The Best of David Bowie's "Black Tie White Noise"

Hello,

It seemed about every 10 years David Bowie reached his creative peak, it's so consistent it's almost like clockwork. In 1972 David Bowie released probably his most popular CD "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars". In 1983 Bowie released his funktastic "Let's Dance", he was helped by Nile Rodgers, of Chic fame. "Let's Dance" starts off with one of the most brilliant three song starts for a CD ever. The three songs are "Modern Love", "China Girl" and "Let's Dance". Four years later he had another solid CD "Never Let Me Down". I listened to that last night and it's very good. Then six years later he released his next CD, 1993's "Black Tie White Noise"- which is what this blog is centered around. In the meantime he had released two studio albums with Tin Machine. Working with Nile Rodgers again and his band stint really helped his creative juices flow.

In 2003 he released "Reality", which in reality is only a so so CD. He stopped releasing music for ten years, when he released his last great CD. I was very surprised how good "The Next Day", and I'm sad it took Bowie's death for me to discover it. I would've loved to see what he would have come up with in 2023. Thanks David and collaborators for all the musical memories. On the tenth anniversary of the release of "Black Tie White Noise", a bonus CD was added. It featured new songs and remixes of songs from the original CD. Overall a very solid 24 songs. Below are the highlights of those 24 songs.

I saw something the other day that described Bowie as a funk/soul artist, something I'd never considered him to be. I thought of him as a classic, straight ahead rocker. But listening to a lot of his music over the last several days I have come to a conclusion. We are both right. But his music also included the influences of so many other genres of music. Bowie was truly a musical genius, not only in the music he made, but also who he chose to help him create his masterpieces.

From the original "Black Tie White Noise":

"I Feel Free":

"Black Tie White Noise":

"Jump They Say":

"Nite Flights":

"Pallas Athena"/ "Nite Flights"/ "Black Tie White Noise"/ "Jump They Say":

"Pallas Athena":

"Don't Let Me Down and Down":

From the 10th Anniversary bonus CD:

"Real Cool World":

"Lucy Can't Dance":

"Jump They Say" (Rock Mix):

"Black Tie White Noise" (3rd Floor US Radio Mix)

"You've Been Around" (Dangers 12' Mix):

"Jump They Say" (Brothers In Rhythm 12' Mix):

"Black Tie White Noise" (Here Come Da Jazz):

"Jump They Say" (Dub Oddity Mix):

themusicaddict

David Bowie's Top 30 Best Songs 20-11, Part 2: Without A Doubt The Definitive List (Finished January 16th, 2016)

Hello,

Without further delay, here's the definitive list of the #20 to #11 songs from David Bowie's career. I'm trying to post at least one bonus song in each one of these Bowie blogs. I wanted to post a couple of epic covers, but Bowie didn't have a lot of great covers other than Nirvana's cover of "The Man Who Sold The World". And of course it seems like everyone has done a cover of "Heroes". But for the most part I was unimpressed with the covers of Bowie's songs. I listened to most of "We Were So Turned On: A Tribute to David Bowie" which is an anemic attempt to cover some of his most amazing songs. These covers are mostly vocals buried below the music covers- too many of these songs are like that. There wasn't one rocked out version of one of Bowie's originals.

These were the two most interesting covers I found, Bauhaus' "Ziggy Stardust":

and Pete Yorn's "China Girl":

I wanted to add at least one song from his last CD, "Blackstar", but I couldn't find one that I didn't completely loathe.

Now on his next 10 greatest songs: 20) "Ashes To Ashes":

19) "Star":

18) "Diamond Dogs":

17) "All The Young Dudes":

16) "Jean Genie":

15) "Starman":

14) "Young Americans":



13) "Ziggy Stardust":



And here's the full album of "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust":



12) "Fashion":



11) "Fame"

themusicaddict

David Bowie's Top 30 Best Songs 30-21, Part 1: Without A Doubt The Definitive List

Hello,

I'm not saying I'm a big Bowie fan, but like most rock music fans I have a few favorite songs. With the recent sad death of Bowie, I've taken a deep dive into his music. With his death, it feels like another small part of the 80's (and 70's) has died. I'm going to be honest there were a lot of pleasant surprises. I'd forgotten/didn't remember how many great songs he had. While I thought "Blackstar" (perhaps "Deathstar" would be a better title) was a pretty weak CD. However I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked his previous CD "The Next Day". A few of those songs make it into this definitive Top 30. But as one would expect most of the usual suspects are here. For some musicians it would be hard for me to pick my favorite song of theirs. However for Mr. David Robert Jones, without a doubt, I easily know what my favorite song is. A song that was released 44 years ago, but it still rocks my iPod in 2016.

Before I get to the Top 30 songs of Bowie, here's Ms. Turner singing one of his songs, "1984":

30) "Sound and Vision":

29) "Jump They Say":

28) "Time Will Crawl":

27) "Valentine's Day":

26) "How Does The Grass Grow?":

25) "The Next Day":

24) "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)":

23) "Rebel Rebel":

22) "The Stars Are (Out Tonight)":

21) "(You Will) Set The World On Fire"

themusicaddict

My Final Review of Garth Risk Hallberg's "City On Fire": Did It Live Up To The Hype?

Hello,

Many of those that have only a cursory interest in the publishing business knows the story of this book. Although Hallberg is a first time novelist, this book was involved in a bidding war. He was given a $2 million advance for his book. I'm sure someone has snapped up the rights for the movie as well, but I'm not sure I know anyone that wants to sit through a 8 hour movie. With that comes a company, Alfred A Knopf, wanting to earn their money back and more. That leads to a lot of hype as well. Well did the book live up to the hype?

"City On Fire" does not live up to it's hype, but neither did "The Force Awakens". Is it a good book? Yes? Is it a great book? No. Was it helped by the hype, yes and no. It certainly got a lot more attention, but the bar was set very high for the book. Oasis' CD "What's The Story (Morning Glory)" also got a ton of hype. The hype killed that CD. I'm sure it sold a lot of copies, but for entertainment value it was sorely lacking. I prefer the under the radar works of art that sneak up on one and surprise me with how good it is. (Example: John Green's "Paper Towns" and the book of "The Martian"- both movies also happen to be very good.) Who would I recommend this book to? New Yorkers, history buffs, people that like sprawling books. Who would I not recommend this book to? People that don't like unnecessarily long novels, people that don't like multiple retellings of the same event, people that don't like books with an anticlimactic ending.

The book that raises so many questions leaves a lot unanswered. Most importantly did Samantha live or die? We finally found out the shooter of Samantha and it's….. , really? Why did Larry Pulaski invite Sewer Girl to live with him and his wife. For instance, whatever happened to Nicky Chaos? And will some please explain to me how he got any followers? For being so "wise", how did he not see that he was a pawn in a game way out of his league? Even the self-absorbed William saw through him, can you tell I don't like Nicky?

We see what sort of happens to Amory, still up to his old tricks, but what happened to Felicia. Not that I care, I just hope her end was painful. I'm sure she left the Hamilton-Sweeney's behind when the firm imploded. We know Amory got out quickly.

The main part of the book only covers about 7 months of time, but the lack of growth in most of the characters is sad. William kicked his drug habit, but he still remained an adolescent, personality wise.

Next to Richard Groskoph my favorite character was Mercer Goodman. I'm glad he found happiness. In a book full of cretins, he was one of the truly good people. I was watching the very good Jessica Jones and I saw who should play Goodman in the movie. The actor's name is Eka Darville, who plays Jessica's neighbor Malcolm. I saw him and I thought there's Mercer Goodman, for the movie he would have to get a much more conservative haircut though. Also Jerry Jones should play Amory Gould, both are con men that are into themselves and don't do much good for anyone else. Also both destroyed formerly great organizations.

I would give this book a C+ grade. It seemed like every time I got into the book, Hallberg would switch to different characters. Then I would get into their stories and then it's on to new characters. Perhaps the book would have been better if he broke the book into main characters and followed their stories all the way through. Then the next section would be about another character etc., at least 100 pages could have been eliminated without any problem, perhaps Nicky's whole story. He didn't bring anything to the book besides loathing. So before you read this book, try to temper your expectations.

themusicaddict

Songs on themusicaddict's Radar, January 8th, 2016

Hello,

I realize these songs may not seem like they have any relation with any other song. And in so many ways they don't, but they are all great songs. I just love how much great music is out there now and how many different ways we can enjoy it. We are truly living in a music nirvana. Again there's a ton of great music out there now, you may just have to work a bit harder to find it. You have to open yourself up to all musical possibilities. Visiting record stores (yes they still exist- for people in Utah I highly reccommend Graywhale), listening to music on Youtube and all streaming services, check out great songs you hear in movies and TV shows. And of course you can always find great music on the internet, even on random dorky blogs. Speaking of which it's amazing how much music I discover from simply writing this blog. When I remember I'll write how I found out about this band.

I'm not sure how I found out about Flyleaf, but I'm glad I did. I love Lacey Sturm's powerhouse vocals. 1) Flyleaf's "Sorrow":

Another band I can't remember how I found out about, do you remember T.A.T.U? 2)  "All The Things She Said":

3) "How Soon Is Now":

I discovered the next few songs via 80's radio/ MTV. Back when both radio and MTV were relevant. But those days are never to return. 4) Phil Collins' "I Missed Again":

5) Night Ranger's "Sister Christian":

To get your fill of Phils, please watch this video :) 6) Philip Bailey and Phil Collins'  "Easy Lover":

I discovered this specific song by researching my Phil Collins blogs. 7) Genesis' "Just A Job To Do":

From researching R.E.M. for earlier blogs 8) R.E.M.'s "That Someone Is You":

From listening to my parent's music growing up. 9) Tanya Tucker's "Jamestown Ferry":

I discovered Miss Iraheta from "American Idol"- yet another thing that's no longer relevant and thankfully going away. 10) Allison Iraheta's "Friday I'll Be Over You":

11) "Robot Love":

From visiting Graywhale yesterday, they always have interesting music playing. 12) Asteroids Galaxy Tour's "Heart Attack":

13) "Fantasy Friend Forever":

This is a very cool cover of the 80's classic 14) "Safety Dance":

Radio and MTV. 15) Maria Vidal's "Body Rock":

Discovered via relevant radio and MTV. 16) The Cranberries "Zombie":

Discovered the next two songs from Google Play, thanks although I still miss Rdio. Another good remake of a classic 80's song. 17) Jasmine Thompson's "Fast Car":

18) Shakira's "Try Everything":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Almost, So Close, But Not Quite Greatest CD of All-Time: R.E.M.'s Document" (FInished 1/28/16)

Hello,

I'm an unabashed R.E.M. fan, I have 214 R.E.M. songs on my iTunes, including multiple versions of the same song. Live versions, lengthy club mixes, alternate versions and extended versions. I have 11 of their 15 original CDs on my iTunes, heck I even have "Collapse Into Now". I was only see R.E.M. in concert once and they were amazing, I wish I would have been able to see them more than once though. After reviewing all 15 of their CDs for the purposes of this blog I decided to document their 1987 CD "Document". I also want to write about one of the following CDs, "Green", "Out Of Time", "Automatic For The People" or "Monster" at a later time. For the purposes of this blog I'm writing about the 1993 IRS Vintage reissue version. (As always thanks to Wikipedia for the biographical information, all opinions are mine. Feel free to e-mail if you would like to discuss.)

"Document" is R.E.M.'s fifth CD, their last CD of new material for I.R.S. Records. Their next CD "Green" was their first CD with a major label. The CD was produced by Scott Litt and the band members. R.E.M. consisted of singer Michael Stipe,  drummer Bill Berry, bassist Mike Mills and guitarist Peter Buck.

Previous to this CD R.E.M. was knocking out a CD a year- do you remember when bands used to do that? Another great thing about the early to mid 80's. R.E.M.'s first 4 CDs were "Murmur" (1983), "Reckoning" (1984), "Fables of the Reconstruction" (1985) and "Life's Rich Pagaent" (1986). R.E.M. eventually became fairly big on the college music circuit and slowly expanded their influence and popularity. Their steady growth were powered by music that was maturing. Highlights from R.E.M.'s first 4 CDs include "Radio Free Europe", "Talk About The Passion", "So. Central Rain", "Don't Go Back To Rockville (I love this song!), "Driver 8", "Can't Get There From Here" and "Fall On Me". But it's "Document" that R.E.M. really broke out in a fairly big way. That CD is powered by "The One That I Love" and "It's The End of The World (And I Feel Fine)". All that hard work set the stage for their major label debut, which came a year later.

1) "Finest Worksong":

2) Welcome to the Occupation":

3) "Exhuming McCarthy":

4) "Disturbance at the Heron House":

5) "Strange":

6) "It's The End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)":

7) "The One I Love":

8) "Fireplace":

9) "Lightnin' Hopkins":

10) "King of Birds":

11) Oddfellows Local 151":

1993 I.R.S. Vintage Years reissue bonus tracks

12) "Finest Worksong (Other Mix)":

13) "Last Date" (Instrumental):

14) "The One I Love" (Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop)":

15) "Time After Time, Etc.:

16) "Disturbance at the Heron House" (Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop): (I couldn't find that video, so this is the same song at the Shocking Club in Milan, Italy in 1991.):

"Finest Worksong (Lengthy Club Mix)":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Almost Greatest CDs Of All-Time: Phil Collins' "No Jacket Required" (Finished January 4th, 2016)

Hello,

I continue reading through "City Of Fire", a real review is on it's way. It's just a long book and I'm about 80% of the way through. I have 2 more CD review blogs to finish- CDs either new or at least new to me. Recently I read in a past issue of Rolling Stone magazine about the 64 year old Phil Collins making a comeback. I've never been a big fan of his, but I haven't been a hater either. I like a lot of his solo songs and many songs that he made with Genesis. I'd also forgotten/ never knew that he made the music for "Brother Bear". Thanks to my own iTunes, Google Music and Amazon Prime I'm taking a deep dive into his music. I wouldn't say that any of his CDs qualify a greatest CD of all-time. Although both "No Jacket Required" and "...But Seriously",  have a few good songs on them. Although my opinion may change after I do some listening.

This blog is going to be about "No Jacket Required", in case you wondered how the CD got the title:

The album is named after an incident at The Pump Room restaurant in Chicago, Illinois. Phil (entering the restaurant with former Led Zeppelin lead vocalist, Robert Plant), was denied admittance because he did not meet the restaurant's dress code of "jacket required" for dinner, while Robert was allowed in. Phil was wearing a jacket, and argued about it. The Maître d' argued that the jacket was not "proper". Collins said in an interview with Playboy that he was, at that point, never so mad in his life. After the incident, the singer often appeared on shows such as Late Night with David Letterman and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, denouncing the restaurant and telling his story. The management of the restaurant later sent him a complimentary sport coat and an apology letter, stating that he could come to the restaurant wearing whatever he wanted. ^{(See full entry at and thanks again to Wikipedia.org.)}

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Sussudio"	4:23
2.	"Only You Know and I Know" (Lyrics: Collins, Music: Daryl Stuermer)	4:20
3.	"Long Long Way to Go"	4:20
4.	"I Don't Wanna Know" (Lyrics: Collins, Music: Stuermer)	4:12
5.	"One More Night"	4:47

Side two
No.	Title	Length
6.	"Don't Lose My Number"	4:46
7.	"Who Said I Would"	4:01
8.	"Doesn't Anybody Stay Together Anymore" (Lyrics: Collins, Music: Collins, Stuermer)	4:18
9.	"Inside Out"	5:14
10.	"Take Me Home"	5:51
Total length:		50:27

[hide]Bonus track on compact disc release
No.	Title	Length
11.	"We Said Hello Goodbye" (Only released on CD version of No Jacket Required. A different mix of the song was also released on the Playing for Keeps soundtrack album.)	4:15

(Thanks to Wikipedia.org.)

1) "Sussudio":

2) "Only You Know and I Know":

3) "Long Long Way To Go":

4) "I Don't Want To Know":

5) "One More Night":

6) "Don't Lose My Number":

7) "Who Said I Would":

He should have left this clunker off the CD. 8) "Doesn't Anybody Stay Together Anymore":

9) "Inside Out":

10) "Take Me Home":

11) "We Said Hello Goodbye":

"No Jacket Required" was the third of Phil Collins 80's solo albums- he was also recording with Genesis and writing songs for Phillip Bailey. As a solo act Collins had an amazing 80s. He not only performed his songs, he also wrote most of his songs. Some of his great 80s song include "In The Air Tonight", "I Missed Again", the Supremes cover "You Can't Hurry Love", "I Don't Care Anymore", "Sussudio", "One More Night", "Don't Lose My Number", "Take Me Home", "Do You Remember", "Something Happened On The Way To Heaven",  "I Wish It Would Rain Down" and "Another Day".

themusicaddict