Bowie makes the effort to don an eyepatch, but no one thinks to pack a guitar strap for this promo shoot? Was this guy’s priorities straight, or is this an awkward attempt at holstering?

More importantly, though, I’ve been meaning to ask if anyone else too often feels let down by David Bowie’s choruses? Clearly he’s got nearly 30 winning choruses to his credit, including this one, but I wonder how many more Bowie songs I’d like if he didn’t climb up to the dramatic heights he so often attempts to climb. I thought of this a couple of weeks ago, while listening to The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. I was digging the verses on “Starman,” as I always do, then feeling like I was getting my chain yanked during the long, sweeping choruses, also as I always do. It sounds like an advertising jingle until that great guitar riff gets the song set up for the next verse.

“Soul Love” is another song from that album with a chorus that seems to try too hard. Station to Station, with one of my favorite Bowie songs, “TVC15,” is loaded with overblown choruses. Don’t get me wrong: I’m well aware that writing a great chorus one of the hardest things to do in songwriting, but there are times I wish Bowie would keep it simple. Following, however, is a cool performance I’d never seen before of a song of his that I think nails his goal of a grandiose, climbing chorus: Continue reading »