Category: David Bowie

January 26, 2016

David Bowie – Fashion (US 12″ Promo)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1980

“Fashion” is a track from David Bowie’s 1980 album Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps). It was released as the second single from the album and was accompanied, like its predecessor “Ashes to Ashes”, by a highly regarded music video.

“Fashion” was the second single from Scary Monsters and the first issued after the album’s September 1980 release. The edited 7″ cut reached No. 5 in the UK, and by hitting No. 70 in America gave Bowie his first chart single there for four years. Bowie performed the song on several tours, and it is included in the 1983 concert film Serious Moonlight. It was featured in the movie Clueless. During the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, “Fashion” was used during a tribute to the British fashion industry in a parade that featured a number of top models from the UK.

According to co-producer Tony Visconti, “Fashion” was the last song completed in the Scary Monsters sessions, its bassline and some of the melody taking inspiration from Bowie’s 1975 hit “Golden Years”. Guest guitarist Robert Fripp contributed a series of harsh, mechanical riffs to complement the band’s funk/reggae arrangement.

The track was noted for its emotionally vacant choir effect, and the recurring onomatopoeia “beep beep” that Bowie had first used in an unreleased 1970 song called “Rupert the Riley”. Another phrase in the lyrics that Bowie borrowed from his past was “People from Bad Homes”, the title track of a 1973 album he recorded with his protégés The Astronettes, which went unreleased until 1995.

References to a “goon squad” coming to town provoked theories that the song actually concerns fascism (“the National Front invade the discos”, inferred NME critics Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray). However Bowie played down this interpretation in an interview shortly before the release of Scary Monsters, saying that what he was trying to do was “move on a little from that Ray Davies concept of fashion, to suggest more of a gritted teeth determination and an unsuredness about why one’s doing it”. Biographer David Buckley believed the song “poked fun at the banality of the dance-floor and the style fascists” of the New Romantic movement.

SIDE A:
Fashion (Full Length Version) 4:49

SIDE B:
Fashion (Edited Version) 3:25

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint (company)

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1980	Fashion	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#70

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: RCA Victor ‎– JD-12140
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Promo
Country: US
Released: 1980
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: New Wave

CREDITS:
Producer – David Bowie, Tony Visconti

NOTES:
Not For Sale
From the album “SCARY MONSTERS”

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Tung-Sol 12AX7ECC803-S Gold Electron Tube
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

January 22, 2016

David Bowie – Absolute Beginners (UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1986

Released 30 years ago today.

“Absolute Beginners” released on January 22, 1986 was the theme song to the film of the same name (itself an adaptation of the book Absolute Beginners), composed and performed by David Bowie.

Bowie was good friends with the film’s director, Julien Temple (who had worked with him in 1984 on the Jazzin’ for Blue Jean short film), and landed both the supporting role of Vendice Partners, and the deal to record the theme song.

The sessions, at Abbey Road Studios, were set up in a novel way, with a group of session musicians all receiving a card to work at the studio with “Mr X”, who turned out to be Bowie. The sessions were completed rapidly, but the song was delayed due to the problems with completing the film. Virgin wanted the release to tie in with the film’s opening. Shortly after the sessions wrapped, Mick Jagger flew in to record “Dancing in the Street”, which used many of the same musicians. The song fused 1950s-style doo-wop with Bowie’s 1980s sound.

The single reached No. 2 in the UK charts, and No. 53 in America. Bowie has since performed it live on his Glass Spider and 2000 tours. This song featured Rick Wakeman on piano, it was the third time those two musicians worked together, after Bowie’s Space Oddity single and the Hunky Dory album.

SIDE A:
Absolute Beginners (Full Length Version) 8:00

SIDE B:
Absolute Beginners (Dub Mix) 5:38

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1986	Absolute Beginners	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#53
1986	Absolute Beginners	U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	#9

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Virgin ‎– VSG 838-12, Virgin ‎– VSG. 838-12
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single, Gatefold
Country: UK
Released: 28 Jan 1986
Genre: Rock
Style: Pop Rock

CREDITS:
Backing Vocals – Janet Armstrong
Baritone Saxophone – Andy Mackintosh*, Don Weller, Gordon Murphy
Bass – Matthew Seligman
Design, Art Direction – Tracy Drew
Drums – Neil Conti
Guitar – Kevin Armstrong
Keyboards – Rick Wakeman, Steve Nieve
Percussion – Luis Jardim
Photography [Back Cover] – Roger Mayne
Photography [© 1986 David Bowie] – Davies And Starr
Producer – Clive Langer, Alan Winstanley*, David Bowie
Saxophone [Solo] – Don Weller
Tenor Saxophone – Gary Barnacle, Paul Weimer*, Willie Garnett
Vocals – David Bowie
Written-By – David Bowie

NOTES:
Comes in a gatefold sleeve.

David Bowie’s title track from the original motion picture musical “ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS”
A Virgin Records 45 RPM Long Playing Record.

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

January 21, 2016

David Bowie – Tonight (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1984

Originally posted January 19, 2012

“Tonight” is a song written by David Bowie and Iggy Pop for Iggy’s second solo album, Lust for Life, released in 1977. The song was later made into the title track for Bowie’s own album Tonight.

Bowie re-recorded the song with guest vocalist Tina Turner in 1984 for his album of the same name. The song was recorded as a duet but the single was only credited to Bowie. The original spoken word introduction of the 1977 version, establishing that the lyric is addressed to a lover dying of a heroin overdose, was excised for Bowie’s version because Bowie regarded the introduction as an “idiosyncracy” of Iggy Pop that did not match his own personal vocabulary. Bowie also stated that he didn’t want to “inflict” that part of the song on Tina Turner, either.

The reggae-flavoured song reached only #53 in the UK singles charts (the first ‘current’ Bowie single to miss the top 40 since “Be My Wife” in 1976). In the US the song also peaked at the #53 position on the Billboard Hot 100.

SIDE A:
Tonight (Vocal Dance Mix) 4:29

SIDE B:
Tumble And Twirl (Extended Dance Mix) 5:04

Tonight (Dub Mix) 4:19

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1984	Tonight	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#53
1984	Tonight	U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	#28
1984	Tonight	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	#32

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: EMI America – V-7846-1/2
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Single
Country: US
Released: 1984
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Pop Rock, Reggae

CREDITS:
Design – Mick Haggerty
Engineer [Remix] – MIchael Barbiero
Photography – Greg Gorman
Producer [Additional Production] – Carlos Alomar, Steve Thompson
Remix – Steve Thompson
Written-By – D. Bowie*, I. Pop*

NOTES:
Recorded in England.
Album versions can be heard on “TONIGHT”

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

January 20, 2016

David Bowie – Blue Jean (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1984

Originally posted January 20, 8012

“Blue Jean” is a song from the album Tonight by David Bowie. One of only two tracks on the album to be written entirely by Bowie, it was released as a single ahead of the album.

Loosely inspired by Eddie Cochran, the song was an uncomplicated composition, recalling earlier Bowie rockers such as “The Jean Genie,” and is generally regarded as one of the better parts of a disappointing album.

Following the huge commercial success of Bowie’s previous album, Let’s Dance, its singles and the Serious Moonlight Tour, “Blue Jean” was launched with massive promotion. Julien Temple was engaged to direct a 21-minute short film to promote the song, Jazzin’ for Blue Jean. The song performance segment from this was also used as a more conventional music video.

“Blue Jean” was a hit in the UK and America, reaching No. 6 and No. 8, respectively.
The song would remain in Bowie’s live repertoire for the rest of his career, being performed on tours in 1987, 1990 and 2004.

Interviewed in 1987 and asked to compare a track like “Time Will Crawl” to “Blue Jean,” Bowie said “‘Blue Jean’ is a piece of sexist rock ‘n roll. [laughs] It’s about picking up birds. It’s not very cerebral, that piece.”

The flip side “Dancing with the Big Boys,” which Bowie also co-wrote with Iggy Pop, was written and recorded in eight hours as Bowie and Pop egged each other on. In what was described as an “exhilarating rush,” Bowie and Pop “went in [to the studio] with a few bottles of beer and would virtually bellow out anything that came into their heads,” said Hugh Padgham. “And I just recorded it all.” The song is about the “little guy” being crushed by “oppressive corporate structures.” The lyrics were taken from a backlog of unused lyrics; the line “this dot marks your location” was a reference to a “lengthy irritating stay” at a New York Hotel (Bowie had been looking at the hotel room’s fire escape map), and “Your family is a football team” was a reference to the immigrant families working in New York; “the whole family [has] to work together for survival.”

The track elicited this from Bowie:

There’s a particular sound I’m after that I haven’t really got yet; I’ll either crack it on the next album or retire from it. I think I got quite close to it on “Dancing with the Big Boys.” … I got very musical over the last couple of years – trying to write musically and develop things the way people used to write in the Fifties. I stayed away from experimentation. Now, I think I should be a bit more adventurous. And in “Big Boys,” Iggy and I broke away from all that for one track, and it came nearer to the sound I was looking for than anything else.

SIDE A:
Blue Jean (Extended Dance Mix) 5:16
Remix – John “Jellybean” Benitez
Written-By – David Bowie

SIDE B:
Dancing With The Boys (Extended Dance Mix) 7:28
Engineer [Remix] – Jay Burnette*Remix, Producer [Additional 12″ Production] – Arthur Baker
Written-By – C. Alomar*, D. Bowie*, I. Pop*

Dancing With The Boys (Extended Dub Mix) 7:13
Engineer [Remix] – Jay Burnette*Remix, Producer [Additional 12″ Production] – Arthur Baker
Written-By – C. Alomar*, D. Bowie*, I. Pop*

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1984	Blue Jean	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#8
1984	Blue Jean	U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	#2
1984	Blue Jean	U.S. Billboard Hot DanceMusic/Club Play	#2

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: EMI America – V-7838-1/2
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Single
Country: US
Released: 1984
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Pop Synth-pop

CREDITS:
Producer – David Bowie, Derek Bramble, Hugh Padgham

NOTES:
Album versions can be heard on “TONIGHT”

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi