Albums
"Heroes"Ziggy StardustHunky DoryStation to StationLowAladdin SaneDiamond DogsScary MonstersLodgerYoung Americans
Space OddityThe Man who Sold the World
Songs
"Heroes"Station to StationSweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (reprise)Life on MarsJoe the LionTimeAlways Crashing in the Same CarTeenage WildlifeZiggy StardustAladdin SaneSpace OddityBlackoutRed SailsFameAshes to AshesLady Grinning SoulOh You Pretty ThingsLady StardustWidth of a CircleWarszawa
― Mother, Thursday, 8 March 2012 23:44 (twelve years ago) link
For me (a nigh 40 year old), "Life On Mars?" jumped out as the standout when I first heard Hunky Dory in '91. Over the years, it's only grown in my estimation.
Life Aquatic can suck it. Almost ruined Bowie for me.
― EZ Snappin, Thursday, 8 March 2012 23:52 (twelve years ago) link
I've never seen Life Aquatic or whatever tv show WmC referred to in his initial post about Life on Mars -- I just think it's a really good song. TBH I am not really aware of what critical brouhaha surrounds any of Bowie's stuff, I just like the songs I like. And those are the songs I voted for. My opinion is not important in the greater scheme of things, nor is the greater scheme of things really that important to my opinion about these songs.
― Laura Lucy Lynn (La Lechera), Friday, 9 March 2012 00:01 (twelve years ago) link
I did it this way:
Songs01 Rock 'n' Roll Suicide02 Look Back In Anger03 "Heroes"04 Five Years05 Moonage Daydream06 Life on Mars07 Oh! You Pretty Things08 Changes09 John, I'm Only Dancing10 Rebel Rebel11 Drive In Saturday12 Golden Years13 Be My Wife14 Panic In Detroit15 The Jean Genie16 Sound and Vision17 Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)18 D.J.19 What in the World20 Aladdin Sane
Albums01 Lodger02 Low03 "Heroes"04 Aladdin Sane05 The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
Genuinely pained over omitting "Win." Nearly included "Neuköln." Flip-flopped over #1 & #2 placings. Overall satisfied. The Dinah Shore clip is awesome and the crap quality kind of suits it.
― Kent Burt, Friday, 9 March 2012 00:11 (twelve years ago) link
My Ballot
Letter To HermioneMoonage DaydreamSound and VisionRebel RebelAshes To AshesLife On Mars?John, I'm Only DancingStarmanZiggy StardustDrive In SaturdayChangesFameLet's DanceSpace OddityBuddha Of SuburbiaStayLady StardustQueen BitchHeroesJean Genie
― Moka, Friday, 9 March 2012 00:33 (twelve years ago) link
Really was expecting Letter to Hermione to place at least in the lower ranks but you don't really care about music, do ya?
Moonage Daydream and Sound and Vision on the top 10 is good enough for me. Life on Mars? at number one is sort of a perfect encapsulation on Bowie's career.
― Moka, Friday, 9 March 2012 00:35 (twelve years ago) link
My ballot which was sent too late to qualify:
Life On Mars? Sound and Vision "Heroes" Win Oh! You Pretty Things TVC 15 Thru' These Architects Eyes Station To Station Beauty and The Beast Breaking Glass Boys Keep Swinging Fashion Modern Love African Night Flight Man Who Sold The World Changes Drive In Saturday Golden Years Scary Monsters Aladdin Sane
Agree that it's a shame nothing after Let's Dance qualified. Great job, WmC!
― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 9 March 2012 00:38 (twelve years ago) link
I just want to post this lovely picture
― Laura Lucy Lynn (La Lechera)
That's Hermione btw.
― Moka, Friday, 9 March 2012 00:40 (twelve years ago) link
i am taking note of who voted D.J. and who did not >:[
― horseshoe, Friday, 9 March 2012 00:41 (twelve years ago) link
http://robotmantheblog.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/david_bowie_diaper.jpg
― Moka, Friday, 9 March 2012 00:42 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah, no idea how it wasn't in mine. Then again, my vote didn't count so...
― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 9 March 2012 00:44 (twelve years ago) link
This is my favorite bowie photo. Classiest mugshot i've seen, almost looks like a fashion photoshoot.
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kxwmfjYtrV1qb4j60o1_500.jpg
― Moka, Friday, 9 March 2012 00:45 (twelve years ago) link
he looks like a hitler youth in that photo, but he is beautiful
― horseshoe, Friday, 9 March 2012 00:46 (twelve years ago) link
my ballot:
songs:
1. John, I'm Only Dancing2. Aladdin Sane (1913 - 1938 - 197?)3. Sound And Vision4. Sons Of The Silent Age5. Lady Grinning Soul6. The Bewlay Brothers7. Drive-In Saturday8. Ashes to Ashes9. Warszawa10. Station To Station11. Starman12. The Width Of A Circle13. The Supermen14. Life On Mars?15. Golden Years16. Always Crashing In The Same Car17. Stay18. Moonage Daydream19. Yassassin (Turkish For: Long Live)20. Time
albums:
1. Aladdin Sane2. Low3. Hunky Dory4. Lodger5. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars
― silverfish, Friday, 9 March 2012 00:53 (twelve years ago) link
xpost:
I'm presuming that's when he got busted for marijuana, right? :)
― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Friday, 9 March 2012 00:53 (twelve years ago) link
wau Lady Grinning Soul didn't place.
― piscesx, Friday, 9 March 2012 01:35 (twelve years ago) link
this guy's songbook is truly an embarrassment of riches. on a different note, he's really not liked by critics, is he (other than the so-called Berlin trilogy perhaps)? or was that just in the 70s?
― Iago Galdston, Friday, 9 March 2012 01:38 (twelve years ago) link
In the US he was regarded with quite a lot of suspicion for most of the seventies. I just realized this today, and as heretical as it may sound the skeptical American critics explained his strategies exactly how they revealed themselves with greater care than the Brits, who accepted Bowie as he wanted to be: a superb pop artist/Pop Artist who scored many hits. Those early Greil Marcus and Lester Bangs essays are hilarious and quite apt not-quite-eviscerations, which is why their eventual conversion is more rewarding.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 9 March 2012 01:46 (twelve years ago) link
Re: Life on Mars--I wasn't really aware of the song until a couple years ago; Scott Miller, the guy from Game Theory, talked very highly of it when he started making those year by year mixtapes; I think he said it was his favourite song of '71. (He kept talking about what he called music-hall-descent-with-a-twist, which he traced from When a Man Loves a Woman, through Whiter Shade of Pale, to Life on Mars, Bell Bottom Blues, and All the Young Dudes). Anyways, I listened to the youtube then, but I wasn't really impressed. But when I got Spotify I decided to try to listen to classic Bowie run of albums finally. "Life on Mars" really shines in the context of that album, and esp since I got sick of "Changes" (way more played out than "Space Odditty") it seemed almost like a no-brainer...
― top 100 comedy facepalms of all time (loves laboured breathing), Friday, 9 March 2012 01:49 (twelve years ago) link
i had DJ on my ballot kinda shocked it didn't place
― buzza, Friday, 9 March 2012 01:50 (twelve years ago) link
my #6
also 1984 was a bit of a surprise too
― buzza, Friday, 9 March 2012 01:52 (twelve years ago) link
when i was 20 i was studying abroad in Paris and i became infatuated with a 27 year old French girl who lived in my building. we became pretty good friends, though it quickly became apparent that she had quite a poised, arms-length way of stemming any kind of advance from a young Australian guy like myself. she was elegant, insightful and beautiful. and she absolutely adored Bowie. of course i was very familiar with him prior to this point, but it was probably sometime around then that i realised he really was all that.
anway, my top 20:
1. always crashing in the same car2. word on a wing3. oh! you pretty things4. panic in detroit5. station to station6. what in the world7. moonage daydream8. life on mars9. rebel rebel10. be my wife11. TVC1512. cracked actor13. ashes to ashes14. sons of the silent age15. modern love16. sound and vision17. fame18. five years19. the width of a circle20. heroes
― charlie h, Friday, 9 March 2012 01:56 (twelve years ago) link
Mine, songs:01 Young Americans02 Moonage Daydream03 Sound and Vision04 Quicksand05 Drive In Saturday06 Time07 The Man Who Sold the World08 Ashes to Ashes09 Velvet Goldmine10 TVC-1511 Be My Wife12 Modern Love13 Fantastic Voyage14 Queen Bitch15 Space Oddity '6916 Sweet Thing17 Kooks18 Under Pressure19 Oh! You Pretty Things20 Rebel Rebel
albums:01 Hunky Dory02 Diamond Dogs03 Low04 Ziggy Stardust05 Alladin Sane
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 9 March 2012 02:07 (twelve years ago) link
MOKA -- That is why I posted it!!! It is Hermione.
― Laura Lucy Lynn (La Lechera), Friday, 9 March 2012 02:12 (twelve years ago) link
well in that case I love you.
― Moka, Friday, 9 March 2012 02:17 (twelve years ago) link
Wonder where or if "Absolute Beginners" will place. Those of you around at the time: was it regarded as a Brief Return To Form, as it is now?
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, March 8, 2012 3:24 AM (Yesterday)
I loved that it was this six-something-minute epic pop song.
― "marvellously inoffensive" (Eazy), Friday, 9 March 2012 02:18 (twelve years ago) link
No "Blue Jean" on anyone's ballot! No "This Is Not America"!
Sincerely,1986
― "marvellously inoffensive" (Eazy), Friday, 9 March 2012 02:19 (twelve years ago) link
Did you vote, Eazy?If not, cram it.
― Laura Lucy Lynn (La Lechera), Friday, 9 March 2012 02:21 (twelve years ago) link
Aw, Lech!
― "marvellously inoffensive" (Eazy), Friday, 9 March 2012 02:24 (twelve years ago) link
I voted for Blue Jean.
― EZ Snappin, Friday, 9 March 2012 02:36 (twelve years ago) link
Only sad that "the Prettiest Star" didn't make it into the top 50, and thought maybe the alternate version of Candidate might place higher, even if I only had it at #5 on my poll. Also, if you combine the votes for Sweet Thing, Candidate and Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing it jumps up from #35 to #24, just edging out "Under Pressure."
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Friday, 9 March 2012 02:57 (twelve years ago) link
Thank you so much WmC, this was a hugely enjoyable poll and I appreciate your outstanding effort!
Regret: I should have voted for Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing instead of Under Pressure, because it's bonkers-amazing and because in my heart I know that Under Pressure is really a Queen song after all.
Surprises: Life On Mars? If ILM says so. Also, I thought for sure 'Heroes' would win. Mainly, I was pretty shocked at the deafening ILM silence for Bowie in the 80s, 90s, and 00s.
Regrettable but Irrefutable Conclusion: David Bowie is a radio, and cocaine is by far the greatest station.
My ballot
ALBUMS: 1.Diamond Dogs (8)2.Aladdin Sane (7)3.Lodger (6)4.Low (1)5.Hunky Dory (3) SONGS: 1.Young Americans (7)2.The Man Who Sold The World (12)3.We Are The Dead4.Joe The Lion (51)5. Golden Years (6)6. It's No Game (Part 1) (40)7.Scary Monsters (49)8.Station To Station (4)9.Under Pressure (23)10.Drive In Saturday (27)11.Aladdin Sane (35)12.Loving The Alien13.All The Madmen 14.Ashes To Ashes (2)15.Beauty and The Beast (57)16.This Is Not America 17.Sons of The Silent Age (50)18.Diamond Dogs (48)19.The Jean Genie (42)20.The Bewlay Brothers (46)
― Foster The Hoople (Dr. Joseph A. Ofalt), Friday, 9 March 2012 03:04 (twelve years ago) link
To be honest, I love Bowie... but own nothing by him past Let's Dance, and haven't even listened to anything he's done after 1990.
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Friday, 9 March 2012 03:08 (twelve years ago) link
― buzza, Thursday, March 8, 2012 8:50 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
<3
― horseshoe, Friday, 9 March 2012 03:14 (twelve years ago) link
Getting a ballot down to 20 was a struggle. DJ and Lady Grinning Soul were two I hated to cut ... also all the instrumentals. Sort of surprised Life on Mars was #1, but it's all good.
I put on Stage a little while ago and damned if a lot of the vocals aren't better than the studio versions.
― Brad C., Friday, 9 March 2012 03:20 (twelve years ago) link
Shit! I forgot the most important thing! Thank you to everyone who voted and everyone who kept the thread rolling with quality commentary and discussion while I farted around looking up youtubes and typing up results!
― Carlos Pollomar (WmC), Friday, 9 March 2012 03:29 (twelve years ago) link
Thank you! It's getting me back into Bowie, who I haven't really listened to in a while...
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 9 March 2012 04:07 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah this thread is the kick in the ass I needed to finally give the late 70s stuff a well-deserved long-overdue listen
― top 100 comedy facepalms of all time (loves laboured breathing), Friday, 9 March 2012 04:13 (twelve years ago) link
Oops--missed the end of this. 1300+ posts will be hard to beat for one of these polls.
1. "All the Young Dudes," Mott the Hoople (40)2. “Kooks” (36)3. “Rebel Rebel” (33)4. “Hang on to Yourself” (30)5. “Queen Bitch” (28)6. “You’ve Got a Habit of Leaving” (David Bowie & the Lower Third) (26)7. “Panic in Detroit” (25)8. “Diamond Dogs” (24)9. “Can’t Help Thinking About Me” (David Bowie & the Lower Third) (23)10. “Suffragette City” (22)11. “Watch That Man” (21)
― clemenza, Friday, 9 March 2012 04:26 (twelve years ago) link
Another "Hang Onto Yourself" voter! Huzzah!
― we can be gyros just for one day (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 9 March 2012 04:31 (twelve years ago) link
It's time I gave his post-Let's Dance materiel a semi-well-deserved not-so-long-overdue listen.
Loving the AlienDon't look DownAbsolute BeginnersThis is not AmericaTime Will CrawlNever Let Me DownNight FlightsStrangers When We MeetI'm DerangedSundayHeathen
Really surprised (not really) nothing made the poll.
― Mother, Friday, 9 March 2012 04:39 (twelve years ago) link
lady grinning soul voters otm. sounds like the end of a movie.
― riding on a cloud (blank), Friday, 9 March 2012 06:36 (twelve years ago) link
the lyrics kinda kill that song for me.
― sarahell, Friday, 9 March 2012 07:07 (twelve years ago) link
Full list?
― Mark G, Friday, 9 March 2012 07:33 (twelve years ago) link
It's on the Google Spreadsheet
― Mike Love Costume Jewelry on Etsy (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 9 March 2012 07:39 (twelve years ago) link
@ sarahell, he sounds, all over that record, as if he was trying to push his lyrics and delivery to the most campy, twisted place; it's a parody of "Ziggy". Works great on "Drive-in Saturday".
― an elk hunt (Ówen P.), Friday, 9 March 2012 07:44 (twelve years ago) link
that's my favorite Bowie album, it's just the parts about the "musky odor" and "fullness of her breast" that are kinda gross
― sarahell, Friday, 9 March 2012 07:47 (twelve years ago) link
Huh! The first time I heard that album as a teenager I was all 'i don't get it' and my opinion hasn't really changed. "Cracked actor", "Watch that man", "Panic in Detroit" and "The Jean Genie" are just too sloppy and fucked up for my taste, the same reason I guess people like it. "Time" just sounds like he's aping Brel, "The prettiest star" is too cuet. Love "Drive-in Saturday" and the title track though
― an elk hunt (Ówen P.), Friday, 9 March 2012 07:56 (twelve years ago) link
My ballot, and what positions they took in the end.
Notably non-canonical, without trying to be?
1 Loving The Alien (97)2 Wild Is The Wind (42)3 Jean Genie (43)4 Beauty and The Beast (58)5 "Heroes" (6)6 Underground (103)7 Sound and Vision (4)8 Can't Help Thinking About Me (109)9 Drive In Saturday (28)10 Rebel Rebel (11)11 Baal's Hymn (107)12 John, I'm Only Dancing (21)13 Scary Monsters (50)14 Starman (19)15 Under Pressure (24)16 All The Young Dudes (38)17 DJ (66)18 Fame (34)19 What's Really Happening (169)20 That's Motivation (174)
― Mark G, Friday, 9 March 2012 09:19 (twelve years ago) link
11 Baal's Hymn (107)
Good man.
― Ismael Klata, Friday, 9 March 2012 09:22 (twelve years ago) link