The Man Who Polled the World, aka DAVID BOWIE POLL RESULTS

38. "Breaking Glass" (from Low) - 333 points/15 votes/1 first-place vote

http://youtu.be/2j4mfErOeqg

The thing about 'Breaking Glass' is that I always find myself wishing that the song were twice as long, even if I do realise that its length is actually perfect.

I always want to know what the awful thing he drew on the carpet was.

In the event that this fantastic poll should turn to erosion

The awful thing was a pentangle I believe, drawn during some paranoid LA hallucination.

Can I do the nick Lowe joke now?

The lines "Don't look at the carpet; I drew something awful on it" refer to Bowie's practice of drawing the Tree of Life on the floor during that period, as he was interested in Aleister Crowley and Qabbala at the time.

(from wikipedia)

Good.

http://www.wilde-life.com/expos/secretsongs/nicklowe.html

Side A of Low is my favourite of any of his sides. All but "Breaking Glass" and "What In the World" feature on my ballot. And even those are great songs. Sequentially, that side kinda comes of as a perfectly executed run of try out singles. As if he recorded them all within a week or so, each in one take, bang on the money every time. Perfect.

xp
Think you're too late Mark. Unless it's different to the one upthread.

Breaking Glass was my no.6. I love love love it.

Low in general sounds so interesting texturally to me, and Breaking Glass is the most so.

The awful thing was a pentangle I believe, drawn during some paranoid LA hallucination.

― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, March 7, 2012 3:37 PM (3 minutes ago)

This is slightly disappointing.

Yeah I tried to find the photo of him drawing that. It's in one of the ryko booklets. There's one of him standing up and drawing it and one in which he sits on the floor, one arm supporting his upper body, the other drawing. Maybe it's the back cover for Station to Station ryko release?

http://schoolgirlsmack.tumblr.com/post/224871240/bowie-drawing-a-kabbalistic-tree-of-life

as he was interested in Aleister Crowley and Qabbala at the time

The time being his whole career. Also see "Quicksand.

Bowie looks as if you could snap his arms off in that picture.

does look pretty awful:

http://neovitruvian.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/340px-tree-of-life_queens-colours-svg.png

What In The World seems too, uh low. That is a doozy of a song, and still sounds ahead of its time.

xp, Yep, back of Ryko StS. Didn't know what that was until now; assumed it was another still from The Man Who Fell To Earth.

So what did he use to draw on carpet? I assume it wasn't shag.

Maybe rather than drawing something that is awful, he drew something but did an awful job.

Sorry chap. I knew there was some satanist thing going on. Tree of Life might be nastier; don't know what it is but it must be evil somehow.

Bowie would've been a hellvua roommate. Breaking glass, drawing on the carpet, crashing his car in the parking garage...

Cool, two in a row for me! Fantastic Voyage was my #14 as well, such a cool song. Breaking Glass almost got cut, but eeked out my last spot. Just such a bizarre, texturally dynamic song. The hooks were too hard to ignore for me.

But the best is the abusive "don't look!" then "see!"

37. "All the Young Dudes" (Bowie: Aladdin Sane sessions; Mott the Hoople, 1972 single) - 334 points/15 votes/2 first-place votes

Bowie: http://youtu.be/YZqY3hiXJr8
Mott: http://youtu.be/IBcDEmNDYW8
Queen, Bowie, Ian Hunter & Mick Ronson at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert: http://youtu.be/nhGOx1lidGc

Moderator, is it too early to guess the top 5?

(Thanks ledge and tarfumes, that's the pic I was referring too)

It was different, but I'm too late anyway:

http://www.vinyltap.co.uk/gallery/ni/nickliltsobg5005150309498270.jpg

Tree of Life is Jewish mysticism, nothing evil about it.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/lowes-bowie

All the Young Dudes I figured would rate much higher, it is classic Bowie that presages many hits of the 80s: a rock anthem about the end of the world.

Pretty much after I submitted my All the Young Dudes-less ballot I had it going round my head for a couple of days. No do-overs though.

That hook is powerful.

Confession: I dislike "All The Young Dudes" and always have. Don't know why.

:O

36. "Boys Keep Swinging" (from Lodger) - 345 points/16 votes/1 first-place vote

Official video: http://youtu.be/UMhFyWEMlD4
On Saturday Night Live with Klaus Nomi and Joey Arias: http://youtu.be/XNKiGFaRxdM

Haven't heard it, but there's a version of this by Susanna Hoffs with John Entwistle on bass.

there's a version of this by Susanna Hoffs with John Entwistle on bass

my introduction!

This one grew out of 'Fantastic Voyage', apparently. I like it a lot, but it's not one of my favourites.

I remember watching that SNL clip at the time and thinking "what the HELL?!"

I resubmitted with "All the Young Dudes" as my #1 (just Mott's version, though--don't think I've heard Bowie's). Such a great, oddly moving song. "Teen Age Riot" circa 1972.

Bowie dancing better than usual in that SNL clip.

Oh man, I can't believe I didn't know this was happening!

Prefer Mott's ATYD, so left it off.

Tree of life more an awe-ful/profound thing than awful/evil thing in the kind of magickal system that coke-addled rock stars go for. Foundation of existence, kether to malkuth.

Yeah I always imagined it was more like stick figures engaging in a disgusting sex act.

35. "Aladdin Sane" (from Aladdin Sane) - 347 points/14 votes/0 first-place votes

http://youtu.be/q2y9inP4CqE

Love the verses, find the extended outro slightly tedious.

Oh man, I can't believe I didn't know this was happening!

― wolf kabob (ENBB), Wednesday, March 7, 2012 10:26 AM (4 minutes ago)

I don't want to be a dick about this, I just want to understand -- how do people "do" ILX in a way that a thread that spends a day and a half at the top of Site New Answers and ILM New Answers can go unnoticed?

Just catching up with bookmarked threads rather than scanning new answers?