David Bowie

Certain Songs #278: David Bowie – “Heroes”

August 11, 2015 by Jim Connelly

Album: “Heroes”
Year: 1977

Good gods, where do you even start with such a grand, momentous statement? This is my favorite David Bowie song. By such a huge margin that it’s not even close.

From the moment I heard it, “Heroes” utterly floored me like very few songs ever had, so much so that “Heroes” was the first David Bowie album I ever bought.

Put it this way: if David Bowie had been some guy who happened to collaborate with Brian Eno for this one record and then died in a car crash, there would be “Heroes.”

Certain Songs #277: David Bowie – “Rebel Rebel”

August 10, 2015 by Jim Connelly

Album: Diamond Dogs
Year: 1974

Fueled by a guitar riff that Keith Richards is still wondering if he didn’t give to Bowie in a heroin haze and lyrics that aim for the heart of teenagers of every possible gender, “Rebel Rebel” is an undeniable, eternal classic.

It’s weird though: while it seems like Bowie was a huge star from the moment “Space Oddity” hit the radio, Diamond Dogs was actually the first of his albums that made the U.S. Top 10, and that despite the fact that the U.S. single version of “Rebel Rebel” — which was a weird, truncated mix that de-emphasised the guitar riff — didn’t do shit on the charts.

Certain Songs #276: David Bowie – “Panic in Detroit”

August 9, 2015 by Jim Connelly

Album: Aladdin Sane
Year: 1973

Now is probably as good of a time as any to point out that I’m not as big of a fan of David Bowie as many of you are.
I have a shitton of respect for him, obviously, and he’s as important of an artist as any who made their bones in the 1970s.

Probably more important than most, as he clearly was a pioneer in glam-rock, funk-rock and electronic rock. But he’s really only slayed me on individual songs, as opposed to full albums.

Certain Songs #275: David Bowie – “Suffragette City”

August 8, 2015 by Jim Connelly

Album: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars
Year: 1972

Is it just me, or has the super-rockin’ straight-forward “Suffragette City” never quite fit upon the album where it lives? It’s probably just me, as I’ve always found The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars to be one of those consensus classic albums that has never completely gelled for me.

Maybe because of that opening riff and pounding piano, but “Suffragette City” never really seemed to fit with rest of the songs on Ziggy Stardust. Those songs were bigger and deeper, while “Suffragette City” was a 1950s-style fucksong dressed up on glam-rock clothing.

Certain Songs #274: David Bowie – “Space Oddity”

August 7, 2015 by Jim Connelly

Album: Space Oddity
Year: 1969

Given its weird history, I’ve occasionally wondered if David Bowie ever regretted naming his first big hit “Space Oddity” instead of “Major Tom.” Probably not, but I’ve always thought that the title was slightly wrong for a song that essentially about a tragedy.

Of course, “Space Tragedy” would have been worse and The Byrds had already beaten him to “Space Odyssey,” but he coulda called it “Major Tom” like everybody else probably did.

20 Musical Moments to Die For

January 23, 2009 by Jim Connelly

This month, on Musical Moments to Die For: secrets, influences, and secret influences, all book-ended by the two best bands to ever come from Athens, GA.

We’ve also got the front-runners for greatest guitar and organ solos ever; Neil Young’s most despairing moment; and not one, not two, but three variations of the beat solidified by the late, great Ellas McDaniel.

As always, I’m not necessarily talking about hooks here, more like traps. The parts of these songs that bring me back to them over and over again.

This is the sixth in a series: The first one had 25, the second one had 24, the third one had 23, the fourth one had 22, the fifth one had 21.

And yeah, you probably see the pattern and think you know the endgame, but I can promise you that there’s a twist!