I wasn’t around for Bowie’s golden years. How could I be when I was still in the process of being born as ‘Modern Love’ entered the UK charts in September 1983? And there’s no way that could be considered one of his artistic highpoints. In fact, I was left completely unaware of Bowie’s existence until ten years later when I retrieved a knackered, cassette copy of Aladdin Sane from a dusty old shoebox in our garage. I’d never heard anything remotely like it, its creepy, other worldly mood giving me nightmares for weeks.
That was my first Bowie experience, the second came when I bought Heathen; not exactly the greatest place to start your Bowie collection. Yet while it’s impossible for me to fully comprehend the impact of those original seventies classics, I’ve learnt enough about him in the intervening years to know who and what he was.
I know about his LA cocaine period, when his diet of red peppers, milk and the white powder produced Station To Station, arguably the greatest Bowie album of them all. I know that he pushed hard against and often broke through the barriers of race, religion, gender, style and personal expression. I also know that his artistic integrity was constantly evolving; from teenage glam prince to white boy soul; from revolutionary experimentalist to palatable, consumer orientated, new romantic pop. Admittedly, after that he did get a little lost, but then who wouldn’t?
More than anything his death is that of a supremely creative, illuminating and incredible human being who will be missed as much for what he stood for as his uniquely original and entirely personal sonic output. As I wasn’t around to witness most of it first hand, I’ve put together my own tribute of Bowie covers recorded over the past few decades to illustrate his huge influence on successive generations. Even after his death, I doubt that’s going to change anytime soon.
Dan Green. 18th January 2016.
1. Last Shadow Puppets / In The Heat Of The Morning
Originally unreleased recording March 1968
2. Nirvana / The Man Who Sold The World
Original release The Man Who Sold The World LP April 1971
3 The Flaming Lips / Life On Mars
Original release Hunky Dory LP December 1971
4 Bauhaus / Ziggy Stardust
Original release The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars LP June 1972
5. Beck / Diamond Dogs
Original release Diamond Dogs LP May 1974
6. The Cure / Young Americans
Original release Young Americans LP March 1975
7. Matthew Dear / Sound And Vision
Original release Low LP January 1977
8. TV On The Radio / Heroes
Original release Heroes LP October 1977
9. Warpaint / Ashes To Ashes
Original release Scary Monsters LP September 1980
10. Ash / Teenage Wildlife
Original release Scary Monsters LP September 1980