New Bowie Single

[LindaG]

Part of his first new album in a decade  apparently.

On first  listen ?  Not radically  different  from some of his old stuff. I'm hoping to hear it again though.  Echoes of Loving The Alien.

[clarion]

I heard mention of it on Today, but not the single itself.  Maybe Ken Bruce will play it while I'm tuned to R2 later.

[LEE]

I heard mention of it on Today, but not the single itself.  Maybe Ken Bruce will play it while I'm tuned to R2 later.

A 61 year old playing a 66 year old's new single ?

It won't be as good as this from (OH MY GOD ..) 42 years ago

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZYbwdWbl2z0&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/ZYbwdWbl2z0&rel=1</a>

[clarion]

I'm hip to the latest with it, trendy grooves, man.

[TimC]

David who?

[nicknack]

David who?

You are Wowbagger and ICMFP!

[clarion]

David who?

Jones

[Jaded]

David who?

He is a popular beatnik combo, m'lord.

[vorsprung]

The first gig I went to was David Bowie at Milton Keynes Bowl circa 1982, on the Serious Moonlight tour.
The support was Icehouse and The Beat.

Someone in the crowd let off a rocket at an appropriate moment of "Major Tom".  After the song he asked the fans not to do that again.  In retrospect, even 30 years ago he seemed quite old.

So for his comeback I think he should focus on his acting skills and have a bit part in Jo Brand's excellent comedy "Getting On"

[clarion]

...So for his comeback I think he should focus on his acting skills ...

Good idea.  He could have lessons from Keanu Reeves or a diseased ash tree to improve his technique.

[citoyen]

Heard it on R5 this morning. Quite liked it. For me, Bowie has always stood for what's new and different, and this just isn't new or different enough to be really exciting, just a decent Bowie single - but decent for Bowie, which is still streets ahead of most of the competition.

d.

[clarion]

Bowie represented new and exciting music to me until the handbrake turn in 1982 - Little Drummer Boy?  Really?  And the Let's Dance album?  What?  The man who created Ziggy, Aladdin, Major Tom etc churning out low-grade pop? 

[citoyen]

Low-grade pop indeed! Let's Dance is brilliant.

You'll be telling me next you didn't like Earthling.

d.

[TimC]

Bowie represented new and exciting music to me until the handbrake turn in 1982 - Little Drummer Boy?  Really?  And the Let's Dance album?  What?  The man who created Ziggy, Aladdin, Major Tom etc churning out low-grade pop? 

Don't forget the Dancing Gnome!

Actually, I thought it was rather good that Bowie demonstrated that he didn't take himself too seriously at a time when rock and pop was becoming rather too up its own arse.

[Basil]

Wasn't it the Laughing Gnome?

Anyway, I heard the R4 offering this morning.  Seemed similar to the 'Heathen' album, which I liked.
But 30 seconds of one track does not really tell you what the rest of the album will be like.

[LEE]

Bowie represented new and exciting music to me until the handbrake turn in 1982 - Little Drummer Boy?  Really?  And the Let's Dance album?  What?  The man who created Ziggy, Aladdin, Major Tom etc churning out low-grade pop? 

Exactly this.

Rock and Pop should really be leading edge or it's irrelevant apart from easy-listening.  In that respect we aren't the ideal demographic to be commenting (I'm guessing we aren't all around 19 any more).

What we have here (including me) are some middle-aged people commenting on the music of a pensioner.

I've heard part of the track on iTunes and it sounds a bit bland, very like some of his other stuff, and rather like he's covering a Morrissey song.  Not bad for a pensioner I suppose but it's not doing anything new.

[clarion]

...What we have here (including me) are some middle-aged people commenting on the music of a pensioner...

[LEE]

...What we have here (including me) are some middle-aged people commenting on the music of a pensioner...

Sorry about that...but I remember clearly being huddle around a record player, with my mates, reviewing the new Buzzcocks single.  It seems like yesterday and it seemed so relevant, so leading edge and fresh.  And here I am, a third of a century later, trying to get excited by a David Bowie single.....a third of a century after his last exciting single.

[MattH]

The song (and video) are here:- http://www.davidbowie.com/vision?videopremiere=true

Not quite sure what I think of it yet. It's certainly not terrible, maybe a bit dull compared to some of the things he's come up with in the past?
We'll see how it fares on repeated listenings.

[citoyen]

Rock and Pop should really be leading edge or it's irrelevant apart from easy-listening.  In that respect we aren't the ideal demographic to be commenting (I'm guessing we aren't all around 19 any more).

What we have here (including me) are some middle-aged people commenting on the music of a pensioner.

Indeed. We also had the new House Of Love album delivered to the office today. It's alright, but it just sounds like House Of Love. That might have been moderately exciting 20 years ago but it doesn't really do much for me now.

There is new and interesting stuff out there, but you won't hear it on Radio 2. Unless you consider Mumford & Sons new and interesting.

d.

[LindaG]

It's only pop music.  Either you like it, or you don't.  There's far too much snobbery when it comes to this stuff IMO.

[LEE]

It's only pop music.  Either you like it, or you don't.  There's far too much snobbery when it comes to this stuff IMO.

FTFY

Billy Connelly summed it up perfectly I think.  He said there's music you "get" and music you don't.  If someone likes it then it can't be bad music.

Like Connelly I don't "get" Jazz.  I suppose there are enough Jazz enthusiasts out there to make me think there must be something in it but I doubt I'll ever understand what it is.  I "get" rock music.

I'm a HUGE fan of Bowie's early material...I think a large chunk of today's pop/rock owes him a huge debt for laying some amazing foundations. He was an incredible talent.

If you like his 80's/90's stuff then you'll most likely like everything he does from now on, including this new single. 

My advice to any Yoof is to ignore this and listen to his 1970's material.  I think non-prescription drugs are the force behind much great music.  I expect Bowie went to rehab and then came up with the "Little Drummer Boy" idea.

Look what happened to Lennon/McCartney after they "de-toxed".  Frogs and bloody Polar Bears.

[clarion]

OK, I've heard it now, courtesy of Umerumerererer Radcliffe and Maconie.

Wow!  That is totally amazing!  I never thought anything could be quite so...so... meh.

[Kim]

Something weird happened to music in 1974, and I don't think Bowie ever recovered from it.  I really like his early stuff.

[Mr Larrington]

What we have here (including me) are some middle-aged people commenting on the music of a pensioner.

I got no problems with wrinkly oldsters playing rock'n'roll (Daddio).  Last month I saw a 59 year old Robyn Hitchcock and a 66 year old John Paul Jones and they were frickin' brillsticks.  And had Jimi Hendrix not had the bad manners to die on us, he'd be 70