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

When I listened to S&V off the album, comparitively recently, I was surprised at how short it is.

Actually, thinking now, is it not his 'version' of a song like "Gonna write a classic, gonna write it in an attic' Adrian Gurvitz?

I can imagine DBowie thinking it as a 'jingle' more than a song..

no spoilers

Photos from Bingley Hall, 1978:
http://www.nme.com/nme-video/youtube/id/TfMH8Xrob38

40min of live performance (for German TV? Not sure the 21/5/78 Bremen show was part of the tour):
http://youtu.be/_a9bt8XGNz8

The Tina Turner-Pepsi commerical is grislier than you guys remember. Note how Cool Bowie is Mullet Bowie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPsOrmAbyTM

They always like to think they are on *this* level, when they do these ads:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi5zFQ9plxU

As for Suede...yeah, the blitzkrieg of promo interviews in spring '93 restored Bowie as a cool figurehead even in the States, but remember: the Suede album flopped here and BTWN disappeared too after Savage Records went under.

I remember watching Velvet Goldmine at the pictures and [SPOILERS], at the end, when we have the faux-Bowie figure as a near-conservative corporate shill, I thought "Ooh, bitter fanboy. DB never sunk that low." But, actually...

Well, for a spoiler, it took me 'the appearance of the character' right at the beginning for me to think "is that not him", so...

Ah, Bowie's route isn't such a bad place to end up. Look at how Iggy's doing it.

Alice Cooper too.

While we're waiting for the rest of the results to come in, and on the subject of Bowie in the 90s, I've just discovered this bizarre and amazing interview he conducted with Tricky for Q in 1995.

http://www.moon-palace.de/tricky/q95.html

When I started buying the NME (bang in the middle of the britpop era) I think Bowie was fairly fashionable as an influence
(Pulp and Blur as well as Suede - even Oasis ended up covering "Heroes") but I seem to remember his then-current music getting fairly short shrift, especially Earthling. Hours... was sort of like "Well at least he's not jumping on bandwagons anymore". When those 1999 reissues came out, Uncut did a huge feature on him, which is when I started paying attention - I think he was the first pre-punk canon act I properly got into.

yeah the UNCUT Berlin feature in 2001 was fantastic; certainly the longest piece ever written on the subject at that point in a music mag (it was like 15 pages) and this was years before the Berlin books that came out too (the 33 and a 3rd Low book, the A New Career In A New Town book etc). the Bowie interview from the piece is here fyi http://www.bowiewonderworld.com/features/dbuncut.htm

Fantastically informative interview, presumably via email. They must have been whooping in the office when his answers arrived.

the PaoTD links for yesterday's countdown:

40. It's No Game
39. Fantastic Voyage
38. Breaking Glass
37. All the Young Dudes
36. Boys Keep Swinging
35. Aladdin Sane
34a. Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (reprise)
34b. Candidate 1 (Alternative candidate demo)
33. Fame
32. Fashion
31. Rock 'n' Roll Suicide
30. Ziggy Stardust
29. Panic in Detroit
28. Let's Dance
27. Drive-In Saturday
26. Quicksand
25. Queen Bitch
24. Modern Love
23. Under Pressure
22. Stay
21. TVC15
20. John, I'm Only Dancing (+ (again))
19. Look Back in Anger
18. Starman
17. Space Oddity
16. Five Years

Hello! Here we go -- big finish.

15. "Changes" (from Hunky Dory) - 597 points/27 votes/0 first-place votes

Album:http://youtu.be/pl3vxEudif8
from Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture: http://youtu.be/n8v486aUYu0

I had a manager called D4V3 CH1PCH4S3. Whenever he was out the office we'd sing "Ch-ch-ch-Ch1pchase/Turn and face the strange/Ch1pchase"

Life On Mars is a lock. Any others from Hunky Dory to come? Could Oh You Pretty Things sneak in?

I love the song Ziggy so much. I let it go by yesterday when I was distracted by something else.

(I'm struggling to think of locks btw, I can only name eight)

(For a mo, I thought you worked with someone with a car numberplate for a name!)

My daughter became obsessed with this (via Shrek) just before her fifth birthday and requested it on a loop during the party games. Kind of a poignant message for a fifth birthday party.

I could have a good guess at 12 of the 14. Then… pretty things? velvet goldmine? absolute beginners? Up the hill backwards? dunno.

I think for the top 10 I'll just keep on posting youtube links instead of embeds.

14. "Be My Wife" (from Low) - 608 points/24 votes/4 first-place votes

Official video: http://youtu.be/kB7skYEv_EM
Olympia, 2002: http://youtu.be/L-wp8JcWPqk

Be My Wife is one of my favorite Bowie videos ever. So perfect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfxIa-643zI
vs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3PIIyFxCog

woops , sorry about youtubes

Quick guess at the top ten, no order

Rebel Rebel
Young Americans
Station To Station
Golden Years
Life On Mars
Sound and Vision
Ashes To Ashes
Heroes
Suffragette City
Jean Jeanie

^ That's exactly my guess.
Top five: 1. Heroes, 2. Station to station, 3. Jean Genie, 4. Suffragette City, 5. Young Americans

Though such a high placing for "Station to station" is wishful thinking on my part

Can we not do guessing right before the top three or five? It's more fun to have them roll out totally fresh...

Jean Genie was way upthread already @ #42!

The Jean Genie has come and gone. Be My Wife was my #1 - glad to see it was so for more people.

Didn't we have Jean Genie?

Now I look silly

xps

Jean Genie's placed - switch for Man who Sold the World?

sorry iago. i'll stop

Whoops, I said "Jean Genie" but meant "Rebel rebel"
(Sorry for pre-guess / excited / can't follow roll-out today / annoyed)

xxxxxposts

Yes!! (high five to dorsalstop - excellent :-)
My number one. Such a rich little song. I loooooove the video, too. Bowie's fake guitar playing is always a blast, see also the "Rebel Rebel" performance on Toppop.

Am skipping past the prediction posts but... please stop kthxbye

Oh man, going to go home now. Hopefully catch up with the thread by the time WmC's at #8 or so...

Be My Wife was my no.3. Some days it'd've been no.1.

OK no more predictions.

he does look like Dot Cotton in the Be My Wife video.

"Be My Wife" was the second single from Low after "Sound and Vision", but it became the first new Bowie release since "Changes" to fail to break into the UK charts.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_My_Wife)

who knew?! actually you probably all did.

13. "Always Crashing in the Same Car" (from Low) 611 points/28 votes/ 1 first-place vote

Album: http://youtu.be/l2vEtfyveeY
VH1 Storytellers, 1999: http://youtu.be/avUqlvmuNp4

My best high school friend watched his bride come down the aisle to the accompaniment of "Be My Wife."

Looooooove the video, esp Bowie's expression while playing guitar: "Oh well I might as well play this" (purses lips diffidently).

Pleasantly surprised to see "Always Crashing in the Same Car" place! Had no idea it was so beloved (it was my #7).