Supermallet

You keep that link handy just for those times when someone compares Numan to Bowie, don't you?

Numanoid

No. That's Zaine Griff, who I happen to be a fan of (that's an Ultravox b-side that he is covering there (Midge Ure on backing vocals and synths), and he does guest vocals on some of my other favorite New Wave tracks by Yukihiro Takahashi, Helden, and sings backup on a couple of Numan tracks as well). But let's face it, he might as well of called himself David Zowie. I'm sure his career would have gone a lot farther had he not been such an obvious imitator.

ResIpsa

Bah, I love Gary Numan (seriously, someone stole the Numanoid tag before I could take it), but I am open enough to admit he stole from Bowie over and over again (as did many 80's acts). They are both great, although Bowie was the original and Numan was better at doing the synth thing.

Supermallet

Let's Dance (1983)


After the release of the critically acclaimed Scary Monsters, Bowie seemed to take it easy. Perhaps he was undecided about where to go after he had wrapped up the past decade on his last album. Perhaps John Lennon's murder (Bowie and Lennon had been friends since the mid-70's) had spooked him and made him avoid the spotlight. He did branch out more into acting, performing in The Elephant Man to great praise and appearing in Nagisa Oshima's film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (just released this past week on Criterion DVD and Blu-ray). He also appeared as Baal in a BBC production for which he recorded an EP (which can currently be found on the Sound + Vision box set). He worked on the soundtrack for Cat People with Giorgio Moroder (the title track was used to amazing effect in Inglorious Basterds). His most well known musical project at this point was "Under Pressure," a duet with Queen that hit #1 in the UK and provided the basis for Vanilla Ice's #1 US hit "Ice Ice Baby."

Finally, in 1983, Bowie returned with a new album, Let's Dance. Produced by Chic's Nile Rodgers, the album featured a slew of massive hits, and went on to become the second best selling album of 1983 (after a little LP called Thriller). It also featured an up-and-coming guitarist known as Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Tracklist:
1 Modern Love (Bowie)
2 China Girl (Bowie, Pop)
3 Let's Dance (Bowie)
4 Without You (Auld, Bowie)
5 Ricochet (Bowie)
6 Criminal World (Browne, Godwin, Lyons)
7 Cat People (Putting out Fire) (Bowie, Moroder)
8 Shake It (Bowie)

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A clip from the massive Serious Moonlight tour in support of Let's Dance:
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The original, superior recording of Cat People:
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Supermallet

While Let's Dance doesn't have the thematic sweep of Scary Monsters or the genre-creating futurism of the Berlin trilogy, it is still an excellent Bowie album that showed he could do as well at being supremely commercial as he could being uniquely off-kilter. Bowie fully embraced the mainstream on this album, but without diluting his appeal or lowering the quality of his songwriting.

The trio of singles, "Let's Dance," "China Girl," and "Modern Love," are Bowie classics. Let's Dance is a surging dancefloor number with a ringing horn section and a call to "put on your red shoes and dance the blues." China Girl, a song that originally appeared on Iggy Pop's The Idiot, is a dark tale buoyed by Vaughan's blistering guitar and the repeated refrain of "And when I get excited/My little China girl says/Oh baby, just you shut your mouth." "Modern Love" features a propulsive beat and a soaring vocal.

I remember when I first heard this album, I was unimpressed with everything after those tracks. For years I went around calling this Bowie's worst album. But when EMI reissued his catalog, I gave it another chance, and lo and behold, I loved it! "Without You" is a sweet ballad, "Ricochet" is a darkly danceable track, "Criminal World" is an inspired cover, and "Shake It" is a fantastic album closer.

The only misstep on the album is the lame duck re-recording of "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)." It contains none of the menace, the atmosphere, or the controlled vocals of the original. When I listen to the album now on my iPod, I replace the Let's Dance version with the original soundtrack version.

Bowie quickly lost his way in the musical landscape of the 80's (strange considering how much of it he directly inspired), but for this one album at least, he was as in tune with the pulse of the times as he had been when he first rose to stardom with Ziggy Stardust. A great coda to the brilliance of his 70's albums.

Supermallet

Bueller? Bueller?

slop101

I don't know how old you were when Let's Dance came out, but I was in jr. high, and you could not fucking get away from the songs on that album; MTV, radio (both the top-40 stations and the alternative ones), parties, so much so, that I was just sick and tired of it, and could go my whole life never hearing that album ever again. No music, no matter how good, is meant to be played/listened to with such frequency in such a short amount of time. I think even Bowie got burned out on himself, as evidenced by his post-L'sD output.

Supermallet

He still plays songs from Let's Dance live.

Hollowgen

I actually like Let's Dance now. The hits are definite staples, and it's good that Bowie started playing them again in the mid-2000s.

Anyone who wants to give it a shot or revisit it can easily pick it up for $0.99 at any store where records are sold.

gmanca

Actually, the version you posted is the remade version. Moroder had already finished the song by the time Bowie came in to lay down the vocal track but did a new version for Let's Dance so that he could slow it down.

I prefer the remade version, the annoying repetitive panther roars are gone, the excessive electric organs are removed, and there's more pain in the subdued vocals. Plus the drum "solo" works much better.

EDIT: You're right, it's not the Let's Dance version as I never heard that version but always thought it was that particular one as the version after the end credits is much different than the extended version, 6+ minute version. Having just heard it, it's awful, really a horrible re-do.

Numanoid

A bonafide classic for the '80s generation. This was the album that introduced me (at age 16), and a whole lot of people around the world to Bowie. I loved all the singles and videos, and was inspired to go out and get all of Bowie's back-catalogue, introducing me to a world of music that had been hidden from my mainstream, midwest upbringing. From there I springboarded into other "alternative" artists and styles and my musical tastes have never been the same.

I still can't understand though, why Shake It wasn't released as a single. It would have definitely been another hit.

Supermallet

Your antecedents have confused me. Which version do you find awful? The Let's Dance version or the Moroder version?

To me, the Moroder version is absolutely brilliant. The dramatic opening is perhaps Bowie's most affecting vocal performance after "Heroes" and the song has a wonderful slow burn to it. The Let's Dance version is way too hurried and busy. The only thing I prefer about it is the guitar refrain.

gmanca

Sorry, I like the extended version that Bowie and Moroder did(the one you posted), not the Moroder version that appears at the end of Cat People. That "original" version was too fast, had a lot of panther samples, and the electric organs were too prominent in the mix; it's also missing the great synthesizer solo that you find in the "second" version of the song.

I totally agree that the Let's Dance version sucks ass.

Supermallet

Tonight (1984)


Tracklist:
1 Loving the Alien (Bowie)
2 Don't Look Down (Pop, Williamson)
3 God Only Knows (Asher, Wilson)
4 Tonight (Bowie, Pop)
5 Neighborhood Threat (Bowie, Gardener, Gardner, Pop)
6 Blue Jean (Bowie)
7 Tumble and Twirl (Bowie, Pop)
8 I Keep Forgetting (Leiber, Stoller)
9 Dancing with the Big Boys (Alomar, Bowie, Pop)

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Hollowgen

"Tonight" is god awful.

Supermallet

I'm going to heartily disagree. Tonight is Bowie's most underrated album, full of surprises and hidden pleasures. The opening track, "Loving The Alien," is a bona fide Bowie epic, with a strong vocal and intriguing lyrics. "Don't Look Down" and "God Only Knows" sound like Vegas schmaltz, but surprisingly listenable.

The pair of Iggy Pop covers from the Lust For Life album vary wildly in quality. "Tonight" has been turned from a roiling addiction confession to a light pop duet with Tina Turner, and it's not very good. "Neighborhood Threat," on the other hand, uses a sharp guitar line to heighten the tension of the track from Pop's original.

"Blue Jean" is of course the big single, a fun horn-driven pop number that showed if Bowie had really wanted to simply remake Let's Dance, he could have. "Tumble And Twirl" is also horn-driven, but with more of a tropical vibe, and is probably my favorite track on the album. Bowie's in fine voice, and the whole thing is quite danceable and fun.

"I Keep Forgetting" also sounds like something you'd hear in Vegas, but Bowie gives it more urgency and it comes out better than "Don't Look Down" or "God Only Knows." "Dancing With The Big Boys" closes things out nicely, with an air of menace.

I'd recommend anyone to go back and listen to this album with fresh ears, as it's really held up a lot better than its reputation suggests.

slop101

Aesthetically, it's dripping of the '80s, and not in a good way. The songs themselves may be fine, but it's sound is pure cheese city and badly dated. It's Bowie's first true drop in quality and his first instance of being a trend-follower rather than a trend-setter.

Numanoid

I agree that Tonight is a lower point for Bowie as far as creativity goes (I've heard Bowie diss this album and the next one himself in interviews). But I agree with Suprmallet in that it does hold some gems. And as I stated before, Let's Dance really made me a Bowie fan, so this was the first new Bowie release that I ever bought as an existing Bowie fan, so it got a lot of play from me, and is very nostalgic for me in that regard.

Loving The Alien is indeed a great song, and Bowie plays it to this day (or whenever he last played). I'm a sucker for any remake of God Only Knows, not sure why. And Blue Jean is a scorcher of a pop song, one of my favorite Bowie tracks, truth be told. (Trivia - the bass player in the video is the lead singer of Right Said Fred, the band behind the infamous "I'm Too Sexy" song).

This album still gets played by me every so often. While there are a couple "what was he thinking?" moments, overall it's a worthwhile listen. Still miles better than the next entry into his catalogue.

Supermallet

Never Let Me Down (1987)


Tracklist:
1 Day-In Day-Out (Bowie)
2 Time Will Crawl (Bowie)
3 Beat of Your Drum (Bowie)
4 Never Let Me Down (Alomar, Bowie)
5 Zeroes (Bowie)
6 Glass Spider (Bowie)
7 Shining Star (Makin' My Love) (Bowie)
8 New York's in Love (Bowie)
9 '87 and Cry (Bowie)
10 Bang Bang (Pop)

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Supermallet

Now, here is Bowie's real stinker. Between Tonight and this, Bowie gave a thoroughly entertaining turn in Jim Henson's Labyrinth as the Goblin King. He wrote and performed several songs from the movie, and despite being silly throwaways (with the exception of "As The World Falls Down," one of Bowie's better love songs), they were all a lot of fun, as is the film.

And then Bowie dropped this turd ball on us. Production aside (although I can only imagine even other 80's bands thought this sounded like an artifact when it came out), Never Let Me Down starts off alright with "Day-In Day-Out," a tale of a poor immigrant. After that was "Time Will Crawl," which, despite an awful video, is the best track on the album (although still a minor entry in his overall catalog).

"Beat of Your Drum" features a satisfyingly deep vocal performance, but the song itself is forgettable. The title track has an evocative quality about it, but also sounds slightly boring.

From there, the album goes right off a cliff. The rest of the tracks are the worst Bowie had written since his Deram debut, being either cringe-inducingly generic 80's pop or, in the case of "Glass Spider," overdone theatrics. One of the songs from the album also contains Bowie's all-time worst lyric, "Do you see that thing?/That thing over there?/I'm sure it's love!"

Bowie brought in childhood friend Peter Frampton to play on this album, and while I would rather listen to this 1,000 times than ever hear a Frampton song ever again, it just goes to show how little care went into this execrable piece of shit.

The accompanying tour, The Glass Spider tour, was also hilariously over the top. It was as if suddenly everything Bowie touched turned to crap. For shame, David, for shame.

gmanca

I really enjoyed his work in Labyrinth and completely agree about As the World Falls Down being a better Bowie love song. I did feel that Within You was a lost chance at a really good song due to the constraints of a soundtrack. The long form that you can hear on the soundtrack lends to the notion of how much better a polished, more song-like version would have been.

The Antipodean

How do I keep missing this thread getting bumped? I've missed all the 1980s! But yeah, I can't really stick up for Never Let Me Down either, it's probably my least favorite Bowie outside his REALLY early stuff. It's just very synthetic, by numbers material, with some of his worst tunes like "'87 And Cry" and the aforementioned "Glass Spider."

We should include the Labyrinth soundtrack in this roundup, I always felt it was unfairly neglected and the music is a lot more fun than NLMD.

Supermallet

Since I've had a few requests for it:

Labyrinth: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1986)



Tracklist:

1. Opening Titles Including Underground (David Bowie)
2. Into The Labyrinth (Trevor Jones)
3. Magic Dance (David Bowie)
4. Sarah (Trevor Jones)
5. Chilly Down (David Bowie)
6. Hallucination (Trevor Jones)
7. As The World Falls Down (David Bowie)
8. Goblin Battle (Trevor Jones)
9. Within You (David Bowie)
10. Thirteen O'Clock (Trevor Jones)
11. Home At Last (Trevor Jones)
12. Underground (David Bowie)

Allmusic.com review:
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Supermallet

Bowie spent much of the 80's in various movies, the most famous of which is Jim Henson's 1986 fantasy classic Labyrinth. In it, Bowie plays Jareth, the Goblin King, who abducts the younger brother of Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) and dares her to find him at the center of a massive and dangerous labyrinth. Bowie wrote and performed several songs for the film. Unlike the leaden and overly dramatic Never Let Me Down that he would record just a year later, Labyrinth finds Bowie using a lighter touch.

"Magic Dance" and "Chilly Down" are both little kid silliness, but they also have an effortless catchiness that Bowie would be hard pressed to match for many years. "Underground" is also wonderfully catchy, a minor Bowie pop classic. "Within You" takes a darker tone with a wonderfully evocative Bowie vocal (aided in the film by some fantastic M.C. Escher-esque imagery, as seen in the YouTube clip above). And then "When The World Falls Down" is actually one of his best love songs, touching, sweet, and heartfelt.

It's worth noting that at the very least "Magic Dance" is an alternate take from the one used in the film, and even features Bowie doing all the baby sounds!

While some people may have seen the Labyrinth soundtrack as further proof of Bowie's irrelevancy during the 80's, I think it's a wonderful side trip from his established solo records and I know plenty of 20-somethings who grew up on the movie and can recite all the songs by heart.

The Antipodean

I love the Labyrinth soundtrack, "When The World Falls Down" is a classic Bowie romance number. I think it's great fun and shows how adaptable Bowie is to most genres -- this is basically a Broadway soundtrack and it works really well, unless you only like your Bowie ultra-serious.