bowie and bruce

[Ken Gargett]

strange things.

last week, before bowie passed, i'd taped a doco on back-up singers, largely from the 60s but also since then (not sure of the name but seriously interesting - i think it is '20 steps' or something?) and a great many of the top stars interviewed for it.

on comes bruce (this is, of course, before bowie passed and i'd taped it before he pased as well) and starts talking about his absolute admiration for bowie.

turns out that in the early 70s, when bruce had one lone album under his belt and was still near broke, he gets a call. david bowie. turns out bowie was a huge fan of bruce - both had no idea the other was a fan.

apparently bowie had been in kansas and gone to see some bloke (i think in a bar) and bruce and the band were the support act. bowie said bruce was on first and it was all a bit too much like another version of dylan. but then the band came out and joined him. you can google bowie actually saying it so in an interview so i am not making it up - after 30 minutes, he said he thought it was the greatest rock and roll band in the world (not bad for a mob he'd never heard of).

when he called, bowie told bruce that he was the only american he would consider covering and that he had actually covered two of bruce's songs ('growin up' and also 'hard to be a saint in the city' - links below if anyone is interested) and that he was considering them for 'young americans'. in the end, they were not included (i gather they were later released in 'best of' sets or classic releases or something) but bowie invited bruce down to the recording of 'young americans' (i don't think bruce was involved musically but bowie had a few decent back up singers/musicians - including john lennon and luther vandross). bruce had to go by a series of buses - all he could afford.

he said that bowie was incredibly supportive and good to him in his early career. apparently they ended up mates. not something i would have picked.

https://youtu.be/f2ym3J5iEcQ

https://youtu.be/_pDYK4Ns-co

[JohnS]

How timely, Ken! We've got Bowie in the background tonight (through my wife's phone blue-toothed to a speaker) and I was reading up on his 1977 song, Heroes. This song is from Bowie's time in Berlin and it turns out he played it a concert that was culturally significant, playing a small part in bringing down the Berlin Wall in 1989. Bruce had a similar concert the next year in 1988 which did the same thing.

[Ken Gargett]

How timely, Ken! We've got Bowie in the background tonight (through my wife's phone blue-toothed to a speaker) and I was reading up on his 1977 song, Heroes. This song is from Bowie's time in Berlin and it turns out he played it a concert that was culturally significant, playing a small part in bringing down the Berlin Wall in 1989. Bruce had a similar concert the next year in 1988 which did the same thing.

heroes is one of my all time fave songs from anyone.

heard the reporter from channel 7 this morning, after they showed a quick clip of it - "i can't believe that song is now 20 years old". maths apparently not a requisite for a job at channel 7.

[wabashcr]

heroes is one of my all time fave songs from anyone.

heard the reporter from channel 7 this morning, after they showed a quick clip of it - "i can't believe that song is now 20 years old". maths apparently not a requisite for a job at channel 7.

Hell, the Wallflowers' cover from that awful Matthew Broderick Godzilla movie is 18 years old.

I knew Bruce and Bowie had some friendly history and mutual admiration, but I didn't know any of the details. Thanks for sharing.

[irratebass]

This was a great read....thanks Ken!!!

[OZCUBAN]

Thanks Ken who knew

Cheers

[Webbo]

Wow. My top three (in order) are Bruce, Bowie, The Ramones. Only last week I saw a great Springsteen documentary on BBC (the ties that bind) where Bruce revealed he wrote Hungry Heart for the Ramones and now this link between Bowie and Bruce.

[foursite12]

The documentary is "20 Feet from Stardom" and is a seriously terrific piece of work, even apart from the connection Ken mentioned. The overarching theme appears to be the lack of credit background singers receive and how they have historically had it tough. However, there are other elements, perhaps more perceptive, offered up. The title captures the notion that to the background singers the lead mic seems to be so close. However, reaching said 20 feet is only a fraction of the battle; to be considered a lead artist requires much more than a great voice, as many of the background singers do not fare well as headliners. Give it a go; recommend running it through a decent sound system if you can.

The sound of Merry Clayton wailing "Rape! Murder! It's just a shot away!" from Gimme Shelter after she had been awakened at some ungodly hour by a call out of the blue from Mick Jagger is a highlight among many.

I need to see this again.

[Ken Gargett]

The documentary is "20 Feet from Stardom" and is a seriously terrific piece of work, even apart from the connection Ken mentioned. The overarching theme appears to be the lack of credit background singers receive and how they have historically had it tough. However, there are other elements, perhaps more perceptive, offered up. The title captures the notion that to the background singers the lead mic seems to be so close. However, reaching said 20 feet is only a fraction of the battle; to be considered a lead artist requires much more than a great voice, as many of the background singers do not fare well as headliners. Give it a go; recommend running it through a decent sound system if you can.

The sound of Merry Clayton wailing "Rape! Murder! It's just a shot away!" from Gimme Shelter after she had been awakened at some ungodly hour by a call out of the blue from Mick Jagger is a highlight among many.

I need to see this again.

that's it. spot on. thanks for that.

terrific doco. yes, jagger dragging the poor woman, who he'd never met, out of bed (he says, i was expecting her to turn up in curlers) for that song is a bit special.

[wabashcr]

that's it. spot on. thanks for that.

terrific doco. yes, jagger dragging the poor woman, who he'd never met, out of bed (he says, i was expecting her to turn up in curlers) for that song is a bit special.

Heard she was pregnant and miscarried due to the intensity of that recording session. Not sure if that's true, or if the doc touched on that. Always get chills when I hear her part at the end, especially when her voice cracks. Very powerful stuff. The lady who does the part in their live show is a brilliant singer, but can't come close to the rawness and emotion of the original.