David Bowie: Discography

Time to move on I think..... 1973 was a big year for Bowie release wise heres another one that came out in 1973


Alladin Sane 1973 RCA Records

Track Listing:

1. "Watch That Man" New York – 4:25
2. "Aladdin Sane (1913-1938-197?)" RHMS Ellinis – 5:06
3. "Drive-In Saturday" Seattle–Phoenix – 4:29
4. "Panic in Detroit" Detroit – 4:25
5. "Cracked Actor" Los Angeles – 2:56
6. "Time" New Orleans – 5:09
7. "The Prettiest Star" Gloucester Road – 3:26
8. "Let's Spend the Night Together" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 3:03
9. "The Jean Genie" Detroit and New York – 4:02
10. "Lady Grinning Soul" London – 3:46

The name of the album is a pun on "A Lad Insane". An early variation was "Love Aladdin Vein", which Bowie dropped partly because of its drug connotations. Although technically a new Bowie 'character', Aladdin Sane was essentially a development of Ziggy Stardust in his appearance and persona, as evidenced on the cover by Brian Duffy and in Bowie’s live performances throughout 1973 that culminated in Ziggy’s ‘retirement’ at the Hammersmith Odeon in July of that year. Moreover there was not the thematic flow on this album that was present on its predecessor.

Bowie himself described Aladdin Sane as simply "Ziggy goes to America", most of the tracks being observations he composed on the road during his 1972 U.S. tour – the reason for the place names following each song title on the original record sleeve. Biographer Christopher Sandford believed the album showed that Bowie "was simultaneously appalled and fixated by America".

Two hit singles that would be included on the album preceded its release, "The Jean Genie" and "Drive-In Saturday". The former (recorded at RCA's New York studios during the first leg of Bowie's American tour in late 1972) was a heavy R&B chug with lyrics loosely based on Iggy Pop,[15] the latter a futuristic doo-wop number describing a time when the population has to relearn sex by watching old porn movies."Time" was later issued as a single in the U.S. and Japan, and "Let's Spend the Night Together" in the U.S. and Europe. In 1974, Lulu released a version of "Watch That Man" as the B-side to her single "The Man Who Sold the World", produced by Bowie and Mick Ronson.

In 2003, a 2-disc version was released by EMI/Virgin. The second in a series of 30th Anniversary 2CD Editions, as with the Ziggy Stardust 2-disc set, this release includes a remastered version of the first disc. The second disc contains ten tracks, a few of which had been previously released on CD as bonus tracks of the 1990-92 reissues.

30th Anniversery Bonus Disk

1. "John, I'm Only Dancing" ('sax' version) – 2:45
2. "The Jean Genie" (single mix for single A-side, 1972) – 4:07
3. "Time" (edit for single A-Side, 1973) – 3:43
4. "All the Young Dudes" (mono mix) – 4:12
5. "Changes" (Live) Boston Music Hall, 1 October 1972 (1972-10-01) – 3:20
6. "The Supermen" (Live) Boston Music Hall, 1 October 1972 (1972-10-01) – 2:42
7. "Life on Mars?" (Live) Boston Music Hall, 1 October 1972 (1972-10-01) – 3:25
8. "John, I'm Only Dancing" (Live) Boston Music Hall, 1 October 1972 (1972-10-01) – 2:40
9. "The Jean Genie" (Live) Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 20 October 1972 (1972-10-20) – 4:10
10. "Drive-In Saturday" (Live) Cleveland Public Auditorium, 25 November 1972 (1972-11-25) – 4:53

When I first got this CD I was disappointed in it, for me at the time it did not "Pop" like Ziggy had. Though I had put the album down and then picked it back up and had a whole new appreciation for this album, some of the songs really have a Hard Rock sound at least in my opinion like "Watch That Man" but theres some good songs on this album. Definitely one of the heavier Bowie releases


Panic In Detriot


Drive In Saturday


Cracked Actor


Watch That Man

Panic In Detroit really shows off Ronson's guitar, I wish he'd done more like it with Bowie. Ziggy gets all the acclaim but I don't know if this isn't the better release.

Another winner from David Bowie, not as diverse musically speaking as 'Ziggy Stardust' but a little more harder edged and makes me think Bowie was listening to heavier bands that might influenced his songwriting or maybe he just gave Mick Ronson a freer hand in helping arrange the material.

'Cracked Actor' is one of my favorite David Bowie tunes, the lyrics were he plays an overhill actor who knows he is 50 but he just wants her sex, great great stuff, and the song reminds me a little bit of T.Rex.

His cover of the Stones 'Let's Spend the Night Together' is also good, simply because it sounds like a garage band playing and no pretense to anything fancy just plug in and go.

'Drive In Saturday Night' another great song and the Lou Reed influenced 'Watch that Man' is another killer tune and I am not surprised that it sounds like a Lou Reed tune since he had just produced Lou Reed's commerical break thru album ' Transformer'

Overall excellent album and if you are new to Bowie not a bad place to begin.

I agree about not being a bad place to begin. Even being the fan I am, I recently had gotten a new appreciation for this album its a definitly more hard rock edge. Maybe even could call it the Hard Rock of Ziggy Stardust, where as Ziggy was more or less a Pop album I kinda see them as different sides of the same coin.

I've always liked "Genie" and "Panic". I should get this one and ziggy, as well.

I have the 30th Anniversery edition of Alladin Sane

I think I got my copy through BMG when it was BMG

Also in 1973 there was the In the Beginning Vol 2 and Best Deluxe, however I could not find any information on these two releases. So Im gonna move right along......


Pin-Ups 1973 RCA Records

Track Listing:

1. "Rosalyn" (Originally recorded by The Pretty Things) Jimmy Duncan, Bill Farley 2:27
2. "Here Comes the Night" (Originally recorded by Them) Bert Berns 3:09
3. "I Wish You Would" (Originally recorded by The Yardbirds) Billy Boy Arnold 2:40
4. "See Emily Play" (Originally recorded by Pink Floyd) Syd Barrett 4:03
5. "Everything's Alright" (Originally recorded by The Mojos) Nicky Crouch, John Konrad, Simon Stavely, Stuart James, Keith Karlson 2:26
6. "I Can't Explain" (Originally recorded by The Who) Pete Townshend 2:07
7. "Friday on My Mind" (Originally recorded by The Easybeats) George Young, Harry Vanda 3:18
8. "Sorrow" (Originally recorded by The Merseys (The McCoys)) Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein, Richard Gottehrer 2:48
9. "Don't Bring Me Down" (Originally recorded by The Pretty Things) Johnny Dee 2:01
10. "Shapes of Things" (Originally recorded by The Yardbirds) Paul Samwell-Smith, Jim McCarty, Keith Relf 2:47
11. "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" (Originally recorded by the The Who) Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey 3:04
12. "Where Have All the Good Times Gone" (Originally recorded by The Kinks) Ray Davies 2:35


It was his last studio album with the bulk of 'The Spiders From Mars', his backing band throughout his Ziggy Stardust phase; Mick Woodmansey was replaced on drums by Aynsley Dunbar.

Pin Ups entered the UK chart on November 3, 1973 (1973-11-03) (coincidentally the same day as Bryan Ferry's covers album These Foolish Things) and stayed there for 21 weeks, peaking at #1. It re-entered the chart on 30 April 1983 (1983-04-30), this time for 15 weeks, peaking at #57. In July 1990 (1990-07) it again entered the chart, for one week, at #52.

A version of The Velvet Underground's "White Light/White Heat" was recorded during the sessions. It was never released; Bowie donated the backing track to Mick Ronson for his 1975 album Play Don't Worry.

The woman on the cover with Bowie is 1960s supermodel Twiggy.


Rosalyn


See Emily Play


Where Have All The Good Times Gone

This is a fun album meant to not only show off David Bowie's roots but also to buy him a little breathing room so he wrote and recorded a number a songs during a very productive period but brief period.

Surprisingly the arrangements are not that different from the original versions and Bowie version of 'See Emily Play' much to Bowie's credit (and I suppose songwriter Syd Barrett) plays up to the song's strengths and that is especially surprising to me, when the song is removed from the Pink Floyd context, history, it works.

Overall a fun disc seen more like a artist taking a vacation from his own muse and simply enjoying retracing his own roots.

I believe and i could be wrong that he started recording this album during the Ziggy days

Addy wrote:

Ok gonna move right along here......




Space Oddity - 1969

Track Listing:

1. "Space Oddity" – 5:15
2. "Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed" – 6:55
3. "(Don't Sit Down)" * – 0:39
4. "Letter to Hermione" – 2:28
5. "Cygnet Committee" – 9:33
6. "Janine" – 3:18
7. "An Occasional Dream" – 2:51
8. "Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud" – 4:45
9. "God Knows I'm Good" – 3:13
10. "Memory of a Free Festival" – 7:05

Originally released in 1969, Space Oddity is considered by alot of critics as David Bowie's "First Proper" Album, The title track written inspired by one of my all time favorite movies 2001 A Space Odyssey, it also introduces the character of Major Tom, some critics believe this is a metaphor for Heroin use as Bowie had used Heroin in 1968 and his 1980's hit "Ashes To Ashes" he writes "We Know Major Tom's a Junkie" "Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed" reflected a strong Bob Dylan influence,with its harmonica, edgy guitar sound and snarling vocal. "Letter to Hermione" was a farewell ballad to Bowie's former girlfriend, Hermione Farthingale, who was also the object of "An Occasional Dream",a gentle folk tune reminiscent of the singer's 1967 debut album. "God Knows I'm Good", Bowie's observational tale of a shoplifter's plight, also recalled his earlier style. I have the CD Rerelease copyrighted 1972, In 2009 another release of this album came out which reverted to the original UK cover and used the Green tint and the David Bowie logo. I'll be honest I dont spin this one as often as most others.

Sheer, f'n brilliance, IMO. The title track is still one of the greatest songs ever written as far as I'm concerned. "Unwashed..." and "Letter To Hermione" are also faves of mine...

Addy wrote:

Ok Moving Along......


Man Who Sold The World 1970

Track Listing:

1. "The Width of a Circle" – 8:05
2. "All the Madmen" – 5:38
3. "Black Country Rock" – 3:32
4. "After All" – 3:51
5. "Running Gun Blues" – 3:11
6. "Saviour Machine" – 4:25
7. "She Shook Me Cold" – 4:13
8. "The Man Who Sold the World" – 3:55
9. "The Supermen" – 3:38


The third studio album by David Bowie. It was originally released on Mercury Records in November 1970 in the United States and in April 1971 in the UK. The album was Bowie's first with the nucleus of what would become the "Spiders from Mars" The original 1970 US release of The Man Who Sold the World employed a cartoon-like cover drawing by Bowie's friend Michael J. Weller, featuring a cowboy in front of the Cane Hill mental asylum.The first UK cover, on which Bowie is seen reclining in what he called a "man's dress" was an early indication of his interest in exploiting his androgynous appearance. The dress was designed by British fashion designer Michael Fish and Bowie also used it in February 1971 on his first promotional tour to the United States, where he wore it during interviews despite the fact the Americans had no knowledge of the yet-to-be-released UK cover.The 1971 German release presented a winged hybrid creature with Bowie's head and a hand for a body, preparing to flick the Earth away. The 1972 worldwide reissue by RCA Records used a black-and-white picture of Ziggy Stardust on the sleeve which remained until 1990 when the Rykodisc reissue reinstated the original UK "dress" cover. It also appeared on the 1999 EMI remaster.

The album was reissued by Rykodisc (RCD 10132) / EMI (CDP 79 1837 2) on 30 January 1990 with an extended track listing including a 1971 rerecording of "Holy Holy", incorrectly described in the liner notes as the original 1970 single version. Bowie vetoed inclusion of the earlier recording, which is available only on the bootleg album Changesthreeandahalf. Rykodisc later released this album in the AU20 series (RCD 80132) with 20-bit digitally remastered sound. Alot of this information was taken from Wikipedia. I have the Rykodisc release, this was in fact my very first David Bowie CD I had purchased. I bought it for the original version of the album's title track which was covered by Nirvana in their unplugged performance.

Another fantastic record....title track, "Black Country Rock", "Width Of A Circle", "Saviour Machine"...all great.

Addy wrote:

Hunky Dory 1971

Track Listing:

1. "Changes" – 3:37
2. "Oh! You Pretty Things" – 3:12
3. "Eight Line Poem" – 2:55
4. "Life on Mars?" – 3:53
5. "Kooks" – 2:53
6. "Quicksand" – 5:08
7. "Fill Your Heart" (Biff Rose, Paul Williams) – 3:07
8. "Andy Warhol" – 3:56
9. "Song for Bob Dylan" – 4:12
10. "Queen Bitch" – 3:18
11. "The Bewlay Brothers" – 5:22


Taken From Wikipedia: With the departure from Bowie's camp of Tony Visconti and his replacement on bass by Trevor Bolder, Hunky Dory was the first production featuring all the members of the band that would become known the following year as Ziggy Stardust's Spiders From Mars. Also debuting with Bowie, in Visconti's place as producer, was another key member of the Ziggy phase, Ken Scott. The album's sleeve would bear the credit "Produced by Ken Scott (assisted by the actor)". The "actor" was Bowie himself, whose "pet conceit", in the words of NME critics Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray, was "to think of himself as an actor"

Following the hard rock of Bowie's previous album The Man Who Sold the World, Hunky Dory saw the partial return of the fey pop singer of Space Oddity, with light fare such as "Kooks" (dedicated to his young son, known to the world as Zowie Bowie but legally named Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones) and the cover "Fill Your Heart" sitting alongside heavier material like the occult-tinged "Quicksand" and the semi-autobiographical "The Bewlay Brothers". Between the two extremes was "Oh! You Pretty Things", whose pop tune hid lyrics, inspired by Nietzsche, predicting the imminent replacement of modern man by "the Homo Superior", and which has been cited as a direct precursor to "Starman" from Bowie's next album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

A Few Videos of songs from this album

Personally I have not listened to this cd much mainly because my wife kinda has confiscated it. LOL, I think she likes it more than she lets on, but on this CD theres some good songs on this one, Life on Mars?, Kooks, Changes, Queen smurfette, Oh You Pretty Things

"Changes", "Quicksand", "Oh, You Pretty Things", "Life On Mars"...all genius, IMO. I really like these last 3 records quite a bit. Some may see this as a bad thing, but IMO these 3 albums are proto-Alternative Rock...way ahead of their time, if you ask me.

S wrote:

Addy wrote:

Hunky Dory 1971

Track Listing:

1. "Changes" – 3:37
2. "Oh! You Pretty Things" – 3:12
3. "Eight Line Poem" – 2:55
4. "Life on Mars?" – 3:53
5. "Kooks" – 2:53
6. "Quicksand" – 5:08
7. "Fill Your Heart" (Biff Rose, Paul Williams) – 3:07
8. "Andy Warhol" – 3:56
9. "Song for Bob Dylan" – 4:12
10. "Queen Bitch" – 3:18
11. "The Bewlay Brothers" – 5:22


Taken From Wikipedia: With the departure from Bowie's camp of Tony Visconti and his replacement on bass by Trevor Bolder, Hunky Dory was the first production featuring all the members of the band that would become known the following year as Ziggy Stardust's Spiders From Mars. Also debuting with Bowie, in Visconti's place as producer, was another key member of the Ziggy phase, Ken Scott. The album's sleeve would bear the credit "Produced by Ken Scott (assisted by the actor)". The "actor" was Bowie himself, whose "pet conceit", in the words of NME critics Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray, was "to think of himself as an actor"

Following the hard rock of Bowie's previous album The Man Who Sold the World, Hunky Dory saw the partial return of the fey pop singer of Space Oddity, with light fare such as "Kooks" (dedicated to his young son, known to the world as Zowie Bowie but legally named Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones) and the cover "Fill Your Heart" sitting alongside heavier material like the occult-tinged "Quicksand" and the semi-autobiographical "The Bewlay Brothers". Between the two extremes was "Oh! You Pretty Things", whose pop tune hid lyrics, inspired by Nietzsche, predicting the imminent replacement of modern man by "the Homo Superior", and which has been cited as a direct precursor to "Starman" from Bowie's next album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

A Few Videos of songs from this album

Personally I have not listened to this cd much mainly because my wife kinda has confiscated it. LOL, I think she likes it more than she lets on, but on this CD theres some good songs on this one, Life on Mars?, Kooks, Changes, Queen smurfette, Oh You Pretty Things

"Changes", "Quicksand", "Oh, You Pretty Things", "Life On Mars"...all genius, IMO. I really like these last 3 records quite a bit. Some may see this as a bad thing, but IMO these 3 albums are proto-Alternative Rock...way ahead of their time, if you ask me.

Oh I agree 100%

Addy wrote:

Now the one everybody's been waiting for....... On this one Im gonna let this one sit for a few days as I hope this is where itll pick up



The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars- 1972

Track Listing:

1. "Five Years" – 4:43
2. "Soul Love" – 3:33
3. "Moonage Daydream" – 4:35
4. "Starman" – 4:16
5. "It Ain't Easy" (Ron Davies) – 2:56
6. "Lady Stardust" – 3:20
7. "Star" – 2:47
8. "Hang on to Yourself" – 2:37
9. "Ziggy Stardust" – 3:13
10. "Suffragette City" – 3:19
11. "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" – 2:57

Taken From Wikipedia:

The album presents, albeit vaguely, the story of "Ziggy Stardust," the human manifestation of an alien being who is attempting to present humanity with a message of hope in the last five years of its existence. Ziggy Stardust is the definitive rock star: sexually promiscuous, wild in drug intake and with a message, ultimately, of peace and love; but he is destroyed both by his own excesses of drugs and sex, and by the fans he inspired.

In interviews, Bowie has said that the real-life inspiration for Ziggy was chiefly Vince Taylor, though the lyrics hint at Jimi Hendrix ("played it left hand ... jiving us that we were voodoo") and the character was likely a composite. Bowie claimed that the name came from a tailor's shop in London called Ziggy's. He later told Rolling Stone it was "one of the few Christian names I could find beginning with the letter 'Z'." "Stardust" comes from one of Bowie's labelmates, a country singer named Norman Carl Odam, The Legendary Stardust Cowboy. Bowie covered a Legendary Stardust Cowboy song, "I Took a Trip (On a Gemini Spaceship)" thirty years later on Heathen.

The Ziggy Stardust sessions began just a few weeks after Hunky Dory was released. The first song recorded for the album, the cover "It Ain't Easy," was recorded in September 1971. The first session in November produced "Hang on to Yourself," "Ziggy Stardust," "Rock 'n' Roll Star" (later shortened to "Star"), "Moonage Daydream," "Soul Love," "Lady Stardust," and "Five Years."

Also recorded during the November Ziggy Sessions were two more cover songs intended for the as-yet untitled album. They were Chuck Berry's "Around and Around" (re-titled "Round and Round") and Jacques Brel's "Amsterdam" (re-titled "Port of Amsterdam"). A re-recording of "Holy Holy" (first recorded in 1970 and released as a single, to poor sales, in January 1971) was initially slated for Ziggy, but was dropped in favour of "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide." "Round and Round" was replaced by "Starman" and "It Ain't Easy" replaced "Amsterdam" on the album's final running order. All three were eventually released as b-sides.

My Thoughts:

As I had said I had been an unknowing fan since I was 6, when I bought this I was not really blown away, there was a period where I was buying David Bowie albums just to have them as I did like some of his stuff. It wasn't until I Really started getting into him that I came back to explore this album and I loved it, the second time around i was blown away. Easily one of his best works. Not a single filler song on this album, It in my opinion his Opus. I was for some reason thinking this came out in 1973, Looks like I have some editing to do on my website. I cant even list my favorites because id be repeating the track list all over again.

"Rock N Roll Suicide", "Starman", "Five Years", "Moonage Daydream", "Suffragette City"....awesome, awesome, awesome. Like the first 3 are where Alternative began (IMO), Glam Rock got a swift kick in the pants from this album.

Addy wrote:

Time to move on I think..... 1973 was a big year for Bowie release wise heres another one that came out in 1973


Alladin Sane 1973 RCA Records

Track Listing:

1. "Watch That Man" New York – 4:25
2. "Aladdin Sane (1913-1938-197?)" RHMS Ellinis – 5:06
3. "Drive-In Saturday" Seattle–Phoenix – 4:29
4. "Panic in Detroit" Detroit – 4:25
5. "Cracked Actor" Los Angeles – 2:56
6. "Time" New Orleans – 5:09
7. "The Prettiest Star" Gloucester Road – 3:26
8. "Let's Spend the Night Together" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 3:03
9. "The Jean Genie" Detroit and New York – 4:02
10. "Lady Grinning Soul" London – 3:46

The name of the album is a pun on "A Lad Insane". An early variation was "Love Aladdin Vein", which Bowie dropped partly because of its drug connotations. Although technically a new Bowie 'character', Aladdin Sane was essentially a development of Ziggy Stardust in his appearance and persona, as evidenced on the cover by Brian Duffy and in Bowie’s live performances throughout 1973 that culminated in Ziggy’s ‘retirement’ at the Hammersmith Odeon in July of that year. Moreover there was not the thematic flow on this album that was present on its predecessor.

Bowie himself described Aladdin Sane as simply "Ziggy goes to America", most of the tracks being observations he composed on the road during his 1972 U.S. tour – the reason for the place names following each song title on the original record sleeve. Biographer Christopher Sandford believed the album showed that Bowie "was simultaneously appalled and fixated by America".

Two hit singles that would be included on the album preceded its release, "The Jean Genie" and "Drive-In Saturday". The former (recorded at RCA's New York studios during the first leg of Bowie's American tour in late 1972) was a heavy R&B chug with lyrics loosely based on Iggy Pop,[15] the latter a futuristic doo-wop number describing a time when the population has to relearn sex by watching old porn movies."Time" was later issued as a single in the U.S. and Japan, and "Let's Spend the Night Together" in the U.S. and Europe. In 1974, Lulu released a version of "Watch That Man" as the B-side to her single "The Man Who Sold the World", produced by Bowie and Mick Ronson.

For me, this is where Bowie the sort of weird, chameleon begins to emerge. The piano meanderings in some of the songs are kinda early Pink Floyd-like...his voice is perfect...and the variation from song to song is pretty stark. Still, love it..."Panic In Detroit", "Cracked Actor", "The Jean Genie", "Watch That Man" & the title track all rate high in Bowie's catalog for me.

Addy wrote:

Also in 1973 there was the In the Beginning Vol 2 and Best Deluxe, however I could not find any information on these two releases. So Im gonna move right along......


Pin-Ups 1973 RCA Records

Track Listing:

1. "Rosalyn" (Originally recorded by The Pretty Things) Jimmy Duncan, Bill Farley 2:27
2. "Here Comes the Night" (Originally recorded by Them) Bert Berns 3:09
3. "I Wish You Would" (Originally recorded by The Yardbirds) Billy Boy Arnold 2:40
4. "See Emily Play" (Originally recorded by Pink Floyd) Syd Barrett 4:03
5. "Everything's Alright" (Originally recorded by The Mojos) Nicky Crouch, John Konrad, Simon Stavely, Stuart James, Keith Karlson 2:26
6. "I Can't Explain" (Originally recorded by The Who) Pete Townshend 2:07
7. "Friday on My Mind" (Originally recorded by The Easybeats) George Young, Harry Vanda 3:18
8. "Sorrow" (Originally recorded by The Merseys (The McCoys)) Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein, Richard Gottehrer 2:48
9. "Don't Bring Me Down" (Originally recorded by The Pretty Things) Johnny Dee 2:01
10. "Shapes of Things" (Originally recorded by The Yardbirds) Paul Samwell-Smith, Jim McCarty, Keith Relf 2:47
11. "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" (Originally recorded by the The Who) Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey 3:04
12. "Where Have All the Good Times Gone" (Originally recorded by The Kinks) Ray Davies 2:35


It was his last studio album with the bulk of 'The Spiders From Mars', his backing band throughout his Ziggy Stardust phase; Mick Woodmansey was replaced on drums by Aynsley Dunbar.

Pin Ups entered the UK chart on November 3, 1973 (1973-11-03) (coincidentally the same day as Bryan Ferry's covers album These Foolish Things) and stayed there for 21 weeks, peaking at #1. It re-entered the chart on 30 April 1983 (1983-04-30), this time for 15 weeks, peaking at #57. In July 1990 (1990-07) it again entered the chart, for one week, at #52.

A version of The Velvet Underground's "White Light/White Heat" was recorded during the sessions. It was never released; Bowie donated the backing track to Mick Ronson for his 1975 album Play Don't Worry.

The woman on the cover with Bowie is 1960s supermodel Twiggy.

I enjoyed this one as well...his take on some of these songs is pretty cool. Hearing Bowie do Pink Floyd, The Who and The Kinks can't be a bad thing...

Its probobly the only covers Bowie has done that I love, He's covered Lennon on Tin Machine, and The Beatles in Young Americans he covers my favorite Beatles song and I didnt like it lol

Diamond Dogs 1974 RCA Records

Track Listing:

1. "Future Legend" – 1:05
2. "Diamond Dogs" – 5:56
3. "Sweet Thing" – 3:39
4. "Candidate" – 2:40
5. "Sweet Thing (reprise)" – 2:31
6. "Rebel Rebel" – 4:30
7. "Rock 'n' Roll with Me" (lyrics: Bowie, music: Bowie, Warren Peace) – 4:00
8. "We Are the Dead" – 4:58
9. "1984" – 3:27
10. "Big Brother" – 3:21
11. "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family" – 2:00


This in my opinon is the 3rd major album he's done, The others being Ziggy and Alladin Sane, Diamond Dogs is a concept album by David Bowie, originally released by RCA Records in 1974. Thematically it was a marriage of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell and Bowie's own glam-tinged vision of a post-apocalyptic world. Bowie had wanted to make a theatrical production of Orwell's book and began writing material after completing sessions for his 1973 album Pin Ups, but the late author’s estate denied the rights. The songs wound up on the second half of Diamond Dogs instead where, as the titles indicate, the Nineteen Eighty-Four theme was prominent. Though the album was recorded and released after the 'retirement' of Ziggy Stardust in mid-1973, and featured its own lead character in Halloween Jack ("a real cool cat" who lived in the decaying "Hunger City")

The cover art features Bowie as a striking half-man, half-dog grotesque painted by Belgian artist Guy Peellaert. It was controversial as the full painting clearly showed the hybrid’s genitalia. Very few copies of this original cover made their way into circulation at the time of the album's release. According to the record-collector publication Goldmine price guides, these albums have been among the most expensive record collectibles of all time, as high as thousands of US dollars for a single copy. The genitalia were quickly airbrushed out for the 1974 LP’s gatefold sleeve, although the original artwork (and another rejected cover featuring Bowie in a cordobes hat holding onto a ravenous dog, an image captured by Terry O'Neill) was included in subsequent Rykodisc/EMI re-issues.

At the time of its release Bowie described Diamond Dogs as "a very political album. My protest ... more me than anything I've done previously". Disc magazine compared the album to The Man Who Sold the World (1970), while Rock and Sounds both described it as his "most impressive work ... since Ziggy Stardust". It made #1 in the UK charts and #5 in the US (where the song "Rebel Rebel" proved popular), Bowie's highest stateside placing to that date.

Diamond Dogs' raw guitar style and visions of urban chaos, scavenging children and nihilistic lovers ("We'll buy some drugs and watch a band / And jump in the river holding hands") have been credited with anticipating the punk revolution that would take place in the following years. Bowie himself has described the Diamond Dogs, introduced in the title song, as: "all little Johnny Rottens and Sid Viciouses really. And, in my mind, there was no means of transport, so they were all rolling around on these roller-skates with huge wheels on them, and they squeaked because they hadn't been oiled properly. So there were these gangs of squeaking, roller-skating, vicious hoods, with Bowie knives and furs on, and they were all skinny because they hadn't eaten enough, and they all had funny-coloured hair. In a way it was a precursor to the punk thing."

Bowie played all of the album's songs except "We Are the Dead" on his 1974 US tour (recorded and released as David Live). "Rebel Rebel" has featured on almost every Bowie tour since, "Diamond Dogs" was performed for the 1976 Station to Station and 1995-96 Outside tours, and "Big Brother/Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family" was resurrected for the 1987 Glass Spider Tour.

A 30th Anniversery Version was released with a bonus disk

1. "1984/Dodo" (recorded 1973) – 5:29
2. "Rebel Rebel" (from "Rebel Rebel" U.S. single A-Side, 1974) – 3:00
3. "Dodo" (also known as "You Didn't Hear It from Me", recorded 1973) – 2:53
4. "Growin' Up" (Bruce Springsteen) (recorded 1973) – 2:25
5. "Alternative Candidate" (demo version, recorded 1974) – 5:09
6. "Diamond Dogs" (K-Tel Best of Bowie edit, 1980) – 4:41
7. "Candidate" (Intimacy mix, 2001) – 2:58
8. "Rebel Rebel" (2003 mix) – 3:09



Future Legend & Diamond Dogs


1984


Rebel Rebel


Sweet Thing, Canadate and Sweet Thing (reprise)

As I started listening to Bowie in the 80's I came to these albums not understanding very well what he was trying to do. I still think he gets too heavy handed on some of these but there's no denying his genius, it's just not always my thing. It's heresy but I don't like a lot of this album, too me it feels like he focused more on the story then the songs. Was he hanging with Lou Reed at this point, a lot sounds like his stuff.

It was a concept album, and originally I think these songs were gonna be part of a play or production adapting Orville's 1984

I got the 30th Anniversery edition it comes with a booklet, I love this album but then again Im fascinated with post apocalyptic themes

Yeah, it's very set up to do a production.

I don't mind concept albums and there is some good stuff here but some of it seems to be there just to fill in the story.

IMO we're about to get to the good stuff.

This an excellent album, Bowie plays all the guitar parts and it one of the best Bowie albums of the 70's.

'Diamond Dogs' was suppose to be his musical version of George Orwell's 1984 and had grandiose plans for the stage, broadway and etc but Orwell's estate said no, so he took the songs and turned into the Diamond Dogs album.

The title track is great tune with lyrics inspired by William S. Burrough's technique of cut and paste. The songs for the most part expect for the last four do not seem to follow any kind of concept or even particularity interrelated with one another.

It is not unit you get the last 4 or 5 songs that the concept of Orwell's 1984 shows up in any type of form and the even then the fact is based on Orwell's novel is completely obsured, which is fine with me, IMO this does not take away from the strength of the album.

David Live 1974 RCA Records

Track Listing:

Side one

1. "1984" – 3:20
2. "Rebel Rebel" – 2:40
3. "Moonage Daydream" – 5:10
4. "Sweet Thing" (containing "Sweet Thing"/"Candidate"/"Sweet Thing (Reprise)") – 8:48

Side two

1. "Changes" – 3:34
2. "Suffragette City" – 3:45
3. "Aladdin Sane" – 4:57
4. "All the Young Dudes" – 4:18
5. "Cracked Actor" – 3:29

Side three

1. "Rock 'n' Roll with Me" (Bowie, Warren Peace) – 4:18
2. "Watch That Man" – 4:55
3. "Knock on Wood" (Eddie Floyd, Steve Cropper) – 3:08
4. "Diamond Dogs" – 6:32

Side four

1. "Big Brother" (containing "Big Brother"/"Chant of the Ever-Circling Skeletal Family") – 4:08
2. "The Width of a Circle" – 8:12
3. "The Jean Genie" – 5:13
4. "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" – 4:30

(From Wikipedia)

David Live is David Bowie’s first official live album, originally released by RCA Records in 1974. Recorded on the initial leg of Bowie’s US tour supporting Diamond Dogs in July of that year (the second leg, a more soul-oriented affair following recording sessions for the bulk of Young Americans, would be renamed 'Philly Dogs'), it is generally held by critics, fans, and Bowie himself alike to be a commercial stopgap lacking in energy.

The album catches Bowie in transition from the Ziggy Stardust/Aladdin Sane glam-rock era of his career to the 'plastic soul' of Young Americans. While the cover featured a picture Bowie in his latest soul threads - baggy trouser suit complete with shoulder pads and suspenders from November 1974 - the music was recorded in July of that year when he was showcasing his two most recent studio albums of original material, Diamond Dogs and Aladdin Sane, as well as selected favourites from Ziggy Stardust and earlier.

The tour was Bowie’s most ambitious to date, featuring a giant set designed to evoke "Hunger City", the post-apocalyptic setting for Diamond Dogs, and his largest band, led by Michael Kamen. For "Space Oddity" (recorded at the time but not released until the album’s 2005 reissue) Bowie sang using a radio microphone disguised as a telephone whilst being raised and lowered above the stage by a cherry picker crane. The tour was documented in Alan Yentob’s Cracked Actor (1975).

Although various issues of the album date the recordings, at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia (actually Upper Darby), from 11–12 July or 12–15 July 1974, a more recent estimate suggests they took place over 8–12 July. Capturing the music on tape was itself problematic; most of the backing vocals, as well as the saxophone, needed to be overdubbed in the studio later (a fact noted on the original album sleeve as well as the reissue) because the performers were often off-mike. Perhaps more saliently, the Tower Theater concerts gave rise to a backstage revolt by Bowie's touring band. Having been informed on short notice that the concerts would be professionally recorded for official release, and that Bowie's management intended to pay them only the standard union fee required for a live recording (a mere $70), the band confronted Bowie an hour before the first show and refused to take the stage unless they received a more reasonable $5,000 fee per member. Though Bowie acceded to their demands, several members of the band (including Mike Garson and Herbie Flowers) have since remarked that the tension of this confrontation was audible in the stilted performances found on the live album.

Bowie later commented that "David Live was the final death of Ziggy… And that photo on the cover. My God, it looks like I’ve just stepped out of the grave. That’s actually how I felt. That record should have been called 'David Bowie Is Alive and Well and Living Only in Theory'" (a reference to Jacques Brel, some of whose songs Bowie had covered,

I dont actually have this one, not yet anyways As far as the Bowie Catalog is concerned I am missing mostly his live stuff, and a few studio albums. So I have no real personal insight on this album

umm ok

I also do not own this disc as yet