice, every growl, rumble, and shriek. She's a great and underrated singer.  The version below is a Peel session recording from 11/29/77.

"Sands of Time," the Cut Copy single Far Away, from the album In Ghost Colours

This is the only new track released as a b-side from this album; the rest of the b-sides are remixes.

One of the great things about this album are the lows that provide the foundation for the dance-tastic-ness that ensues. Give this song a minute to get your feet moving.

Also, the sand/art process here is pretty interesting.

"Piss Factory," Patti Smith's single, Hey Joe 

You want punk? Patti DIY'd this in 1974. It doesn't get more punk than this.

Warning: explicit content...not for the faint of heart, or the sensitive of ear.

"Pencils in the Wind," Flight of the Conchords. Another Record Store Day vinyl-only release of AWESOME!

I love that amidst their silliness, FOTC really are aficionados of music, and do the soul style with zeal and skill. Also, teachers, this is a great way to teach similes and metaphors!

"Memphis," PJ Harvey's single Good Fortune, from the album Stories From the City, Stories from the Sea.

You may have already read my entry about Jeff Buckley and his album, Grace...this song is about him.

All of PJ's singles are great (and the gal's got a lot of them), but this one hits me like a knockout punch when I hear it. I know I use religious terms to describe my most intense musical liaisons, and this one's right in the mix. When I hear this song, I feel the spirit and hear the voice of Jeff Buckley in there. He is palpably present. Exquisite.

"Luminous Times (Hold on to Love)," from U2's single With or Without, from the album The Joshua Tree

Bono does a great job of landing on lyrics by just singing along to a melody. Hear here an unfinished song from the studio. Brian Eno, shame on you for not finding time to finish this gem!

"Hold on to love
Hold on to love
Love won't let you go
Hold on to love
Hold on to love
She the sunlight in her song
See the sunlight in her soul"

"Wonderful Woman," The Smiths' single This Charming Man, from the album Hatful of Hollow (and later the American release of the debut album)

There's not much to say (about this song) that hasn't already been said...so I'll say nothing at all...

It's almost enough to convert the hardest of hearts.