Bowie's eponymous debut

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Is this one of the weirdest debuts of a major artist? Released in 1967, a moment when English rock started really coming into its own, and yet there's not a rock (or even conventional pop) track on it - except maybe for Join The Gang, which is ironic anyway. It's all over the place, although the music hall influence is the strongest - songs like There Is A Happy Land or When I Live My Dream could have been made 15 years earlier. The risible 'We Are Hungry Men' has a sort of prototypical Diamond Dogs theme to it. I'm not sure the album hangs together very well but there are some gems on it: 'Maids Of Bond Street', 'Love You Til Tuesday' (why wasn't this a hit?). And I'm not sure the album even still exists as it was originally released, although all the songs are available on various compilations. To my knowledge Bowie has never performed any of these songs live, it's like he's completely disowned it, although it has undeniable charms.

― Jonathan Z. (Joanthan Z.), Thursday, 21 October 2004 11:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I love this record, easily my favourite of his. I think it does fit in with some trends prevalent at the time: the music hall influence was kind of being persued by some others... The New Vaudeville Band, Bonzos...(er not too many others...), so it wasn't completely out of step with current trends.
Didn't Bowie ressurect one of these songs for some shows not too long ago? The London Boys? Let Me Sleep Beside You (not on the LP, but recorded around the same time)? Something like that.
Anyway, a terrific LP.

― harveyw (harveyw), Thursday, 21 October 2004 12:10 (twenty-one years ago)

I think it was The London Boys.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Thursday, 21 October 2004 12:43 (twenty-one years ago)

The London Boys is a really great song, but I don't think it's on this album.

The other thing that strikes me with this album is that they must have been banking on it being a big success, since it sounds like they hired an entire orchestra to back him. I wonder how he managed that, with his serial failures of the previous couple of years?

― Jonathan Z. (Joanthan Z.), Thursday, 21 October 2004 12:51 (twenty-one years ago)

(a) Musicians' Union regulations
(b) Rolling Stones
(c) tax loss

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 21 October 2004 12:57 (twenty-one years ago)

it's an interesting record, the other singles are a bit better (the London Boys, already mentioned, as well as The Gospel According to Tony Day). This stuff is all stuck together one one anthology. I like it more than Space Oddity, anyway (the title track aside).

― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 21 October 2004 15:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I think it's terrific stuff, for a lot of 'very me' reasons.

1. Despite attempts at a kind of Tommy Steele / Tony Newley 'mainstream entertainer' feel, this is Bowie's weirdest record, and I like weird.

2. It's his least rockist record. No ham-fisted attempts to compete with Jagger et al.

3. The songs are like short stories. Characters like Uncle Arthur or the Little Bombadier are middle aged British cranks and misfits. The 'otherness' of childhood' is also dealt with very sympathetically.

4. Bowie's 'insanity' meme is here in lines like 'Don't be afraid of the man in the moon because it's only me'. The lunatic!

5. The arrangements are actually lovely, rather in the style of french variete of the period.

6. You sort of feel you get Bowie young and you get him to yourself when you listen to this stuff, because it hasn't been played to death or given a commemorative issue of Uncut.

7. You can imagine Bowie doing mime to these or performing them with Hutch from Feathers down at the Beckenham Arts Lab.

8. The climate of these songs is warm, sunny, non-macho, although there are some disturbing themes of social maladjustment. This makes them arguably more subversive and disturbing than the shock rock of, say, 'Future Legend', which fails because it says, Marilyn Manson-style, 'Look out, I'm here to shock you!' It's much more shocking to be shocked in a surprising way.

― Momus (Momus), Thursday, 21 October 2004 17:50 (twenty-one years ago)

6 & 7 are very me too.

Also, I like his haircut on the cover.

― Super Willem! (willem), Thursday, 21 October 2004 18:22 (twenty-one years ago)

one month passes...

your mind, blow it BLOW IT BLOW IT

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Thursday, 25 November 2004 16:01 (twenty-one years ago)

... although Gospel According to Tony Day wasn't on this album. I think it was recorded before. I wonder who all the people on Tony Day were.

Tracklisting of his debut LP:

# Uncle Arthur (2:07)
# Sell Me A Coat (2:58)
# Rubber Band - Version 2 (2:17)
# Love You Till Tuesday (3:09)
# There Is A Happy Land (3:11)
# We Are Hungry Men (2:58)
# When I Live My Dream - Version 1 (3:22)
# Little Bombardier (3:24)
# Silly Boy Blue (3:48)
# Come And Buy My Toys (2:07)
# Join The Gang (2:17)
# She's Got Medals (2:23)
# Maid Of Bond Street (1:43)
# Please Mr. Gravedigger - Version 2 (2:35)

― Jonathan Z. (Joanthan Z.), Thursday, 25 November 2004 16:33 (twenty-one years ago)

"London Boys" is great - is that from the same period?

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Thursday, 25 November 2004 17:11 (twenty-one years ago)

sorry, I should read threads before posting

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Thursday, 25 November 2004 17:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh I love 'Please Mr Gravedigger' - it is such a damply sinister song.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Thursday, 25 November 2004 17:32 (twenty-one years ago)

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