rideside.net

Posted by Chopper on 2007-03-05 11:06:40 +0000

Bowie tried for so very long to secure the legal rights to produce a concept album based on George Orwell's 1984 from Mr. Orwell's widow. She ultimately did not give Bowie that permission despite his many attempts. As a result, "Diamond Dogs" made the grade and it made it to the top ten with several hits. The album ended up being an interesting concept album on its own, with unusual and complicated (for that time) production, with tracks that ran into each other, and with a "similar but different" reprise of the song "Sweet Thing."

Most of the band that had been with Bowie for several years was now gone (Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder, and Woody Woodmansey) making this album clearly a "post-Spiders" record. Bowie himself played most of the guitars and all of the sax parts - proving that he was now taking himself seriously as a musician and not just a "showman", e.g., Ziggy. It is interesting to note that Bowie only wanted to be known as "Bowie" and not "David Bowie." If you look at the album cover and liner notes, at no place will you see the name "David."

The tunes themselves were rather intricate and more "deep" than most songs recorded by Bowie to date. The melodies seemed a bit "warped", the sound effects were varied and the lyrics were definitely meant to shock, e.g., "We Are The Dead." I always thought that the book "1984" had already been adapted for this album, and when Bowie could not get the rights, he had to scale back. The lyrics on this album to me, resulted from that failed adaptation ("1984," "Big Brother," and even "Candidate".

The three big radio hits were "Diamond Dogs," "Rebel Rebel," and "1984." Obviously, these tunes are still amongst Bowie's most popular work.

All in all, one of the great ones and a personal favorite.

This album led to a fascinating couple of years touring, finding a "new sound" and TV appearances ("David Live," "The 1980 Floor Show" and "Dick Cavitt" to name a few). More on this when we listen to "David Live." PLEASE, do not skip over this one.

Until next week at the Tower Philadelphia............

Posted by MF DU on 2007-03-05 11:57:35 +0000

Unedited gatefold of the "Canine Cajoles" artwork which the record company nixed at the time of its original release: (Sorry I couldn't line the two photos up side by side correctly. SYSOP: what's the html command for that?)

<img src="http://eil.com/Gallery/345580b.jpg"><img src="http://991.com/newGallery/David-Bowie-Diamond-Dogs-345580.jpg">

Posted by tgl on 2007-03-05 14:47:47 +0000

You'd want to format it with >table%lt; tags. Which...

<table>
<tr>
<td><img src="http://eil.com/Gallery/345580b.jpg"></td>
<td><img src="http://991.com/newGallery/David-Bowie-Diamond-Dogs-345580.jpg"></td>
</tr>
</table>

...aren't allowed.

Posted by MF DU on 2007-03-05 14:52:19 +0000

oh well, at least there are 2(!) Dog Cocks on this page now...

Posted by Epoisses on 2007-03-07 07:49:56 +0000

Enjoying this one very much.

Posted by MF DU on 2007-03-07 16:18:50 +0000

as you should.

Posted by Chopper on 2007-03-07 18:37:24 +0000

Good to hear that you like this one. It is one of the more creative albums of Bowie's career.

Posted by Epoisses on 2007-03-09 18:00:14 +0000

Michael Gira learned everything he knew vocally from the beginning of 'Sweet Thing.'

Posted by mr. mister on 2007-03-12 14:25:24 +0000

I like the guitar thing at the end of sweet thing reprise. YOu can hear the Mick Ronson influence.
I guess Bowie was really into horror movies and this one really sounds like a horror movie soundtrack
1984 is the best bowie disco song.
Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family is one tripped out name

I still can't get over how much these discs sound better than they did on tape. It's night and day.