{"id":11426,"date":"2012-01-13T09:52:12","date_gmt":"2012-01-13T14:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/?p=11426"},"modified":"2012-01-13T15:45:54","modified_gmt":"2012-01-13T20:45:54","slug":"mr-mod-releases-the-list-of-the-next-10-bowie-songs-that-he-likes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/mr-mod-releases-the-list-of-the-next-10-bowie-songs-that-he-likes\/","title":{"rendered":"Mr. Mod Releases the List of the Next 10 Bowie Songs That He Likes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/like.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-11429\" title=\"like\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/like-300x273.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"273\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/like-300x273.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/like.jpg 340w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Certain artists play especially well here in the Halls of Rock. By &#8220;play especially well&#8221; I mean they instantly spark discussion, incite turf wars, cause Townspeople to question their fellow Townspeople&#8217;s true motives for getting so worked up about the particular artist. Respected, accomplished, yet polarizing artists <strong>The Boss<\/strong> and <strong>REM<\/strong> are sure to get folks going. Most Townspeople are willing to jump in as pure fanboys on any Beatles-related topic, but throw a Stones thread up here, especially one that plays off the &#8217;60s Stones vs the &#8217;70s Stones, and Townspeople take their positions personally. Among all the &#8220;go-to&#8221; artists for inciting rock chatter, however, few hold a candle to <strong>David Bowie<\/strong>. There are so many angles at which Bowie can be appreciated or derided, all of which boil down to, <em>Is Bowie a shaman or a sham?<\/em> We don&#8217;t question this split personality in an artist like <strong>Bob Dylan<\/strong>, but Bowie&#8217;s ambiguities are a constant cause for examination. Who could forget <strong>sammymaudlin<\/strong>&#8216;s groundbreaking study of Bowie&#8217;s deep-seated<a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php\/bowie-and-balls-if-he-can-t-them-no-one\/\" target=\"_blank\"> <strong>balls envy<\/strong>, <em>Bowie &amp; Balls: If He Can&#8217;t Have Them, No One Can<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In high school I bought the standard\u00a0<em>Changesonebowie<\/em> single-album greatest hits collection in high school and loved almost everything on it. Despite the pleasure derived from those 11 songs, I soon found Bowie&#8217;s album cuts frequently disappointing if not outright annoying. The whole chameleonic Bowie persona was a turn-off too. Here I was, hip deep in trying to be all that I could be while this guy was, as I saw it, constantly running away from himself. In college I heard a few more good album cuts off <em>The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars<\/em>, but at the same time the worst Bowie music ever had become wildly popular: the <em>Let&#8217;s Dance<\/em> album. Just typing that album title gave me a gated reverb flashback. Ugh. It wasn&#8217;t until I turned 30 that I finally bought <em>Hunky Dory<\/em> and realized I probably loved 30 Bowie songs yet still couldn&#8217;t say that I loved Bowie. Word got out and friends wanted to know what was lacking in the 30 songs I loved by David Bowie that failed to put the artist over the hump for me. Probably nothing was lacking in the songs. All the stuff I didn&#8217;t like about Bowie, including how frequently I strongly disliked those songs of his that I didn&#8217;t love, was too much to overcome, at least until recently.<\/p>\n<p>In November 2007, after years of prodding and a campaign led by <strong>Townsman alexmagic<\/strong>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php\/mr-mod-releases-the-list-of-30-bowie-son\/\" target=\"_blank\">I finally released the list of the 30 David Bowie songs I love<\/a>. Yesterday the Magic Man asked whether Bowie&#8217;s &#8220;Five Years&#8221; would make my next grouping of songs 31-60. I replied that it would probably rank among the Top 35. Then I thought about this issue some more. There&#8217;s no way I could fill out a list of my Top 60 Bowie songs, but I think I could fill out entries 31 through 40. Following is my list of the next 10 Bowie songs that I <em>like<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p>Before posting this list it goes without saying that a few ground rules are in order:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>As with my initial list I will not consider &#8220;Under Pressure&#8221; and &#8220;All the Young Dudes&#8221;; this list must be carried by Bowie and Bowie alone (along with <strong>Carlos Alomar<\/strong>, of course).<\/li>\n<li>It&#8217;s only fair that I exclude the frequently enjoyable cover songs from <em>Pin Ups<\/em> nor any live alternate takes of studio songs from those &#8217;70s live albums I always kind of liked and am tempted to buy one of these days.<\/li>\n<li>I will resist the urge to give a mild thumbs up for that song from <em>Cat People<\/em>. If there&#8217;s anything I like about that song it&#8217;s only its ability to conjure images of a prime-time <strong>Nastassja Kinski<\/strong> slinking across the floor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>OK, with that out of my way, let&#8217;s move onto my list of the next 10 Bowie songs I like, in no particular order.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lady Stardust: If this list was in order, this may rank #31. I love the opening piano theme, the melody is cool and dramatic without getting Bowie into one of his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php\/get-this-guy-a-guitar-strap-but-first-let\u2019s-talk-about-bowie\u2019s-choruses\/\" target=\"_blank\">ridiculous affectations<\/a>, and the &#8220;all right&#8221; chorus is right up my alley.<\/li>\n<li>Stay: There&#8217;s as much I find slightly annoying about this song as I like. Ultimately, it&#8217;s really well done and creates its own world &#8211; always a good thing in a song.<\/li>\n<li>Five Years: This song scared me when I first heard it in college, in good and bad ways. It takes forever to heat up, and I&#8217;m one of these &#8220;Grab my in the opening 8 measures&#8221; guys. The exaggerated singing during the fade is sometimes troubling to this day, but I&#8217;ve always been a fan of Bowie&#8217;s drunken sailor backing vocals, best displayed on &#8220;Panic in Detroit&#8221; and so many of the live versions of his songs from <em>Stage<\/em> and the other live album from the &#8217;70s. All in all the performance is executed just right. It&#8217;s a wonder of awkward songwriting. Maybe an order to this list is developing.<\/li>\n<li>Watch That Man: I completely forgot about this song. This one&#8217;s really good, like it should have been given to <strong>Mott the Hoople<\/strong>. Ian Hunter and the boys would have gotten a little more mileage out of the choruses.<\/li>\n<li>Be My Wife: I thought I liked this song, but I haven&#8217;t listened to <em>Low<\/em> in years. After reviewing <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kB7skYEv_EM\" target=\"_blank\">this cool video<\/a> (I&#8217;m a sucker for artists lip-synching in front of stark white backgrounds), which I&#8217;d forgotten about, I confirmed that I do like the song. Jeez Bowie can look ugly. This reminds me of all the times I&#8217;ve disliked him when I heard women talking about how hot he was. Jealousy&#8217;s a bitch!<\/li>\n<li>Blue Jean: As I&#8217;ve <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php\/david-bowie-s-blue-jean-is-as-good-as-an\/\" target=\"_blank\">written about before<\/a>, this song may be as good as anything on <em>Low<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>Fashion: Although much about this song annoys me I bet it wouldn&#8217;t be so bad if I heard it now, for the first time in maybe 10 years.<\/li>\n<li>China Girl: I still hate the way this entire album sounds, but if you transported me back to 1983 and I was once-again the pathetic 20 year old I was, and I was really wasted and trying to make some girl, as <strong>Mick Jagger<\/strong> would put it, and this song came on and she was digging it I am pretty sure I could feign digging it too.<\/li>\n<li>God Knows I&#8217;m Good: Jeez, I haven&#8217;t heard this song since sophomore year in college, but I was running out of choices to fill this list and remembered having once liked it. I just listened to it again, and it&#8217;s still pretty good. I like when Bowie sings in this relaxed, folky way, like some English <strong>Paul Simon<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The Man Who Sold the World: Not much of a song, if you ask me, but I like the fuzz guitar sound. If this list is in order, this may be #40.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<nav class=\"page-links\"><strong>Pages:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/mr-mod-releases-the-list-of-the-next-10-bowie-songs-that-he-likes\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">1<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/mr-mod-releases-the-list-of-the-next-10-bowie-songs-that-he-likes\/2\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">2<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/mr-mod-releases-the-list-of-the-next-10-bowie-songs-that-he-likes\/3\/\" class=\"post-page-numbers\"><span class=\"page-num\">3<\/span><\/a><\/nav>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Certain artists play especially well here in the Halls of Rock. By &#8220;play especially well&#8221; I mean they instantly spark discussion, incite turf wars, cause Townspeople to question their fellow Townspeople&#8217;s true motives for getting so worked up about the particular artist. Respected, accomplished, yet polarizing artists The Boss and REM are sure to get <a href='https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/mr-mod-releases-the-list-of-the-next-10-bowie-songs-that-he-likes\/' class='excerpt-more'>[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[342],"tags":[153],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11426"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11426\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}