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Friday, Jan 8 2016, 6AM
Good morning and happy Friday. Who would have guessed that that squawling infant, born David Robert Haywood Jones in Brixton, England, on January 8th, 1947, would grow up to be 69-year-old music legend David Bowie? Happy birthday, David Bowie, and happy release date for his twenty-fifth studio album, "Black Star."
David Bowie wrote this song after seeing Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film, "2001: A Space Odyssey." The song was originally released in 1969 and timed to coincide with the moon landing.
"David Bowie is rock’s foremost futurist and a genre-bending pioneer, chameleon, and transformer...." Read the entire biography that accompanied his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: rockhall.com
This song, about a man who no longer recognizes himself, is based in part on a poem by Hugh Mearns entitled "The Psychoed"." www.angelfire.com
Watch the Youtube video of Nirvana's cover of "The Man Who Sold the World:" www.youtube.com Kurt Cobain was introduced to the song by drummer Chad Channing who found the album in a Boston music store.
Bowie wrote this optimistic song when his wife Angela was pregnant with their first child, Duncan. Bowie played the sax on this track and his guitarist Mick Ronson arranged the strings.
"With a voice like sand and glue..." Here are the lyrics to "Song for Bob Dylan," in which Bowie references Dylan's "Song to Woody": www.google.com
David Bowie was a great Velvet Underground fan and wrote this song as a tribute to Lou Reed and the band. Lou Reed performed this song with Bowie at his 50th birthday party in New York in 1997.
This was the last song written for the Ziggy Stardust album and is part of the album's narrative, suggesting that salvation for the earth awaits in the sky. David Bowie's performance as the flame-haired Ziggy in a multi-colored jumpsuit in 1972 catapulted him into the mainstream.
Another song inspired by The Velvet Underground, Bowie's "Hey, man!" clearly clones the Velvet's "White Light, White Heat": www.allmusic.com
This song, produced by David Bowie, became wildly popular, despite (or because of) dealing with transsexuality, male prostitution, and oral sex. Candy Darling was also the subject of a previous Velvet Underground song, "Candy Says."
David Bowie originally intended this song for the "Ziggy Stardust" album. When Bowie first offered this song to Mott The Hoople, they recognized its potential straight away. The band's drummer Dale Griffin is quoted in Rolling Stone magazines Top 500 Songs: "I'm thinking, 'He wants to give us that?' He must be crazy!": www.songfacts.com
Here's an artist profile of Bauhaus, whose biggest hit was this cover of David Bowie: www.jango.com
"Ziggy played guitar, jamming good with Weird and Gilly..." Here are the lyrics: www.metrolyrics.com
This is, of course, a Rolling Stones cover. Here's video of Bowie performing the song at Hammersmith Odeon in 1973: www.jango.com
This song was probably influenced by Iggy Pop, who slithered around on stage and cut himself, and by Steven Tyler's first wife, Cyrinda Foxe, who starred in commercials for Jean Genie jeans: www.songfacts.com
Read a biography of The Dandy Warhols: www.billboard.com
"Sorrow" is a cover of a song by The McCoys in 1965. The lyric, "with your long blonde hair and your eyes of blue," was quoted by The Beatles in "It's All Too Much."
1977's "Lust for Life" was Iggy Pop's second collaboration with David Bowie, following "The Idiot" earlier that year. It remains Iggy's most commercially successful album.
Although "retired," Ziggy Stardust's image graced the cover of 1974's "Diamond Dogs." : ultimateclassicrock.com
This song, about a boy who rebels by wearing makeup and women's clothing, was the defining song of the "Glam Rock" era. Three years earlier, David Bowie had acknowledged that he was bisexual, a revelation that gained him more fans: www.songfacts.com
"Fame" was co-written with John Lennon, who provides the high vocals in the background: kearth101.cbslocal.com
The saxophone in this song is played by David Sanborn, who was just becoming known when Bowie recruited him to play. The line near the end, "I heard the news today, oh boy" is a reference to The Beatles' song "A Day in the Life."
The great guitar work on this song was by Earl Slick and Carlos Alomar. Bowie said that the title to this album was inspired, not by train stations, but by the Stations of the Cross.
David Bowie reportedly wrote this song with the intention of giving it to Elvis Presley (who shares today's birthday with Bowie), but it was refused by Presley. However, Bowie's ex-wife Angela says the song was written for her.; www.songfacts.com
"Low" was the first of the "Berlin trilogy," a series of collaborations with Brian Eno. Bowie had moved to Berlin in an attempt to end his cocaine habit.
David Bowie and Tony Visconti originally recorded this song as an instrumental. Bowie recorded the vocals after the band had left the studio.
Iggy Pop and David Bowie appeared on the Dinah Shore Show in 1977 to promote this song: www.youtube.com
Bowie saw his producer Tony Visconti, who was married to someone else, embracing a backup vocalist; this inspired the image of two lovers kissing "by the wall." This song is reportedly Bowie's second-most-covered song, behind "Rebel, Rebel."
"Christiane F." is a soundtrack album based on a movie about Christiane F. (born Christiane Vera Felscherinow), a German actress and musician. The film is based on her autobiography which documents her teenage drug use.
Listen to Brooklyn band TV on the Radio perform live in the KEXP studio in 2004: www.kexp.org Now, watch their performance of David Bowie's "Heroes": www.youtube.com
"Lodger" is the third in Bowie and Eno's "Berlin trilogy." Here, critic Ben Graham shines a light on this underrated album: www.youtube.com
In an article about The Talking Heads, it was said that David Bowie was trying on this track to sound like David Byrne, who was befriending Brian Eno at this time. Here's Bowie in a trenchcoat, singing "D.J.": www.youtube.com
In talking about Major Tom, Bowie references his first hit, "Space Oddity." The artist says that, in this song, he's saying goodbye to the 70's and to his dr4ug habit.: www.songfacts.com
"Scary Monsters" was David Bowie's last studio album for RCA. On "Fashion," Robert Fripp is responsible for the funky guitar line.
Watch rare footage of David Bowie and Freddie Mercury in this unofficial video of "Under Pressure": www.youtube.com Now, hear the isolated vocal track for this wonderful song: www.wimp.com
David Bowie invited Stevie Ray Vaughn to play guitar on "Let's Dance" after hearing Double Trouble at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
A Bowie biographer says that this song was inspired by Iggy Pop's infatuation with a lovely Vietnamese woman. The song first appeared on Pop's 1977 album, "The Idiot." The video for the song was, according to Bowie, a direct statement against racism: www.youtube.com
Another powerful video from the "Let's Dance" album, this film portrays the struggle of an Aboriginal couple against racism and Western cultural oppression: www.youtube.com
Another powerful video from the "Let's Dance" album, this film portrays the struggle of an Aboriginal couple against racism and Western cultural oppression: www.youtube.com
Go here to The Dandy Warhols' official website: www.dandywarhols.com
Listen to an exclusive live performance for KEXP listeners by Arcade Fire that included "Reflektor": www.kexp.org
Watch this video of Jermaine and Bret singing about "Bowie in Space": www.youtube.com
Here's a KEXP album review of Bowie's 2013 release, "The Next Day": blog.kexp.org
