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

I think "Cracked Actor" has the greatest Enjoyment Factor when Drinking increase than just about any song in history.

haha, pretty sure i voted for it, too! "Time" is another one of these

I kiss you! You're beautiful!

My wife played it for me on our 5 year anniversary. Funny, cool, and very touching.

Ballsy way to kick off an album you've designed to be your commercial breakthrough but then the 70s was a very apocalyptic decade.

"Five Years" was second on my ballot. Love it to pieces. Wrote something about it recently that is probably of little interest but what the hell.

I put Five Years too low on my ballot at #2.

It really sets a mood, is what it does.

Who else voted it #1?

hi la lechera, that is me! because:

Drive In my number 2. Love sad sci fi Bowie best of all.

― woof, Wednesday, March 7, 2012 6:51 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post P

I wish the voice of Steve Wright didn't spoil that OGWT clip at the end. And those fucking inane TOTP2 blurbs too.

Ballsy way to kick off an album you've designed to be your commercial breakthrough but then the 70s was a very apocalyptic decade.

I hadn't considered that before...pretty otm. The apocalypticism and the hedonism went hand in hand.

Hi 5, woof!

I genuinely dislike Five Years, sorry

lyrics are great, don't get me wrong, but the song doesn't do a thing for me

I also like Five Years because the listener is totally rewarded for listening to the whole song. Once that's done, and you've made it, you're ready for the rest of the album. It's like going through the dark tunnel before Space Mountain or something.

xp - i agree with you, c.

I recommend reading Francis Wheen's Strange Days Indeed with a Bowie soundtrack because it's amazing how many of the weirder 70s trends were reflected or anticipated in his songs - doomsday cults, fascist coup plotters, occultism. He nails the sense of disintegration and desperation and looking for answers in dangerous places.

Hi 5!

Love it so much, the 'drinking milkshakes' bit my absolute favourite lyric chunk of his. Weirdly, not a huge fan of the album, but 5Y a really powerful melancholy apocalypse.

(that was multi xp)

"Five Years" was second on my ballot

Me too. Second only to Win.

Yeah milkshakes is the killer bit. But the drums too! And the very genteel musical carnage towards the end of the song.

BTW never ever watch the Placebo version of that song on youtube.

I didn't vote for "Five Years", but I dig its absurd pathos. I saw GBV try it in a 50th encore one night & get the absurdity right.

agree about him being amazing live in the later years. Phoenix 96 was fantastic; better than Glastonbury 00 IMO yet there were very few 'hits' to speak of. Nicholas Pegg says his mid 90s band was his best since that 76 Thin White Duke tour.

Only #20 on my ballot, which I fear is a reflection of the mood I was in last night, I bloody love Five Years but I can't always listen to it.

It wouldn't have made it on at all if I hadn't inexplicably left out Changes.

/off to watch the Placebo version on YouTube

So I guess it's obvious Letter to Hermione didn't place. Shame on you ILM. Glad I wasn't a part of this.

Top 5 predictions (in descending order):

Station to Station
Suffragette City
Young Americans
Ashes to Ashes
Heroes

Ir's No Game Part 2:

two votes specified Pt. 2

Glad I'm not the only person who prefers 2. Love the deadpanness of it.

― Inevitable stupid samba mix (chap), Wednesday, 7 March 2012 15:20 (7 hours ago) Permalink

[catching up ...]

That was me, and it was my #2. Part 2 is like a full stop on that series of albums. And (oh dear, I now see that) my number #1, still to appear, is like a semicolon ...

i remain baffled by the Lodger love on ILM.

"Casual" Bowie still gripped by the notion of making art; thus every song boasts an ear-catching arrangement or hook. The mix is awful though: it's like crickets snuck into the message board.

Moka I voted for Letters to Hermione fwiw. So tender and sweet, and sounds genuine without being histrionic. <3

Starman is my #6,Never forget seeing this for the first time on TOTP awesome.

i've always loved the deliberately off-key 'smiling and waving and looking so fine' bit in 5 Years.

Placebo version on You Tube = Brian Molko strumming a guitar and singing by himself, and considering the song is not an obv acoustic choice and Molko can be... Molko, it is really quite... ok? Might watch it again tomorrow.

Recap:

60. "Sons of the Silent Age" (from "Heroes") - 200 points/11 votes/0 first-place votes
59. Teenage Wildlife (from Scary Monsters) - 206 points/9 votes/1 first-place vote
58. "The Secret Life of Arabia" (from "Heroes") - 211 points/11 votes/0 first-place votes
57. "Beauty and the Beast" (from "Heroes") - 219 points/11 votes/0 first-place votes
56. "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" (w/Giorgio Moroder; Cat People soundtrack; Let's Dance) - 220 points/10 votes/0 first-place votes
55. "Blackout" (from "Heroes") - 229 points/11 votes/1 first-place vote
54. "Move On" (from Lodger) - 233 points/10 votes/1 first-place vote
53. "Win" (from Young Americans) - 234 points/10 votes/2 first-place votes
52. "Cracked Actor" (from Aladdin Sane) - 239 points/10 votes/0 first-place votes
51. "Joe the Lion" (from "Heroes") - 251 points/9 votes/1 first-place vote
50. "A New Career in a New Town" (from Low) - 251 points/12 votes/0 first-place votes
49. "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" (from Scary Monsters) - 258 points/11 votes/0 first-place votes
48. "Diamond Dogs" (from Diamond Dogs) - 268 points/13 votes/0 first-place votes
47. "What in the World" (from Low) - 275 points/12 votes/1 first-place vote
46. "The Bewlay Brothers" (from Hunky Dory) - 284 points/14 votes/0 first-place votes
45. "Word on a Wing" (from Station to Station) - 288 points/10votes/1 first-place vote
44. "Kooks" (from Hunky Dory) = 290 points/14 votes/0 first-place votes
43. "Warszawa" (from Low) - 291 points/13 votes/0 first-place votes
42. "Jean Genie" (from Aladdin Sane) - 300 points/14 votes/0 first-place votes
41. "Wild Is the Wind" (from Station to Station) - 313 points/13 votes/0 first-place votes
40. "It's No Game" (from Scary Monsters) - 324 points/13 votes/1 first-place vote
39. "Fantastic Voyage" (from Lodger) - 327 points/17 votes/ 0 first-place votes
38. "Breaking Glass" (from Low) - 333 points/15 votes/1 first-place vote
37. "All the Young Dudes" (Bowie: Aladdin Sane sessions; Mott the Hoople, 1972 single) - 334 points/15 votes/2 first-place votes
36. "Boys Keep Swinging" (from Lodger) - 345 points/16 votes/1 first-place vote
35. "Aladdin Sane" (from Aladdin Sane) - 347 points/14 votes/0 first-place votes
34. "Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (reprise)" (from Diamond Dogs) - 356 points/12 votes/3 first-place votes
33. "Fame" (from Young Americans) - 360 points/16 votes/2 first-place votes
32. "Fashion" (from Scary Monsters) - 374 points/17 votes/1 first-place vote
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
30. "Ziggy Stardust" (from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars) - 390 points/18 votes/0 first-place votes
29. "Panic in Detroit" (from Aladdin Sane) - 400 points/19 votes/0 first-place votes
28. "Let's Dance" (from Let's Dance) - 422 points/22 votes/0 first-place votes
27. "Drive-In Saturday" (from Aladdin Sane) - 441 points/20 votes/0 first-place votes
26. "Quicksand" (from Hunky Dory) - 451 points/19 votes/0 first-place votes
25. "Queen Bitch" (from Hunky Dory) - 467 points/21 votes/0 first-place votes
24. "Modern Love" (from Let's Dance) - 476 points/23 votes/0 first-place votes
23. "Under Pressure" (Queen/Bowie single, 1981) - 479 points/21 votes/1 first-place vote
22. "Stay" (from Station to Station) - 497 points/24 votes/1 first place vote
21. "TVC15" (from Station to Station) - 514 points/24 votes/0 first-place votes
20. "John, I'm Only Dancing" (1972 single) - 526 points/24 votes/2 first-place votes
19. "Look Back in Anger" (from Lodger) - 527 points/23 votes/1 first-place vote
18. "Starman" (from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars) - 572 points/25 votes/1 first-place vote
17. "Space Oddity" (from Space Oddity) - 586 points/26 votes/1 first-place vote
16. "Five Years" (from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars) - 596 points/24 votes/2 first-place votes

oops.. not sure what happened there.

Anyway... Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing was my #1. So glad to see it as high as it is. And the most #1 votes so far.

When I discovered Bowie in early '93 (Black Tie White Noise!), he and Bryan Ferry, as I said in my podcast with sw00ds a couple years ago, could not have been more uncool with a large chunk of American college students. I taped his appearance on Arsenio Hall's show during which he performed with Al B Sure! and I could sense the waves of patient tolerance from Arsenio and the audience, i.e. lol let's humor the has-been. Bowie's look during this period didn't help either: Sinatra-era suits, handkerchiefs, coiffed hair.

If my memory serves me well it took a few years for the good will he accumulated after The Nirvana Cover to manifest itself in actual sales. Outside got indifferent reviews over here and disappointing sales, and there were reports of fans walking out of his concerts after Nine Inch Nails' appearance. The surprising longevity of Earthling adduced the slowly accruing revisionism. Consider: he released the remixed "I'm Afraid of Americans" more than six months after the album. Not many people bought hours either, and good for them: it's down there with Tonight as one of his sloppiest (TERRIBLE hair and clothes during this period too). But it didn't matter: 1999 was also when the last batch of reissues flooded the market. By the time of Heathen three years later he was back to being regarded as an icon.

Am I reading history correctly?

Hooray! Stay was my number one - my favourite song of his by miles, even though I do like a fair bit of his back catalogue. It's such a great encapsulation of all that is the Thin White Duke. Spindly, dead-eyed, airtight funk. Those chord progressions are something else too.

Quicksand is very low too - thought it would do much better than that.

Am I reading history correctly?

dunno. seemed to me that his reputation never slipped, not even the least little bit, not even during the tin machine years. most americans stopped paying attention to his current output over the 90s, but the older stuff has always been held in extremely high regard. same goes for ferry/roxy.

mmmmm I don't know. I can call to mind many condescending RS, SPIN, Details, Interview stories. The man himself remained news in the same way Charles Foster Kane always did after his papers stopped selling.

Also, my post addressed college students -- guys my age -- in the nineties, and, yeah, he was a standing joke at the beginning.

Missed most of today's reveal because I decided to go out and get drunk instead, but absolutely chuffed as buttons that 'Look Back In Anger' and 'Stay' placed... two of my all-time Bowie favourites.

and, no, I don't remember anyone passing around copies of STS or the Berlin Trilogy or even recommending him. He was the Ziggy guy responsible for a few AOR mainstays ("Changes," "Jean Genie," "Space Oddity" specifically). I mean, nobody cared.

I discovered Bowie around the same time, but just one of the Singles collections. I didn't listen to any current output until the collaboration with NIN. I don't remember him being especially uncool though. I always felt his place in the canon was already established. I guess the NIN thing felt a little 'old man trying to be hip'.

60. "Sons of the Silent Age" (from "Heroes") - 200 points/11 votes/0 first-place votes
59. Teenage Wildlife (from Scary Monsters) - 206 points/9 votes/1 first-place vote
58. "The Secret Life of Arabia" (from "Heroes") - 211 points/11 votes/0 first-place votes
57. "Beauty and the Beast" (from "Heroes") - 219 points/11 votes/0 first-place votes
56. "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" (w/Giorgio Moroder; Cat People soundtrack; Let's Dance) - 220 points/10 votes/0 first-place votes
55. "Blackout" (from "Heroes") - 229 points/11 votes/1 first-place vote
54. "Move On" (from Lodger) - 233 points/10 votes/1 first-place vote
53. "Win" (from Young Americans) - 234 points/10 votes/2 first-place votes
52. "Cracked Actor" (from Aladdin Sane) - 239 points/10 votes/0 first-place votes
51. "Joe the Lion" (from "Heroes") - 251 points/9 votes/1 first-place vote
50. "A New Career in a New Town" (from Low) - 251 points/12 votes/0 first-place votes
49. "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" (from Scary Monsters) - 258 points/11 votes/0 first-place votes
48. "Diamond Dogs" (from Diamond Dogs) - 268 points/13 votes/0 first-place votes
47. "What in the World" (from Low) - 275 points/12 votes/1 first-place vote
46. "The Bewlay Brothers" (from Hunky Dory) - 284 points/14 votes/0 first-place votes
45. "Word on a Wing" (from Station to Station) - 288 points/10votes/1 first-place vote
44. "Kooks" (from Hunky Dory) = 290 points/14 votes/0 first-place votes
43. "Warszawa" (from Low) - 291 points/13 votes/0 first-place votes
42. "Jean Genie" (from Aladdin Sane) - 300 points/14 votes/0 first-place votes
41. "Wild Is the Wind" (from Station to Station) - 313 points/13 votes/0 first-place votes
40. "It's No Game" (from Scary Monsters) - 324 points/13 votes/1 first-place vote
39. "Fantastic Voyage" (from Lodger) - 327 points/17 votes/ 0 first-place votes
38. "Breaking Glass" (from Low) - 333 points/15 votes/1 first-place vote
37. "All the Young Dudes" (Bowie: Aladdin Sane sessions; Mott the Hoople, 1972 single) - 334 points/15 votes/2 first-place votes
36. "Boys Keep Swinging" (from Lodger) - 345 points/16 votes/1 first-place vote
35. "Aladdin Sane" (from Aladdin Sane) - 347 points/14 votes/0 first-place votes
34. "Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (reprise)" (from Diamond Dogs) - 356 points/12 votes/3 first-place votes
33. "Fame" (from Young Americans) - 360 points/16 votes/2 first-place votes
32. "Fashion" (from Scary Monsters) - 374 points/17 votes/1 first-place vote
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
30. "Ziggy Stardust" (from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars) - 390 points/18 votes/0 first-place votes
29. "Panic in Detroit" (from Aladdin Sane) - 400 points/19 votes/0 first-place votes
28. "Let's Dance" (from Let's Dance) - 422 points/22 votes/0 first-place votes
27. "Drive-In Saturday" (from Aladdin Sane) - 441 points/20 votes/0 first-place votes
26. "Quicksand" (from Hunky Dory) - 451 points/19 votes/0 first-place votes
25. "Queen Bitch" (from Hunky Dory) - 467 points/21 votes/0 first-place votes
24. "Modern Love" (from Let's Dance) - 476 points/23 votes/0 first-place votes
23. "Under Pressure" (Queen/Bowie single, 1981) - 479 points/21 votes/1 first-place vote
22. "Stay" (from Station to Station) - 497 points/24 votes/1 first place vote
21. "TVC15" (from Station to Station) - 514 points/24 votes/0 first-place votes
20. "John, I'm Only Dancing" (1972 single) - 526 points/24 votes/2 first-place votes
19. "Look Back in Anger" (from Lodger) - 527 points/23 votes/1 first-place vote
18. "Starman" (from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars) - 572 points/25 votes/1 first-place vote
17. "Space Oddity" (from Space Oddity) - 586 points/26 votes/1 first-place vote
16. "Five Years" (from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars) - 596 points/24 votes/2 first-place votes

thx for the C&P work, smash

I got into 70s Bowie in college along with several other friends in the 90s, so it DID happen, somewhere. Helped that his entire back catalog was available on vinyl for dirt cheap.

Also, my post addressed college students -- guys my age -- in the nineties, and, yeah, he was a standing joke at the beginning.

that's so weird, cuz i'm a bit older than you (college in the late 80s), and bowie has always been HUGE among my immediate peers and the extended family of music scene people i've known over the course of my life, old and young. the "classic rock" stuff, the arty cherman stuff, the shiny 80s pop, the influence on lou & iggy, the glam & punk & funk & disco, all of it. big and obvious influence on tons of bands, from dino jr to the chamelons to smashing pumpkins.

i don't remember bowie ever becoming a "joke", just less and less interesting in the here and now. like the failure of the present only made the past shine all that much more brightly. but maybe an age gap of a half decade or so makes all the difference...

Yeah, that's the irony: his influence (and Ferry's) was SO obvious on eighties college rock but no one I knew wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.