Each David Bowie album is unique. Some are universally lionised, some regarded as merely legendary, some, pretentious codswallop. But we all have our favourites...
Returning to albumtoalbum for a long-overdue reunion is renowned actor, occasional Dalek and author of The Complete David Bowie, Nicholas Pegg.
Nick's an old friend of the podcast and has tackled some of David Bowie's most acclaimed albums in previous episodes - as well as exploring entire eras (our 198More series of chats take an overview of Bowie's singles, soundtracks and various off-extramural activities 1981 - 1989). Now, he's back to tackle one of the most challenging artefacts in the Bowie oeuvre - the much-maligned 1984 album Tonight.
A rag-tag bag of semi-sentient cover versions, marimbas, an absolutely bracingly brilliant long-form promo video (very 1984) a couple of superb Bowie evergreens, some blue-and-brown-eyed reggae and uncharacteristically insipid production, Tonight might not be the worst album of 1984, but it fell short of what long time Bowie fans had come to expect. Clearly geared to what Bowie assumed were his new Let's Dance-era fans, the album was recorded almost straight after the massive Serious Moonlight tour, without the satisfying thwack that conceptual cohesion and creative conviction characterising Bowie's best work to date.
Here, Bowie opted to work with a young British producer, Derek Bramble, who had little awareness of Bowie's work. As Nick says in this episode, Bramble's lack of public profile might have appealed to Bowie, after the megawatt presence of Nile Rogers on Let's Dance. Fair enough. But then, getting happening, in-demand producer, most recently with The Police, Hugh Padgham on board, in the junior role of engineer, wasn't Bowie's brightest idea.
In this episode, we kick off by looking back at the lead-up to the album's recording (in Canada), a cast of characters including Derek Bramble, Hugh Padgham, Iggy Pop and Carlos Alomar and the album's first three tracks - Loving The Alien, Don't Look Down and the unforgettable cover version of the Beach Boys' God Only Knows.Â
With thanks to Nicholas Pegg, and Leah Kardos for the background music. During the conversation, we have references from Chris O'Leary, Charles Shaar Murray and that Bowie resource par excellence, bowiebible.com
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S4 Ep7: Earl Slick on Station to Station
Back in 1974, Earl Slick was a 22-year old jobbing session guitarist fast developing a reputation for his supple, searing style and versatility in all idioms. Hired by Bowie to join his Diamond Dogs tour, Slick then had to suddenly pivot from apocalypto-rock to sleek Philly soul at a moment's notice - but acquitted himself so well, he was invited to play on tracks destined for Young Americans before forming the core band, alongside Carlos Alomar, Dennis Davis, George Murray and Roy Bittan to cut the extraordinary Station to Station, in LA, during October 1975.
Bringing his charismatic flair to the sessions, Slick rose each time to Bowie's demands for an esoteric sonic palette, turning in one bravura performance after another despite, by his own admission, almost matching Bowie's ridiculous drug consumption levels at the time. Although his boss's directions could be at times gnomic - Bowie instructed him on one occasion to simply play a Chuck Berry riff repeatedly throughout a track - the pair sparked off each other, forging a deep bond. Despite a contretemps between Bowie's management and Slick at the end of the sessions, Earl returned to the Bowie band in 1983 for Serious Moonlight and then again during the early 2000s, when he became again, a key member of the group, up to The Next Day.Â
Today, Station to Station stands out as one of Bowie's finest records, the pivot from Young Americans' funk and soul to the electronic abstractions and experimental textures which would emerge fully with Low. Despite the frenzied sessions, the album's six tracks are each mini-masterpieces.
In this episode, the first of two devoted to the album, we take a leisurely stroll down memory lane and begin with Earl's reminiscences of pre-Beatles America, his first audition for Bowie and Visconti, bafflement at the Philly soul era, meeting and forgetting (and then meeting again) John Lennon, and the intense sessions that made up the first side of Station to Station.
Thanks to Earl, Oliver and of course the regal Tank for all their time and help in assembling this episode and as ever, please do let me know what you think of our chat and share this podcast far and wide!
Follow Earl Slick on Instagram and Facebook
Intro/Outro music by Leah Kardos
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S4 Ep6: Leah Kardos on The Next Day Part 4
In this episode we analyse The Next Day Extra, November 2013's accompanying min-album chock-full of tasty treats, rambunctious remixes and some songs that inexplicably never made it onto the album proper. Never mind. Now they get their moment in the sun and thanks to Leah Kardos's encyclopaedic knowledge of all things late-era Bowie, a fascinating conversation ensues in which we gallop across this collection and appreciate anew the understated and undersung treasures that await within.
Thanks again to Leah for all her time and insights and for making this conversation so enjoyable and illuminating. You can find out more about her work here and follow her here on Twittex.
The opening and closing music on this and previous episodes is also composed by Leah - follow her musical adventures here!Â
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S4 Ep5: Leah Kardos on The Next Day Part 3
Stadium rock! Ziggy! Morrissey? John Cooper Clarke? The Singing Detective! Join author of Blackstar Theory: The Last Works of David Bowie, musician and director of The Visconti Studio Dr Leah Kardos as she continues her full-spectrum analysis of The Next Day, David Bowie's masterful penultimate album from 2013. In this episode, we look at the final three songs of the album - (You Will) Set The World On Fire, You Feel So Lonely You Could Die and brooding closer Heat.Â
This is the third of four episodes devoted to The Next Day and its unruly children on The Next Day Extra.Â
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S4 Ep4: Leah Kardos on The Next Day Part 2
We're back! And by we, I mean me and musician, writer and academic Leah Kardos, amongst whose many achievements is the critically-acclaimed book 'Blackstar Theory: The Last Works of David Bowie'Â which takes a thoughtful and informed view of Bowie's final projects. She is also a friend and trusted collaborator of Tony Visconti's, founding The Visconti Studio at London's Kingston University. Currently, Leah's working on her next book, exploring Kate Bush's 'Hounds of Love' album.
In this conversation, we continue our deep dive into The Next Day, with anecdotes, opinions, random theories and what we hope are facts, all of which will hopefully entertain you as much as they did us, in the making of this podcast.
Huge thanks this episode to bowiebible.com for tons of helpful information, a shoutout to our writing hero Chris O'Leary and thanks again to Leah for her custom-made theme music for this episode.Â
Each David Bowie album is unique. Some are universally lionised, some regarded as merely legendary, some, pretentious codswallop. But we all have our favourites. In this series of podcasts, I meet up with writers, musicians, critics and assorted woodland folk, to explore their choice of album in rambling roundelays of free-form facting, anorak-grade geekery, pompous pontification, impassioned argument and highly-contentious chat. I like to think these podcasts exercise the minds of some of the world’s (well, at least the bit I am in) most eminent Bowiebores, my lugubrious interrogations spurring them to wax lyrical and entertainingly - just for you. I hope you enjoy listening to them.
Presented and produced by Arsalan Mohammad
Music by http://bensound.com
UK