One of the things we'll all miss as downloads send albums the way of the dodo are the classic closers. Top of most people's list would probably be the Beatle's "A Day in the Life", but for my money Bowie's "Rock n Roll Suicide" beats all comers hands down.
Your favourites? Over to the massive....

not to my taste but I'm sure some here will enjoy
http://blogs.kcrw.com/musicnews/2010/09/kcrw-djs-remix-golden-years-by-d...

"Heroes" is one of my favourite Bowie-songs, but as an album I think Low is superior to "Heroes", despite quotation marks used nicely on the latter. On both albums I prefer the instrumental sides to the ones with singing, even if he´s one of my favorite singers. And Lodger is ridiculously underestimated.

But the question is - Low or "Heroes"?

Following on from the Ramones, Dangerous Minds also has this, which I am suree will be of interest to some of the Massive.

Suffragette City deconstructed.

Here's David :

Rest of article here :

http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/deconstructing_suffragette_city_d...

There has been plenty of Bowie in these parts recently, so apologies for one more on the subject.

I've been late to the Bowie party. His heyday started before I was born and ended before I knew what was going on. As I got into pop music, I thought his #1 duet with Mick Jagger was rubbish. (And at the time, I pretty much liked everything that got to #1.) I liked Absolute Beginners, was vaguely aware of the distress that Glass Spider and Tin Machine caused, and paid very little further attention for a while.

Picked up the 69-74 and 74-79 compilations a few years back and loved them, but left it at that. Over the last year or two, though, I have been ploughing through the albums from that era.

So, now: I have all the studio albums between Hunky Dory and Scary Monsters and I love 'em all. I should probably leave it at that but I do get slightly obsessed about these things.

Where do I go to next? Are the pre-Hunky Dory albums worth a punt? Pin-ups? Do I need any of the live albums?

Any recommendations of particular songs from the overproduced 80s years? Any of the later albums that I should go for? And are there any other non-album tracks out there from the (ahem) golden years that I should know about like Young Dudes and Velvet Goldmine?

Any documentaries I really should see or books I really should read? Should I be hunting down any of the collaborations with the likes of Iggy or Lou?

Thanking all of you fine people in advance.

I have found myself listening to Heathen a lot lately. It´s much better than anyone has the right to ask of someone who´s supposed to have peaked in the seventies. Maybe I´ll have to regret this, but I think it´s one of the five best he´s made.

I like its atmosphere, which seems to me like a grown up and more content Low. Also, an aspect perhaps overlooked, he can really sing. Like REALLY sing. It seems his voice gets better with age. Or possibly got better with age. With no new material since 2003 it appears he quietly opted for retirement without making a fuzz about it, which is clever, in case one regrets it.

Sunday, Slip Away (the chorus is absolutely beautiful), Slow Burn (great guitar by Pete Townshend - and listen to the way Bowie´s voice opens up on the word burn), Afraid´s great string arrangement, I Would Be Your Slave, the charming Everyone Says ´Hi´, and Heathen (The Rays).

Also well chosen covers in Cactus (Pixies) and I Took A Trip On A Gemini Spaceship (The Legendary Stardust Cowboy).

The only song I don´t like is I´ve Been Waiting For You. Funnily enough, being the Neil Young fan that I am. Or maybe that´s why.

Heathen was one of these dreaded "return to form" albums from a legend that actually WAS a return to form. His best since, and all that. A great album from a great man.

And at 63 he still looks better than I have ever done or will ever do. The bastard.

http://open.spotify.com/user/doublevisionary/playlist/2UEJUasv4iuVFBt87F...

I'm off to Berlin in June & would like to build a suitable soundtrack to my trip.

Music of and about Berlin is the brief.

I've started you off with a few of the more obvious tracks. Just add yours to the collaborative Spotify playlist - link above. Please add an informative comment below, if you wish.

Apologies to those you of who can't Spotify - I want to take the music with me on my iPhone & this is the easiest way.

Looking forward to hearing your selections.

I’m curious about the Massive’s favourite artists - in particular any artists that I have yet to discover . I have a top 5 and I’m going to throw in another fifteen (see first comment for full list)
Also - if you had to pick just one artist as your absolute favourite, who would it be?

The Jam
The Clash (today, the answer is The Clash)
The Beatles
David Bowie
The Smiths

Seinfeld Series 4, Episode 3; George & Jerry are in the coffee shop having just left a commissioning-conference with NBC TV executives. George stormed out of the meeting in a huff when the assembled execs told him that they were less-than-impressed with his pitch on a ‘show about nothing’, so Jerry is giving him what-for:

Jerry (extremely peeved, but somewhat resigned): “What was going on in your mind...?!! Artistic Integrity? Where did you come up with that? You’re not ARTISTIC! And you HAVE NO INTEGRITY.... You really need help. But a regular psychiatrist couldn’t help you – you need to go to like... Vienna or something! Y’know what I mean?! You need to get involved at the university level - like where Freud studied - where there’s people looking at you, and checking up on you - that’s kinda help you need! Not the ‘once-a-week-for-80-bucks’ – no - you need a TEAM! A team of psychiatrists working round-the-clock... thinking about you... having conferences... observing you - like they did with the Elephant Man! That’s what I’m talkin’ about. That’s the only way you’re gonna get better!”

Pause.

George (sheepishly): “I thought the woman was kinda cute...”

I am George Costanza. Read the full entry...

The Dame is back - well sort of. This week see's the release of 'A Reality tour' a double live cd. I've had the dvd of this tour from 2004 and watched it many times over the years. The band are fantastic and the show from Dublin is superb. In case you might think you've heard Bowie live and this is a moneyspinner form the record company may I suggest you have a listen. As well as some great old songs it also illustrates how good his recent realeases have been - 'Heathen(the rays' is certainly worth a listen. This is one of my favourite from the show -

Rock is often best when it gets a little funky:

Following recent celebrations of the Dame and a related blog entry stating that 'Working Class Hero' by Tin Machine was the best cover of a Lennon song, I decided to listen without prejudice:

http://open.spotify.com/album/0juQn8RD24F8sPnSWMZdls

I was always led to understand Tin Machine was unlistenable, however I'm quite enjoying it - am I wrong?

There's a David Bowie tribute album coming out in may. All proceeds are going to Warchild UK charity. There have been some good releases for Warchild but of the twenty eight tracks listed I could only recognise about six artists. I haven't heard any tracks yet but it seems an interesting choice of artists. I'd have thought there would be a very long que of people who would have liked to have contributed. I can't help wondering why? Did the Dame have an influence ? Possibly promoting lesser known artists? Might be worth The word investigating this one. It's due for release in May.
http://strangeglue.com/news/david-bowie-tribute-album-tracklisting-revea...
Any thoughts?

...The Bewlay Brothers, by Bowie, where he (aided and abetted by a sinister laughing gnome) sings

"Lay me place and bake me pie, I'm starving for me gravy. Leave my mind and doors unlocked, and I might just slip away,hey!"

...And it sounds so *right*. What other moments in rock are as barking, yet make complete sense?

Sheev...is this the answer?

Diamond Dogs was the soundtrack to mine.
You?