Today would have been his 72nd birthday - in two days time it will be three years since he passed away

I've chosen this song to start off what hopefully will be a good thread because he was one of my musical heroes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFHC6t13hi0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yep - 3 years has flown by. Remember hearing the news like it was yesterday.
Fell in love with his music when I was about 13 or 14 and still my favourite musician by a mile nearly 40 years later. Lucky enough to see him live twice - once in Cardiff and the first time at Milton Keynes Bowl which remains my favourite gig ever and will never be beaten.

Choosing my favourite song or album is hard as it changes depending on mood and there are of course so many great albums. Tend to usually default to Young Americans if pushed to choose one song
Enjoy :
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KSHY1_ux8rs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Modern Love is one of my favourites of his....also from Live Aid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLMUZahN7NU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Space Oddity. The first record I ever heard in true stereo. The countdown went left speaker, right speaker and I was stunned.
BTW this thread could end up longer than Adeola Friday. So many great tracks from a genius.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXSGocWifAg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Davy Jones and The King Bees, was it?

Jakubs Tash wrote:Modern Love is one of my favourites of his....also from Live Aid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLMUZahN7NU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I hear Bowie influences in work by Gary Numan, Tik and Tok and Robert Palmer.

I bought a handful of his albums a few years back, and if I'm honest, I found a number of them hard going. However, Heroes is a great album, I like Aladdin Sane and the Legacy compilation is excellent. The Bowie Now compilation is quite good too.

He did some unforgettable stuff.

I didn't make it to Bramhall Lane to see us beat Sheffield Utd 2-0 on our return to the big time in '73, but I sat up by the canal with 4 cans of Long Life (I think), 10 Park Drive, and this playing repeatedly on my sister's old cassette player.....just waiting for my pals to get back on the coach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fNGkzfrePM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

fatboy47 wrote:I didn't make it to Bramhall Lane to see us beat Sheffield Utd 2-0 on our return to the big time in '73, but I sat up by the canal with 4 cans of Long Life (I think), 10 Park Drive, and this playing repeatedly on my sister's old cassette player.....just waiting for my pals to get back on the coach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fNGkzfrePM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You missed a great performance

My all time hero growing up in the 70s nothing will ever come close to "The Bewley Brothers"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsYp9q3 ... dio=1&t=35" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My favourite live version of Heroes is Berlin 2002. With the song being written and recorded in the shadow of the Berlin Wall I think you get a special emotion in this live version. If anyone unaware, the lyrics...

"i can remember standing by the wall
& the guns shot over our heads,
we kissed as though nothing would fall"

was actually written when Bowie looked out of the window of Hansa Studio and saw Tony Visconti kissing one of the session singers next to the Berlin Wall.

The Bewley Brothers and Drive in Saturday are both 2 of my favourites....great great tracks.

Like I said its impossible to choose.....I remember being transfixed by the Diamond Dogs track from the same named album. This song has everything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36lWAcY9IXE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Moonage Daydream is another absolute classic that never gets old and such a great track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgXUjXpf0Q0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Even his cover songs were brilliant....Sorrow is such a great track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knXpG_hyunw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Right....all this is distracting me from working as I cannot help listening to the tracks !!

TVC15 wrote:The Bewley Brothers and Drive in Saturday are both 2 of my favourites....great great tracks.

Like I said its impossible to choose.....I remember being transfixed by the Diamond Dogs track from the same named album. This song has everything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36lWAcY9IXE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Moonage Daydream is another absolute classic that never gets old and such a great track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgXUjXpf0Q0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Even his cover songs were brilliant....Sorrow is such a great track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knXpG_hyunw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Right....all this is distracting me from working as I cannot help listening to the tracks !!

The great thing about The Bewley Brothers..no one really has a clue what it's about,even Bowie said it was a load on nonsense.

Pin ups is a fantastic covers album TVC 15

Forget these upstart pop wannabes, much more important is that today would have been The King's 83rd birthday: .Elvis Presley, the man, who started rock musiic, was born on this day in 1935.

hey TVC 15 ditto 'Milton Keynes Bowl which remains my favourite gig ever and will never be beaten' Loved the acoustic version of Space Oddity. Got in early, abandoned my friends and spent about three hours making my way to the front. Always been envious of your user- name. Favourite song (most of the time) is Wild is the Wind. Loads of fantastic albums including, the most recent two new stuff.
Remember on the fateful day driving to work listening to Radio 2 which was to be exclusively Bowie, and when I arrived spent all day just sitting in me car listening to the radio.
The Glastonbury 2000 CD is a good listen.

Quality tunes there...

Bowie was indeed genius.

Queen Bitch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5P63qGTm_g" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Happy Birthday David

https://youtu.be/6fHoMw8tCzo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

J_Grimshaw wrote:hey TVC 15 ditto 'Milton Keynes Bowl which remains my favourite gig ever and will never be beaten' Loved the acoustic version of Space Oddity. Got in early, abandoned my friends and spent about three hours making my way to the front. Always been envious of your user- name. Favourite song (most of the time) is Wild is the Wind. Loads of fantastic albums including, the most recent two new stuff.
Remember on the fateful day driving to work listening to Radio 2 which was to be exclusively Bowie, and when I arrived spent all day just sitting in me car listening to the radio.
The Glastonbury 2000 CD is a good listen.

Saturday 2nd July 1983.
I was only 16 and to be honest I cannot remember how I got down there...I went with a school mate who was also into Bowie. Presume it must have been train or bus. It was a scorching hot day and I am pretty sure it was my first gig. I remember people relieving themselves in the field and women baring all (well their top half anyway !!).

I had got into Bowie maybe 3 years before that and was buying at least an album a month for the first couple of years. Still got them all on vinyl - many of them on the original orange RCA Victor label so presumably worth a bit now. The stuff I really loved were his albums from early to mid 70s....Hunky Dory, Rise and Fall of ZS, Aladdin Sane, Diamond Dogs and Young Americans....also loved Station to Station. When he announced he was going on tour after bringing out the Lets Dance album in my mind that was going to be his last tour so there was no way I was going to miss it.
I've attached the set list.....I think it was seeing Young Americans live that made it my favourite track of his.
Always loved TVC15 and think Station to Station was really underrated. Was really glad when he played TVC15 as part of his Live Aid set as I am sure it meant that lots of people looked up the track and the album for the first time.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/david-bo ... 0a933.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In 1985 I went to see Tina Turner at the NEC in Birmingham as part of the Private Dancer Tour.
It turned out the night we had picked was being filmed for the Private Dance DVD and advertised on the ticket was a special guest. It turned into the best concert I have ever seen and the special guest performance was Bryan Adams who was brilliant. Near the end of the show Tina Turner thanked a long list of artistes who had helped her re-launch her career and finished by saying that she had done a duet with David Bowie called 'Tonight' and tonight we are all going to sing it together. Did she mean she was going to sing it with David Bowie or did she mean she was going to sing it with everyone in the areana. The song started with a long intro and Tina singing on her own and then Bowie appeared from the back of the stage to the loudest cheer I have heard since Robbie Blake shot hit the back of the net against Man United in the first home match in the Premier League.

Caused a kerfuffle on big brother
https://youtu.be/97pEKGNT0Xw

Devils_Advocate wrote:Caused a kerfuffle on big brother
https://youtu.be/97pEKGNT0Xw

Absolute comedy gold. You couldn't script that better..!

An early one from me.

https://youtu.be/A2XUN8_7-yg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I even still sport the same hairdo from this period

Devils_Advocate wrote:Caused a kerfuffle on big brother
https://youtu.be/97pEKGNT0Xw

Never seen that before - what a bunch of f-uckwitts. Angie Bowie was more off her head on drugs than David was in the mid 70s....she was bad news

Also released today was Blackstar.

After buying my house in New Mexico I had to go back to Virginia to get all the furniture. The day we were loading the truck was when he died. The trucks radio was terrible but I was able to plug my phone into the dash and get Spotify in areas where I could get internet. 3 1/2 days driving at 50 mph in the dark and the snow and sleet I must have listened to Blackstar fifty times. It was almost like he was in the truck with me even though I'd only ever been a "greatest hits" kind of fan.

Weird.

For those whose musical experiences metamorphosised in the 70's through the unadulterated freedom and exposure of raw musical talent it was an unworthy privilege to have witnessed the arrival of such a unique and musicaly creative individual and life would never be quite the same again. Thank you Mr Bowie.

Quicksand
David Bowie
I'm closer to the Golden Dawn
Immersed in Crowley's uniform
Of imagery
I'm living in a silent film
Portraying Himmler's sacred realm
Of dream reality
I'm frightened by the total goal
Drawing to the ragged hole
And I ain't got the power anymore
No, I ain't got the power anymore
I'm the twisted name on Garbo's eyes
Living proof of Churchill's lies, I'm destiny
I'm torn between the light and dark
Where others see their targets, divine symmetry
Should I kiss the viper's fang?
Or herald loud the death of Man
I'm sinking in the quicksand of my thought
And I ain't got the power anymore
Don't believe in yourself, don't deceive with belief
Knowledge comes with death's release
Aah-aah, aah-aah, aah-aah, aah-aah
I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man
Just a mortal with the potential of a superman
I'm living on
I'm tethered to the logic of Homo Sapien
Can't take my eyes from the great salvation
Of bullshit faith
If I don't explain what you ought to know
You can tell me all about it on the next Bardo
I'm sinking in the quicksand of my thought
And I ain't got the power anymore
Don't believe in yourself, don't deceive with belief
Knowledge comes with death's release
Aah-aah, aah-aah, aah-aah, aah-aah
Don't believe in yourself, don't deceive with belief
Knowledge comes with death's release
Aah-aah, aah-aah, aah-aah, aah-aah

one of the greats of modern music. so many hours i've enjoyed listening to his music especially the earlier stuff like Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and Hunky Dory.

fatboy47 wrote:I didn't make it to Bramhall Lane to see us beat Sheffield Utd 2-0 on our return to the big time in '73, but I sat up by the canal with 4 cans of Long Life (I think), 10 Park Drive, and this playing repeatedly on my sister's old cassette player.....just waiting for my pals to get back on the coach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fNGkzfrePM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Slightly off topic, apologies, but Long Life beer in cans, my first introduction to the sins of alcohol, used to nick the odd one from my dad's supply he kept in the garage at Christmas, can still recall it's metallic aftertaste.

Bowie 2019 7" singles to be released

https://www.davidbowie.com/blog/2019/1/ ... wie-tracks

Steve1956 wrote:The great thing about The Bewley Brothers..no one really has a clue what it's about,even Bowie said it was a load on nonsense.

Weren't they the producers of the album?

I was lucky enough to have seen Bowie 5 times, the last time in Tel Aviv supported by Massive Attack.
My music hero and I miss him!

Taffy on the wing wrote:Weren't they the producers of the album?

No - Bewlay Brothers was the name he gave to his publishing company but he got it from a pipe he was smoking called a Bewlay pipe.
It was not tobacco he was smoking in the pipe either !
He wrote the song partly about his relationship with his schizophrenic brother Terry....but given what he was smoking at the time the lyrics don’t really make much sense to him or anyone else !
Still a great track though

Vino blanco wrote:Forget these upstart pop wannabes, much more important is that today would have been The King's 83rd birthday: .Elvis Presley, the man, who started rock musiic, was born on this day in 1935.

84th actually, and no need to get into a bidding war on who's better, to be fair ... Dame Shirley Bassey's birthday also today !!

His set from Glastonbury 2000 has recently been released on DVD. I was fortunate enough to be in attendance aged 14...it was an unusual modern gig for Bowie, as he played all his old stuff He’d not played the festival since 1971

Had the greatest impact on me when he first appeared on TOTPs. Someone completely different and with bags of talent.

Great thread. Musical genius who understood how to cross genres.

Here’s Bowie in one of my favourite childhood films, Labyrinth.

https://youtu.be/VppuD1St8Ec" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

fatboy47 wrote:I didn't make it to Bramhall Lane to see us beat Sheffield Utd 2-0 on our return to the big time in '73, but I sat up by the canal with 4 cans of Long Life (I think), 10 Park Drive, and this playing repeatedly on my sister's old cassette player.....just waiting for my pals to get back on the coach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fNGkzfrePM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Always loved this.

Better Call Saul wrote:In 1985 I went to see Tina Turner at the NEC in Birmingham as part of the Private Dancer Tour.
It turned out the night we had picked was being filmed for the Private Dance DVD and advertised on the ticket was a special guest. It turned into the best concert I have ever seen and the special guest performance was Bryan Adams who was brilliant. Near the end of the show Tina Turner thanked a long list of artistes who had helped her re-launch her career and finished by saying that she had done a duet with David Bowie called 'Tonight' and tonight we are all going to sing it together. Did she mean she was going to sing it with David Bowie or did she mean she was going to sing it with everyone in the areana. The song started with a long intro and Tina singing on her own and then Bowie appeared from the back of the stage to the loudest cheer I have heard since Robbie Blake shot hit the back of the net against Man United in the first home match in the Premier League.

I was there that night. You can see the duet on this YouTube link but it’s hard to describe just how magical it was to be there.

https://youtu.be/p4WG_y7owmM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Clarets4me wrote:84th actually, and no need to get into a bidding war on who's better, to be fair ... Dame Shirley Bassey's birthday also today !!

It is Dame Shirley’s birthday. Was brought up listening to her (my mum) and Ella Fitzgerald (my dad). But your response was right following the Elvia post.

1.Teenage Wildlife .
2.John I'm only dancing
3.Absolute Beginners. ( great song, tosh movie)
4.Kooks
5.Five Years

Apologies if someone's posted this already and I've missed it. Berlin Trilogy for me, three fantastic albums:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRc2_-BCljQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sound and Vision - from Low

In addition to his own talent he single-handedly revived the careers of two of my all-time musical heroes Lou Reed and Iggy Pop

Saw him at Wembley in 1987 - Glass Spider tour supported by Big Country (similar thread recently in praise of the late, great Stuart Adamson). One of those live occasions that stays with you forever - absolute genius.

Genius - way, way ahead of his time.

https://youtu.be/THz5x0dS5fc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A total genius. Incredibly...considering some of the other drek I bought in the ensuing period...the first LP I ever owned was Ziggy Stardust and to this day it's one of my favourite albums ever. Five Years blows my mind as an opening track and then on from there...what an album !
His '70s output is absolutely incredible. Not personally a fan of his '80s "Let's Dance" era and the '90s were a bit mixed too for me but I've loved his stuff from Heathen onwards with The Next Day and Blackstar having him creative to the end.
Impossible to pick a top 5 but if I were pushed to list some real favourites I would go:
Changes
Life on Mars
Kooks
Five Years
Soul Love
Ziggy Stardust
Drive-In Saturday
Sorrow
Sound and Vision
Golden Years
Young Americans
Slip Away
Where Are We Now ?
You Feel So Lonely You Could Die
Lazarus

Sadly, sadly missed but this thread has moved me to listen to him tonight and I suspect I will be doing so for the next few days now.

Great version of five years especially for you Stalbans

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4bcnO3VQ_fc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cheers TVC15...hadn't seen that before and it's magnificent.
"It was cold and it rained so I felt like an actor"....love that line.
Never fails to give me the chills....."A cop knelt and kissed the feet of a priest and a queer threw up at the sight of that" is such a mad, apocalyptic image. In contrast to the unknowing girl in the ice cream parlour "smiling and waving and looking so fine" Fantastic and cinematic.

A lot of his songs were exactly as you described - “cinematic” and theatrical.
Time from Aladdin Sane is a perfect example.

I know I am a little bit biased but his music really was light years ahead of anything else at the time and tbh anything ever since.

Would have loved to see him live one more time just for old times sake and to really appreciate the greatness of the man. That said I am glad that I found his music at such a young age and have had 40 years of enjoying it.

TVC15 wrote:A lot of his songs were exactly as you described - “cinematic” and theatrical.
Time from Aladdin Sane is a perfect example.

Time - one of my favourite David Bowie songs.

He opened with it at the Glass Spider Tour which I saw at Maine Road.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7MNseyT0mk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I saw that tour at Cardiff Arms Park. The cheeky cockney blighter did not announce his Manchester gigs until after a group of us had already booked Cardiff including transport and hotels !
I remember one of the support acts was an absolutely awful punk type band - can’t remember their name but they did not go down well at all !

TVC15 wrote:I saw that tour at Cardiff Arms Park. The cheeky cockney blighter did not announce his Manchester gigs until after a group of us had already booked Cardiff including transport and hotels !
I remember there one of the support acts was an absolutely awful punk type band - can’t remember their name but they did not go down well at all !

Was 1986 when I went to Glass Spider and he had two support acts at Maine Road - Terrence Trent D'Arby and Alison Moyet.

Saw him again at Maine Road in 1990 (even missed a pre-season friendly against Coventry) and the support that night was a band I'd never, at the time, heard of. They were called James.

It was 1987 for Maine road and Cardiff arms park.
I was always jealous of the Maine road support acts as I liked them both.
Just looked up the one I went to and it was Screaming Blue Messiahs. The other support was Big Country who were very good.