There is comedy sketch performed by Harry Enfield (Lee) and Paul Whitehouse (Lance) in which Whitehouse struggles to sing the Eurythmics' hit, 'Who's That Girl?' in tune. Whenever I listen to Lennoxbot, I am reminded of this. And cheese. Eurythmics are the latest in a long line of style and synthesizers.
Iggy Pop has been threatening to release a brilliant album for a while, and his finally done here. It is the second of his collaborations with Bowie, and the better. The well known songs are, of course, the title track - taken from the Trainspotting soundtrack - and The Passanger, but the rest of the selection is just as good.
In 1977 Iggy Pop and David Bowie were best mates, hanging around Paris and Berlin together. This is the first of two Iggy albums they recorded and released that year, its title influenced by the Dostoyevsky novel, and the music of Kraftwerk and James Brown. Generally speaking it's a high improvement on the Stooges, and there are a number of songs which would rank among Iggy's best - the obvious being 'Nightclubbing'.
This is the last David Bowie album in the book (unless you have the newer, updated version) but it is no means the last good record he released. It's another one I've owned for a long time, and though it is not as good overall as 'Low' it is still worth getting.
Following his 'thin white duke' period, Bowie left the drug-addled culture of LA and returned to Europe where he collaborated with Brian Eno and Tony Visconti on the first of his three Berlin albums.
Inspired by David Bowie's love of railways, 'Station to Station' is the story of one mans journey from Glasgow Central to London Euston. Each song represents a different stop along the way. It's an album I already own, so there's no need to comment any further.
Like the other David Bowie albums in this book, this is one I've already got. It's not as good as 'Hunky Dory' or 'Ziggy Stardust' but it's still worth buying.
'Berlin' is Lou Reed's third solo release and has been described as a 'tragic' rock-opera. If you're expecting downbeat and miserable, woe-is-me music, you'd be wrong. Of course the subject is dark - drugs, prostitution, suicide - but Lou Reed still has a way with a hook or melody. Two brilliant albums by former VU members in as many days.
The other day I watched a sketch called 'The Good Life On Mars' on YouTube where 'David Bowie' (lego, voiced by Adam Buxton) and his wife of the time where running through a list of possible replacements for Ziggy Stardust - who Bowie had 'killed' off earlier in the year. Suggestions included the 'Groovy Gardener' and Bowie's personal favourite 'Cobbler Bob'. Angela isn't impressed and suggests Bowie go with 'A Lad Insane', complete with dental fluid oozing from his collarbone. It's impossible to predict what kind of impact 'Cobbler Bob' would've had on audiences in 1973, but Aladdin Sane (so renamed) was the best way to make Bowie's fans forget about Ziggy et al. The album isn't as good as its predescesor, but it still has some fantastic songs - especially those on the first half.
Is this David Bowie's best album? Possibly. Is it a brilliant album? Certainly. BBC Six Music's favourite Messiah was at the peak of his Glam Trilogy with this album and as far as I'm concerned there isn't a bad track on here.
Lou Reed of the Velvet Underground teamed up with the forgotten man of pop, David Bowie to record this testament to robots in disguise. It is arguably the best thing Lou Reed has ever done, and certainly contains his most well known tracks in the form of 'Walk on the Wild Side' and his glorious cover of Children in Need's 'Perfect Day'.
We have arrived at the final release of 1971 (which according to some was the best year in Rock, so I can only assume it's downhill from here) and the first David Bowie album. I've owned this for a long time and it contains many of my favourite Bowie songs.
Having spent the majority of the 1960s starring in a plethora of mediocre films, Elvis returned to musical significance in 1968 with a 'Comeback Special'. Inspired by the success of this TV special, he decided to record an album in Memphis and, having passed Dusty Springboard at the studio door, set out recording a set of songs chosen specifically to promote the new Post Rock 'n' Roll/Pre-Vegas Elvis. The songs are soulful and their is a raw maturity in Elvis's performances
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Track: Only The Strong Survive
For years I'd been wanting to buy a Sam Cooke compilation with all his hits on, but none of the ones I saw ever drew me in. I knew next to nothing about the man but for some reason what I'd heard made me want to investigate him more. Eventually I managed to track something down and it regular gets a spin on my CD player. It is, however, nowhere near as good as this. It's sad to remember that a man with such talent and ability to captivate an audience was only two years away from his death because this collection of tracks proves what a fantastic artist he was.
If the first Elvis album in the list is the one to play during the party, this second offering is the album to play when you've walked your date home for the night and gone in for a cup of coffee. It begins with the upbeat 'Make Me Know It' and immediately slows down with Elvis's cover of 'Fever', which is a surprising highlight. I can only presume the criteria for songs on this album were 'ones you can dance in the kitchen too'. It's probably not 'cool' to admit it, but this was far better than his self-titled debut in the sense that it was more structured and less all over the place.
Overall: 7/10
Favourite Track: The Girl of My Best Friend
A year after Sinatra makes us all sob, somebody invents Elvis Presley, and with it, the most iconic singer of the 20th century. Is he black? Is he white? Does anyone even care? Did he go forward in time and take note of the London Calling cover? It's plausible. Everything about this album is iconic- including the aforementioned sleeve. The funny thing is though, it doesn't play like a five-star album. Despite starting off with a bang ('Blue Suede Shoes'), Presley doesn't keeping rockin' like he should and seems to prefer to wander all over the place. The rock 'n' roll is great, but songs like 'Blue Moon' and 'I Love You Because' do nothing for me. I want to phone the young Elvis up and tell him to stop pussyfooting around with the slow songs and just rock. Shake your hips Elvis, shake your hips! Pitched halfway between the two styles is the country-twinged 'Trying To Get To You', which is the highlight of the album. If you want to know why The Beatles and every other 60s musician were in awe of Elvis, then Elvis Presley is the reason why. It hasn't got his best songs on it (indeed, the original version of this album didn't even have 'Heartbreak Hotel' included; though I do have a suspision singles weren't put on albums in the olden days?) but this is Elvis at his raw, natural, pre-bloated best.
Overall: 6.5/10
Favourite Track: Trying To Get To You
Next Album: The Louvin Brothers- Tragic Songs of Life
There's a book you may or may not have heard of called '1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'. Here is my attempt to do just that. Follow my progress from Frank Sinatra to Arcade Fire as I write my thoughts and feelings about each album.
All errors in this blog are mine, and mine only (unless they're not).
