Choose Between David Bowie & Roxy Music

But Bowie, man -- any one of the seventies albums negates anything dreary he ever did. He wins, though it's too close to call.

Bowie--I like that one bit in "Space Oddity," where the mellotron/guitar interact, that is nice.

Riff for "Rebel Rebel." "Changes" is nice. Mick Ronson was good, he deserves a lot of the credit for all that Zigaboo Stardust horse-shit.

Sold my enhanced edition of "Station to Station."

I always have had a fondness for "Lodger," esp. "Boys Keep Swinging" and "Fantastic Voyage."

I hate everything he's done since 1980, I believe he covered Tom Verlaine to nice effect then?

So, Roxy wins, because the only stuff I really don't like would be many of the slower ones, the second side of the first one isn't too hot, and "Flesh + Blood" is relatively weak. Otherwise, it's all very good. "Manifesto" is a much better comeback album than any of the numerous ones that Bowie has done, plus I think Bowie is kind of stupid now because he covered Frank Black and namechecks MOUSE ON MARS as his favorite band!

I think a better and more fair comparison would be Bowie's voice vs. Ferry's voice, because otherwise Bowie would obviously win.

BOWIE

"ashes to ashes"

roxy roxy roxy

I honestly can't choose, because both Bowie and Roxy were influential on pretty much every band that I love from the late '70s/early '80s. Throw Kraftwerk into the mix and it gets even more difficult. The more I think about it, the more I come to conclusion that most of what I love in music comes from the whole Bowie/Roxy Music/Kraftwerk thing, rather than the Beatles/Stones/Kinks thing - I like The Beatles/The Rolling Stones/The Kinks, of course, but nowhere near to the level that I love Bowie/Roxy Music/Kraftwerk and the music that they directly influenced.

An interesting anecdote from James Truman's introduction to Bryan Ferry's Lyrics, published this year, on the subject of "Mother of Pearl":

I recall watching Roxy Music perform it in New York on their 2001 reunion tour. When the song entered its quieter section, I became aware of a man behind me singing along to it, pitch-perfect and word-perfect. It was, poetically, David Bowie, whose own dark journey through the looking-glass world of image and celebrity had once nearly been the end of him.

Bowie > Roxy with Eno > Roxy without Eno

it doesn't matter

Roxy did have the best album covers for prepubescent boys, though.

...who like girls...who dig boys.

Point taken

Although, frankly, most prepubescent boys who like girls are just fine with girls who dig other girls.

Hmm. Roxy without Eno > Bowie with Eno > Bowie without Eno > Roxy with Eno

Roxy with Eno made two of my favorite records of all time, and their eight album run is stronger than any stretch of Bowie albums.

That's basically where I fall. I love the Roxy/Eno albums, but there are only two of them, and I like the next three without him better (and most of the albums after those). Generally, the only Bowie (albums) I listen to are the three with Eno.

No reason to choose. Bowie gets it.

With Tin Machine's cover of "If There Is Something", you can cover the bases with just one recording.

I find Roxy's albums less uneven, but Bowie had a greater musical and lyrical range, a lot of which he explored successfully.

I agree, but I generally don't listen to him as an album artist, fwiw.

^^^ this. I feel like Bowie's is objectively the greater career, but I know which discography I listen to far more often.

Roxy Music are very close to the top of my IDGI/NFM* list, probably only beaten out by T. Rex and Sparks (I get Queen, I just hate them), so even though there are only like four Bowie studio albums I really love (both the live albums from the 1978 tour are fantastic in different ways), that's four more than RM could ever claim.

*I Don't Get It/Not For Me, in case that's unclear

I find the three-year hiatus is a larger dividing line in the Roxy Music discography than losing Eno. Avalon is very good, but I still prefer any of the 1972-1975 art-rock albums over it.

otm. I mildly enjoy a few post-hiatus Roxy songs, but that initial run of six albums (I’m counting Viva!) is so astonishingly brilliant. And Stranded is more than an all-time fave; it quickly became a kind of template, e.g., “Ok, Zoorooa is U2’s take on Stranded” or “OK Computer is Radiohead’s attempt at a Stranded.”

I heard Stranded and Coltrane’s Interstellar Space for the first time on the same day. That was a good day.

Ferry’s Mamouna eclipses everything Bowie released during the 90’s. Gorgeous record in need of a reappraisal (and reissue)

Yeah Mamouna is so great! feels like the record where Ferry pushed his solo aesthetic (barely there songs, expensive sounds, great grooves) as far as it could possibly go

I'm still a fan. I tried reappraising it (more than) a few years ago.

Roxy

A cool watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9hgG5XVukE