David Bowie: Scary Monsters - 1980
"We were doing either 'Up the Hill Backwards' or 'It's No Game', and I said, 'Any suggestions?' and David replied, "Ritchie Blackmore!" - because David isn't really a guitarist, he couldn't give me more of a ground plan than that, but I knew what he meant" - Robert Fripp
David Bowie had so many phases in his career, but this, for me, was the final one in the first half of many years of releasing albums. There has always been an invisible line, as far as I am concerned, that begins after the release of Never Let Me Down. After that, although I liked some of the material, I have never seen it as part of the pre-1987 output. Obviously, it isn't anyway, but I know what I mean. Bowie pre-1987 was a different artist to Bowie post 1993.
Anyway, on to this era. It was an odd one. The deathly-white, drug-ravaged figure of the late seventies suddenly became a walking advert for a healthy lifestyle, sporting a deep, golden sun tan, bleached blond hair and wearing tailored pastel shaded suits. Personally, I preferred him looking as if he were at death's door! No longer putting out edgy music, Bowie had become a purveyor of ht singles, playing to huge outdoor stadium audiences. The great leftfield innovator had become pop royalty, his music sitting alongside that of Phil Collins and Michael Jackson in the collections of those who owned less than twenty albums. It would be something Bowie would come to question himself.
This was, however, the peak of his unit-shifting popularity, and it began in 1980....
Scary Monsters, coming after the so-called "Berlin Trilogy" was commercially more successful than its predecessor, Lodger. Brian Eno had gone by now. Bowie was on a bit of a new lease of life as a new decade began. After treading water somewhat in the (slightly) undercooked Lodger (although I like it), it seemed as if Bowie had rediscovered his mojo to an extent, however, with this one. He seemed happier, healthier and very creative.
This album was a precursor to the huge commercial "comeback" that Let's Dance saw in 1983. Personally, I much prefer this album. Having said, that, for some reason, it is an album I never really got into, either back then or now, not nearly as much I did others. I am not quite sure that is because it is certainly a very good album. In a reference to all the new wave-post punk-new romantic acts influenced by Bowie's recent work, RCA marketed the album as "often copied, never equalled". For many, though, it has become the "go to" album when talking of Bowie's last great album. It has become something of a cliché to hear "this is Bowie's best album since Scary Monsters" trotted out, lazily. There is certainly a lot more verve and vibrancy about it, I have to say. Neither was it as quirky or oddball.
Time to check out the fashion....
I have to say that the first six tracks take some beating, including the slightly bizarre ranting Japanese vocals from Michi Hirota duetting with Bowie on the totally frenetic sound of the unusual It's No Game Part One. It is decidedly weird but for some reason it doesn't sound out of place. Maybe it is because it is followed by a run of exceptionally catchy tunes.
Now for some (slightly) more conventional fare. Up The Hill Backwards builds up impressively and was an instantly appealing track. It had that sort of commercially accessible, post punk vibrancy to them - the density of post punk combined with a pop/rock catchiness. The same can be said of the also very post punk pop of the title track. It is very "Heroes" album-esque and quirky also featuring some great guitar runs and a pounding drum sound, as well as a winning chorus. It was very much the sound of the early eighties, Bowie-style.
The addictive, evocative and smoky-voiced Ashes To Ashes was a massive number one single in which the ghostly spirit of Major Tom was evoked. I know it is a hugely popular Bowie number but it has never quite hit the spot with me (in comparison to many others). The song had a now iconic accompanying video with Bowie dressed in a clown suit.
There is also the "Heroes" (part two) feel of this impressive and grandiose number, Teenage Wildlife, which features one of Bowie's finest vocals. This sprawling, vacillating track has always felt a little jumbled and at times struggling to find a coherence, for me, I will reluctantly say, despite its anthemic potential. It remains an undervalued Bowie classic, albeit a flawed one.
The second half of the album veers away from the more commercially appealing numbers towards a denser, more rocky sound. It mustn't be underestimated or overlooked, however. Some of the album's most enigmatic and innovative material is to be found here. Firstly, we have the dark, nihilistic future shock story found on Scream Like A Baby, with its punk/new wave undertones. Yes, it is now de rigeur to say that "a prescient Bowie had a handle on new wave", but the simple fact is that it does have that contemporary feel to it. It is very 1979-80.
This was followed by the similarly post punk-ish, guitar-driven, solid rock cover of a Tom Verlaine (from Television) song in Kingdom Come. Its comparative lightness of melody and occasional poppiness casts it as the album's The Prettiest Star, in some ways.
Then comes The Who's Pete Townshend guesting on guitar for this excellent, underrated number, Because You're Young (to be honest, though, I can't pick out Pete much). The song tries to reach the rousing strains of Teenage Wildlife and almost makes it, but not quite. It is still a bit of a hidden gem though, with its singalong chorus and Jimmy Destri of Blondie-influenced Farfisa organ sound. Some feel it is the album's weakest track. Not me.
It's No Game Part Two is better of the two bookend It's No Game numbers that use the same backing track, having far more lyrics and a fine, soaring Bowie vocal. The lyrics find Bowie saying "to be insulted by these fascists is so degrading...".
After briefly flirting with fascism in 1976 (in occasional inference) during his coke-addled period, Bowie is now taking a completely different stance. He is now very much the compassionate, caring, globally-aware socialist.
The one session track that was not included on the album was Crystal Japan. This (unsurprisingly) Japanese-influenced instrumental is from the 1980 sessions for Scary Monsters. It has a very "Heroes" feel about it, though, in its deep, reverberating and mournful synthesiser passages. It has a lot of the ambience of Moss Garden, for me.
Also around from the same period was a stripped-down, acoustic version of Space Oddity which is ok, but pales against the original; an odd, re-recorded, trying to be contemporary version of Panic In Detroit, which definitely doesn't match the original and a cover of Bertholt Brecht's Alabama Song which has never appealed to me, despite its Teutonic, 1930s atmosphere.
Finally, the 2017 series of remasters, supervised by Tony Visconti, is another superb re-release. The remastering is, in my opinion, perfect. Full, clear and with the bass to the fore, it is how I like my remasters. Many will probably not like it, as indeed they didn't with the 2017 remasters of Low, "Heroes" and Lodger. Personally, I can't get enough of all of them. They have reawakened my interest in these albums, after all these years.
