Maybe the happysad dichotomy of Lets Dance is due to Bowie both celebrating his past work (as he performs songs from nearly every album in the resulting tour) and lamenting those days gone by.
![]() The music turned out to be far sunnier than his last few albums, but the lyrics inside told a different story. He was inviting his girl to dance, but to dance the blues, and remember, the moonlight is serious moonlight. Since Rodgers, formerly of Chic, and still yet to become the producer for such acts as Duran Duran and Thompson Twins, was at the helm, you just knew every track was going to have that danceable upbeat bassline. Stevie Ray Vaughan, a guest on lead guitar, added another dimension to the mix, making Lets Dance and China Girl a viable concoction of rock and pop not heard too often, but would influence later artists such as Michael and Janet Jackson. The album became hugely successful either because of or in spite of all of these conflicting ideas and moods. David Bowie Let S Dance Album Cracked The TopThe above mentioned three singles all cracked the top fifteen in the pop charts. Granted, China Girl can technically not be considered a cover since Bowie co-wrote the track, but the other writer, Iggy Pop, originally recorded it six years earlier. ![]() Quite a few of his successive albums would contain covers of songs from the likes of the Beach Boys, Morrissey, Neil Young and Jonathan Richman. Another collaboration also appeared on the record, that being Cat People (Putting Out the Fire), a song co-written by Giorgio Moroder for the film of the same name, itself a remake of a 1942 film. Critics often disparage the Lets Dance version of the song, but it remains compelling enough and is changed just enough to fit in with the rest of the new album. Truthfully, after a three-year hiatus, Bowie was just getting started on a new journey. ![]() It is certainly unfair to judge any Bowie album in comparison to his pre-80s work. It would be like trying to compare Paul Simons new album with his Garfunkel collaborations, or even more precisely like trying to compare Stevie Wonders latest work with his funk-era albums. And while it seems as if I am being apologetic about Lets Dance, youre wrong. I loved it back in 1983 when I owned it on cassette, and I love it now. There arent any Bowie albums I dont like, just ones I dont play as often, and Lets Dance is thrown in the mix quite a bit. Dress-wearing androgynous Bowie, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, the Thin White Duke, the Diamond Dog, the Pin-Up and the Modern Lover (complete with reflective aviator sunglasses, poofy pants and realistic pompadour made of real hair that you can cut, style, and pull out from the skull). Watching the Serious Moonlight DVD, you can see that Bowie circa 1983 was still about what Bowie circa 1973 was abouttheatricality. Songs arent so much sung (although hes one hell of a crooner) as they are acted.
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