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

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?

Not everyone looks at ILM every day!

I've got no idea how booknmarking even works on ILX

34. "Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (reprise)" (from Diamond Dogs) - 356 points/12 votes/3 first-place votes

http://youtu.be/vrfc8c6VkTA

How have I never seen that Boys Keep Swinging performance before now? The, erm, item popping up from his trousers at 2:01!

What a strange coincidence! I'm actually listening to Diamond Dogs right now, and this came on and I was wondering when it was going to come up... and here it is! This is probably the centrepiece of Diamond Dogs for me... love the way the vocal leaps from the intro to the "can't you seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee that I'm scared and I'm lonely?" part. Real goosebump-inducing stuff. And of course, the whole way that 'Candidate' just builds and builds before the release of 'Sweet Thing (Reprise)'.

This was a late cut for me, and really I am not sure how it got left off my ballot. It is a great moment on the record, and a standalone gem. I was having a tough time getting a ballot done at all, so I guess this was just collateral damage. Hard to tell if there will be spikes in the point totals soon, or if it will just be for the top 10-15 tracks.

omg that SNL clip is too much!! <3

I didn't get the impression that voting for other artists' versions of Bowie songs was permitted. If I'd thought Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes" was kosher in this poll, it woulda been top 10 on my ballot!

It was brought up on the voting thread -- I OK'd it as a legit ballot entry because he recorded his own version, which was eventually released as a bonus track on Aladdin Sane.

glad boys keep swinging made it, that was high on my list

No comments on "Aladdin Sane"? C'mon! Mike Garson! Genius!

i love alladin sane, the song, the album, it kinda replaced ziggy stardust for me because i listened to ziggy too much in HS and never really want to listen to it again

33. "Fame" (from Young Americans) - 360 points/16 votes/2 first-place votes

Studio: http://youtu.be/J-_30HA7rec
Lip-syncing on Soul Train: http://youtu.be/FW9x7OkwpxA

I will repeat myself talking about the glory of the Aladdin Sane/Diamond Dogs era of Bowie, and say that Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (reprise) is perfect summary... apocalyptic, paranoid, romantic, and filthy. I absolutely love it.

No comments on "Aladdin Sane"? C'mon! Mike Garson! Genius!

― Jeff W, Wednesday, March 7, 2012 5:04 PM (49 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I like a lot of things about 'Aladdin Sane'... the crazy Mike Garson piano solo being one of them, of course, but I always loved the way the chorus feels somewhat jarring and uncomfortable, which I presume was the intention!

not much Ziggy on this poll so far, wondering if it's gonna show super high or if it's gonna be overlooked? b/c my snark about "theatrical" Bowie aside, I love pretty much all of Ziggy, well, except for "Rock & Roll Suicide" which was my only vote for worst Bowie song (am I alone on that?)

Also, the piano solo thing in Aladdin Sane totally blew my mind in high school. One of those songs that totally changed my personal rules about what a "song" even was.

Among other things, the Berlin trilogy albums are very consistent - the records that precede it generally have higher highs and lower lows. So it make sense that standout tracks from all three are placing in the lower half of the poll - people are going to have a lot of different favorites from these albums. Even so, I'll be shaking my head if "Sound and Vision" makes top 20.

33. "Fame" (from Station to Station)

actually young americans as i'm sure we all know, honest mistake, etc.

the piano solo on Aladdin Sane is one of my favorite things ever

'Fame' is definitely another one of my personal keepers from Young Americans.

I think Aladdin Sane was my #2, it was #1 but I changed it at the last minute

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.

I'm the other number one voter. figured it was common knowledge that ATYD is one of the top 5 British rock singles ever.

Just realised I want to make a Bowie-sampling footwork track called (wait for it) Thin White Juke.

"Fame" surprisingly low, but I understand why. Loved it the first 20 or 40 times I heard it, for some reason doesn't do much for me anymore - even compared to some others among the very small handful of Bowie songs that are overexposed stateside.

I love "Aladdin Sane" so much for that Garson solo -- I wish it had been released as a single because I would love to start the thread "what are the most avant-garde/outside solos on pop singles?"

"what are the most avant-garde/outside solos on pop singles?"

Great thread idea!

Ah yeah, I caught that "Fame" error last night and fixed it on the googledoc, but forgot to fix it on my little cheat sheet for today's results.

I was the other way round with Fame. Used to like it, then came to think of it as an empty vessel, then reassessed it again in light of the James Brown poll. It was my no.12 or thereabouts.

woah, "Fame" waaaay too low IMHO. My #4.

More Carlos Alomar brilliance here. But the drumming's also wonderful. First time Dennis Davis worked with Bowie, I think. What an intro!

no.8. No way is my no.12 going to show!

"Other boys check you out
You get a girl
To say your favorite things
When you're a boy"

a win-win situation right there. too low on my ballot

sweet thing etc and aladdin sane were my #1 and #2. have never really seen the latter discussed on ilx so was curious where it'd place

32. "Fashion" (from Scary Monsters) - 374 points/17 votes/1 first-place vote

Album version: http://youtu.be/WPVTbDA8dSM
Official video: http://youtu.be/GA27aQZCQMk

I'll never forget being creeped out by the video for Fashion when I was 8. The beep beep part.

oof, that's three of my top 10 gone in the last four reveals. The thing I especially treasure about "Fashion" is the intro: one of those "what you thought was the beat turns out to be the offbeat" tricks that gets me every time.

"Fashion" and "Fame" held very similar spots on my list, i.e., both songs I really like but not top-20 candidates. Both of these were late cuts though. Definitely victims of overexposure for me I think, but songs I still get excited for when they come on in a movie/store/on the radio.

Love the "Freaks and Geeks" scene where Ken throws on "Fashion" to test whether or not he is gay.

One of the original MTV VJs, Alan Hunter, is the blue-stripey shirt guy wearing a fake mouse nose in that video.

both were on my ballot but "Fashion" placing above "Fame" is crazy to me

Yeah, any joy I got from Fame (and Under Pressure) were utterly destroyed by hearing it in pool halls about ten times a night.

Hmmm, gum-chewing G.E. Smith in the video for "Fahsion" does not help it's cause.

re the 'awful' thing he drew on the floor:
http://bowiesongs.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/dbka.jpg?w=450

31. "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" (from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars) - 375 points/16 votes/2 first-place votes

http://youtu.be/9jg4ekLG9Zo