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

I saw Lulu do this live at 7am on breakfast tv maybe four years ago. It's just not right, live musical performances at that hour.

I knew the song/album well prior to Unplugged, and the first time I heard Nirvana's cover was in a Taco Bell. I immediately knew who/what it was, but it seemed insanely incongruous; I thought, "How am I hearing this song in this place?"

that's it for early bowie outside of life on mars, right?

early meaning pre-ziggy

I feel like I knew The Man Who Sold the World before Nirvana rehabilitated it, but I could be kidding myself

Ha, I know what you mean! But I'm p. sure that I recognised it tho when I watched Nirvana Unplugged.

I never knew about the easter eggs either! Huge thanks.

Really hope "Velvet Goldmine" places up there. I love that song, esp. the spooky-ooky backing vocals.

Did anybody else vote for Black Country Rock or Janine? Those are my two favorite early Bowie songs.

Glad this song placed high. Love the multi-tracked, wordless vocals on the outro. Just a cool-sounding song.

wow, be my wife video is so perfectly suited to the song, which I'm pretty sure made it into my top twenty. love love love it

― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel),

This. He looks downright miserable, perfect for the lyrics.

was Velvet Goldmine a known track pre the Ryko reissues? i know that Sweet Head was utterly unknown until the Rykos.

11. "Oh! You Pretty Things" (from Hunky Dory) - 630 points/30 votes/0 first-place votes

Album: http://youtu.be/wIXGDQtQJaM
Old Grey Whistle Test: http://youtu.be/bnXZ3R3OWpg

My #2

Classic.

hmmm where is Speed of Life?

(or did it already place and I just am not thinking right?)

I voted for Black Country Rock.

Three in a row for me, has me wondering if every song left will be on my ballot. Great song, classic indeed. Wonder why a song like this got no play on classic rock radio when I was a kid? Seems like it fits with a lot of other stuff that got play (such a huge chorus too!, made for the radio).

Referring to "Oh! You Pretty Things" of course.

Velvet Goldmine a b-side? wikicheck, yes, eventually, to the 75 rerelease of Space Oddity. So full-on fans would likely know, casual listeners likely not.

It was on the Ryko Ziggy though too, which was the first exposure many people had to that album.

I voted for Black Country Rock.

― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 8 March 2012 16:13 (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Does Classic Rock Radio go in for high campery?

"Changes" still gets played a ton, as do the Ziggy singles.

Re: OYPT: love the casual way he sings lines like "All the nightmares came today/And it looks as though they're here to stay" (which then leads into the knees-up singalonga chorus)

was Velvet Goldmine a known track pre the Ryko reissues? i know that Sweet Head was utterly unknown until the Rykos.

was the opening track on an RCA 80s Bowies compilation called Rare, which also featured the fantastic Helden.

the fact i traded my copy for something else a few years later haunts me to this day

the 4 biggest Bowie staples on US classic rock radio: Under Pressure, Fame, Space Oddity and Changes

Growing up, I heard Ziggy much more than Changes on classic rock radio. Under Pressure was too current to be classic rock.

well yeah i'm going off recent stats. i'm sure if i had more complete stats there'd be several ziggy songs in the top 10 bowie songs

"All The Young Dudes" got a ton of play, doesn't seem like a whole other world away from that. "Get It On (Bang a Gong)" obviously got played a bunch. Not much high camp, but still, I NEVER heard this song until I heard the album proper, and it just seems like a song that would have fit the format of a bunch of stations from my youth.

Seems like a proto-"Changes" sonically, and the lyrics wouldn't have kept it off the air. I guess Bowie just had too many other hits to make room for a song like this. "Heroes" didn't even get much play (might hear it once a year or something), so I guess it isn't surprising, just seems like it could have gotten a spin once in a while. I might have gotten into Bowie earlier if the radio stretched the catalog a bit more.

The local "good time oldies" -- as opposed to "classic rock" -- station is one of my presets when I'm out and about, and "Fame," "Let's Dance" and "Under Pressure" are the only things I can recall hearing in the last few years. Heard "Fame" just last week in fact.

Okay, that makes sense. Classic Rock radio is a weird beast that rarely evolves.

xposts

...and the lyrics wouldn't have kept it off the air.

American stations in the 70s might have been skittish about the "bitch" line.

It's weird how "Who Are You" can have the f-word, The Stones can make a dead man cum and Jackie can give head in "Walk on the Wild Side", but other songs with lyrics less scary can't pass.

"good time oldies" -- as opposed to "classic rock"

A paper-thin distinction in US radio programming that has always fascinated me. xp to myself

They used to play Rebel Rebel and Young Americans all the time on classic rock radio. Station To Station was where they got off the proverbial Bowie bus.

It surprises me that 'Be My Wife' didn't really get anywhere as a single, because to me it's the one track on Low that stands out as obvious single.

― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican)

I've always wondered this too. It's such a catchy song, I've no idea why it wasn't as big as Sound & Vision. It was my number one and could be in my top ten songs of all time. That bass line in the chorus is unbeatable.

oh shit, I'm late for the next one!

TIME FOR THE TOP 10

10. "Rebel Rebel" (from Diamond Dogs) - 638 points/27 votes/0 first-place votes

Album: http://youtu.be/W4SLXaF-lIc
Later with Jools Holland, 2002: http://youtu.be/7HyWXftUiWc

The classic rock station I used to work for was the same way:

Young Americans
Changes
Space Oddity
Rebel Rebel
Ziggy Stardust
Suffragette City
Golden Years

maybe Fame, I can't remember.

Always remember the "Big Jet Airliner" song (or whatever it's called) by Steve Miller had the word "shit" in it, the Who song being the other big swear-word song I remember as a kid. Rolling Stone's "Bitch" certainly got play, but it always felt like the DJs were slipping one in when they played it.

No more radio posts, back to the countdown!

^ read that in Casey Kasem's voice.

In related news, happy birthday Gary Numan!

Yaaay Rebel Rebel. I love his trashy voice in this one.

I don't really understand how someone can not like this song, honestly.

What can I say about 'Rebel Rebel'? That guitar riff clearly was some kind of gift from the Gods.

I love the guitar tone of Rebel Rebel, but one of my friends used to sing "Rubble Rubble" like the Hamburgler (we were 9 or 10) and I've never been able to shake it. Sort of takes the song somewhere else so I've never been able to rate it properly.

That same station I worked for had a promise to its listeners that it would play classic rock songs without profanity. (this was late 90s/00s.) Our engineer would go in and digitally bowdlerize all these songs we'd talk about.

Even that bit in "Life In the Fast Lane" - Our version went "We've been up and down that highway, haven't seen a zchepp-ychepp thing."

also, the sad, Jagger-esque breakdown/coda annoys me.

I don't really understand how someone can not like this song, honestly.

― Laura Lucy Lynn (La Lechera), Thursday, March 8, 2012 10:41 AM (52 seconds ago)

I don't actively dislike it, but it's never moved or grabbed me really.