David Bowie: Tonight - 1984
"There wasn't much of my writing on it because I can't write on tour" - David Bowie
After the commercial disco blues/funk of Let’s Dance, this rather hurriedly recorded follow up in the next year has always been a bit unfairly maligned.
Yes, by Bowie’s own admittance, his muse had deserted him to an extent and he was struggling to come to a conclusion as to what his “new”, charts-influenced, stadium rock audience expected from him, however, there is still some good material on this album. Adding The Borneo Horns to the musicians, it is a summery, reggae and at times Latin-influenced sound that we get here, actually quite unique in the Bowie canon. Look, it is pretty fashionable to criticise this album. Not for me. I actually quite like it. Bowie had his own slightly negative feelings about it, though, which cannot be ignored -
“….It was rushed. The process wasn't rushed; we actually took our time recording the thing; Let's Dance was done in three weeks, Tonight took five weeks or something, which for me is a really long time. I like to work fast in the studio. There wasn't much of my writing on it 'cause I can't write on tour and I hadn't assembled anything to put out. But I thought it a kind of violent effort at a kind of “Pin Ups”…..”
It's time to tumble and twirl, though....
He had some dissatisfactions with the album and this has certainly always been true of Loving The Alien - he had never been happy with the track. I am not sure why. It sounds excellent to me - brooding, soulful, atmospheric, evocative. Without doubt the best track on the album, for me, despite its composer's misgivings. I love the line about "the Templars and the Saracens", although what its relevance was I am unclear. It remains one of Bowie's finest songs of this era.
On Don't Look Down the reggae of this Iggy Pop cover is actually more than convincing (unusual for non-Jamaican artists). I, as a long-time fan of authentic reggae, rate it as one of the better examples of a mainstream artists' efforts at reggae.
Personally, I think the much-maligned cover of The Beach Boys’ classic love song, God Only Knows, is absolutely beautiful. Lovely orchestration and Bowie’s voice as good as it has ever been, paying great respect to an iconic song.
On Tonight, compared to Don't Look Down, the reggae and horns backing on this Iggy Pop songwriting collaboration (initially appearing on Pop's Lust For Life album) is more obviously commercial, but it is not a bad version, as Bowie duets lustily with Tina Turner. The song's initial darkness has been taken away, though, in an attempt to widen its appeal. Strangely, it failed to sell, despite this.
Neighbourhood Threat was another one that Bowie was also not happy with and it was another cover of old mate Iggy Pop’s material. Again, it is nowhere near as bad as popularly thought. Great bass sound, incisive guitar, pounding drums and a convincing vocal.
Another Iggy Pop co-write, Tumble And Twirl is also catchy, rhythmic and appealing as Bowie sings (perhaps surprisingly) about Borneo, and would not have sounded out of place on Lodger in some ways.
I Keep Forgettin' is a very boppy, almost rock 'n' roll number with sixties influences (indeed it is a Chuck Jackson cover) and another impressive, punchy horns backing. These often-forgotten tracks deserve more listens than they usually inspire.
Dancing With The Big Boys was the album's final Iggy writing pair-up and it is an addition to D.J. and Boys Keep Swinging in the list of Bowie’s upbeat “danceable” material. It is good too - the horns punchy and completing perfectly the energetic lead guitar riffs and the pace of the drum rhythm never lets up. Another underrated one.
The 2018 remaster of the album is excellent - nice and punchy, with a strong, muscular bass sound. It particularly enhances the lesser-known tracks for me, such as Don't Look Down, Tumble And Twirl, I Keep Forgettin' and Dancing With The Big Boys. The rhythm, bass and percussion sound great. There are also excellent 12” mixes available of Tumble And Twirl, Dancing With The Big Boys, Don’t Look Down and Loving The Alien.
It was a shame that the infectious jazz rock non-album single, This Is Not America was not included. Had it been, opinions of the album may have been considerably more favourable because the collaboration with jazz/rocker Pat Metheney was a big hit.
As with the next album, Never Let Me Down, these are often referred to as being Bowie’s worst albums. Personally, I prefer them to any of the 1990s/early 2000s releases, by far.
