David Bowie: My Top Ten Singles

Now, I am not given to making top tens, because my opinions are always changing and I find it impossible to say that one song is better than another, but I've decided to do a few, so here goes with the incredibly difficult task of narrowing David Bowie's 45 rpm output down to ten. As you can tell from this list, I'm a seventies Bowie man. 

Where do I personally begin with David Bowie? 

Well, it was on the 6th of July in 1972 when I saw him on Top Of The Pops doing Starman. I was thirteen years old. He was completely new to me. Funnily enough, I had no memory of Space Oddity from 1969, despite knowing a lot of chart songs from back to the mid-late sixties. That one had strangely passed me by. Now, in 1972, though, I was like many, fascinated by what I saw on the TV. Contrary to many people's experience, who found their parents despising him and his glam/androgynous appearance, my Mother loved him. A few months later I was really into the John, I'm Only Dancing single and my relationship with David Bowie was taking its first baby steps. 

Let's sort the Jean Genies out from the mice in their million hordes....

⑩ SOUND AND VISION (1977)

The Low album's hit single, Sound And Vision, had some absolutely killer synthesiser hooks and almost invented "synth pop". It was a semi-instrumental with just a few lyrics - the "blue, blue electric blue" refrain that really caught on and had people singing along with it. From its opening rat-a-tat drum beat through its addictive bass to its swirling, rising synthesisers, this is a pleasure from beginning to end. "Don't you wonder sometimes - 'bout sound and vision...", sung smokily and sonorously by Bowie was a great line. I have to reiterate about the bass - George Murray's contribution is superb. An interesting bit of trivia is that the "doo doo doo" backing vocals were sung by sixties folk singer Mary "Those Were The Days" Hopkin, wife of the album's producer Tony Visconti. 

⑨ TIME WILL CRAWL (1987)

Taken from the (unfairly) critically-panned 1987 album, Never Let Me Down - make no mistake, this is a damn good Bowie track, - full of absolute killer riffs, stonking piano riffs, quality, strong vocals, infectious hooks - so, no arguments, please. Bad song? My arse. It is one of Bowie's finest mid-period singles, for me, anyway. Incidentally, I read someone say that this is one of those songs that sounds as if it means something really portentous - "until the 21st century lose" etc but, in true Bowie cut-and-paste songwriting style, it means nothing, really. Not a problem, many songs are exactly the same. Life On Mars? anyone? I have never understood the bad press this album got. The song is also available in MM Remix format, making it less riffy, less rocking, and more "danceable". Personally, I prefer the original but I'm not averse to the remix. 

⑧ DRIVE-IN SATURDAY (1973)

Drive-In Saturday was the Aladdin Sane album's big "new" single (The Jean Genie being released several months before the album) - full of doo-wop harmonies, parping sax and great hook lines it blew us all away. As with so many of the Bowie compositions on the album, the imagery is positively overflowing as contemporary culture and icons are mixed with nostalgic themes - "people stared in Jagger's eyes and scored", "she'd sigh like Twig the wonderkid..." were definite references and then there was "Jung the foreman...". Who was he? Jung the philosopher? The "foreman", though, what was that about? What was "crashing out with Sylvian"? Bowie explained that song was set in a post-apocalyptic world where people had to learn how to make love again by using books. All very futuristic and strange. Whatever the meanings, it is an uplifting, almost anthemic sax-driven pastiche. It was originally offered, it is said, to Mott The Hoople as a follow-up to the Bowie-penned All The Young Dudes but they turned it down, now confident enough to choose their own Honaloochie Boogie, which charted for them. 

⑦ "HEROES" (1978)

Well, what more is there to be said about this cold war love song? "Heroes" has become one of Bowie's most famous song, its lyric used many times by many people in search of some uplifting "believe in yourself" inspiration (largely because of the chorus, as opposed to the verses, which are comparatively uneasy and wishing for things that may not happen - "standing by the wall.... swimming like dolphins..." etc). "You can be mean and I'll drink all the time", however, is just one more of many of the song's lyrics that show that the song isn't just a simple "we can make it against all odds" anthem. There is a lot of underlying ambiguity, cynicism and paranoia lurking within its spray-painted concrete walls. Back to the song as a whole, everything about it is superb - that wonderful synthesiser leading riff, Bowie's soaring vocal and, of course, Robert Fripp's marvellous lead guitar bursts. 

⑥ FAME (1975)

An absolute Bowie classic and one that became the second big hit from the Young Americans album. Fame is a supremely funky Bowie/Lennon workout containing cutting lyrics about the fame game - "fame - what you want is in the limo - fame - what you get is no tomorrow...". Bowie seemed to be telling his own indulgent story right here, right now. The song is decadent in both its lyrics and its dirty funkiness. The funk riff is magnificent on this and, impressively one of Bowie's idols, James Brown, paid him the compliment of using the very riff on his 1976 track Hot (I Need To Be Loved). Bowie was delighted by this, I am sure. Another impressive thing is the backing vocal "high voice to deep voice" descending scale that comes off to great effect both here and in subsequent live performances. 

⑤ LIFE ON MARS? (1971 - released in 1973 as a single)

This magnificent, truly iconic, fully orchestrated wonder of a song is one that is quoted by many these days in everyday conversations. "See the mice in their million hordes, from Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads". Bizarre lyrical imagery doesn't get much better, does it? Quite what it is about has been the subject of analysis ever since its release - who was "the girl with the mousy hair"? Or the "sailors fighting in the dancehall" as seen on the screen by the said girl? What film was Bowie thinking of, I wonder? It has always been South Pacific, for me. As well as the lyrics the song has some beautiful, dramatic piano on it and a real sense of melodrama. I love the way the song rises and falls between its cacophonous chorus and the gentle build up of its superbly expressive verses. The song came from 1971's Hunky Dory album, but was released as a single in the UK in the spring/summer of 1973, cashing in on the nascent Bowie-mania. 

④ STARMAN (1972)

Starman was the one that gave the world Bowie’s iconic Top Of The Pops appearance, and what a great single it was too. Addictive, radio-friendly chorus, lots of contemporaneously-popular space imagery and that instantly recognisable morse code bit before the chorus kicks in, that was inexplicably lowered on many remasters over the years. It exists on the original single mix. The song is built around an acoustic guitar riff more in tune with the lighter, breezier feel of Hunky Dory than the electric riffs of this album. As Bowie's only successful single to date apart from 1969's seemingly one-off Space Oddity it would have seemed to many that Bowie was obsessed with singles about space and the galaxy, which was of course not the case if you knew more of his songs. As with Moonage Daydream there are lots of hippy/US-style lyrics in the song - "hazy cosmic jive"..."hey that's far out"..."let all the children boogie..."..."some cat was layin' down some rock 'n' roll..." that owed more than a passing debt to Bowie's friend Marc Bolan. Incidentally, on the live performance, Bowie sang "get it on rock 'n' roll.." as a nod to his mate Bolan, no doubt. I always wondered, when listening to this song, how one could "lean back on my radio..". How could you lean on a radio?? 

③ REBEL REBEL (1974)

The big - now iconic - hit from the Diamond Dogs album was Rebel Rebel, with its infectious scratchy, Stonesy riff played by Bowie on guitar, trying out his best Mick Ronson. The song's lyrics highlight gender-bending and had quite an effect at the time, more than you would imagine these days. To say "you don't know if you're a boy or a girl" in a song was actually quite ground-breaking. Anyway, it was, and is, a great song. The song also has a US version that goes straight into the "da-da-da-da-da" vocal bit without the introductory riff, which is a bit of a shame because that riff is just so damn good. It also features some funky congas in its backing, paving the way for the "white soul" period. The song was performed in the US style on 1974's David Live album. If that weren't enough, there is also a 2003 version that bears more relation to the US version. 

② THE JEAN GENIE (1972)

The Jean Genie was the Aladdin Sane album's first big hit single and it had crashed into our consciousness back in December 1972 before the album was released. I remember one evening at youth club and one of the other boys came running up to me, beside himself with excitement. "What do you think of David Bowie...?" he breathlessly enquired. I shrugged in the way thirteen year old boys do but still went out and bought the single the next day with my paper round money. 49p it cost. The boy who asked the question was Pete Trewavas, later to achieve fame as the bass player in Marillion. The song contains absolutely killer bits of Ronson-Bowie guitar-harmonica interplay throughout and is one of Bowie's bluesiest piece of rock thus far in his career. The riff was approximated by The Sweet for their number one single Blockbuster in January 1973. It was, according to both parties, a complete coincidence and also, The Yardbirds had used it in the sixties in their live covers of I'm A Man. Another coincidence, stated Bowie, was the whole "Jean Genet" thing that supposed that the song's title was something to do with the French avant-garde author. The song and the accompanying Top Of The Pops appearance subsequently cemented Bowie's position in popular culture, even more than Starman did. By late 1972, many people were talking about David Bowie. The Ziggy Stardust audience had ballooned, hugely. He was a superstar now. 

① YOUNG AMERICANS (1975)

At number one we have one of Bowie’s finest ever tracks in the lyrically, musically and atmospherically remarkable Young Americans. Five minutes of pure Bowie magic. Still my favourite ever Bowie track. I never tire of hearing it, even after all these years. Just hearing that drum intro gets me every time. Then the sax comes in - magical. It is also jam-packed full of great, perplexing lines like "well, well, well would you carry a razor, in a case, just in case of depression..." or - "we live for just these twenty years, do we have to die for the fifty more?". Great stuff indeed. I could just carry on quoting from this song, there are so many great lines. The sound is now clearly different to anything Bowie had ever done before. His band had main members who were largely white (apart from bassist Willie Weeks) and a background in rock and jazz, so they certainly weren't a bona fide soul band. They did seem to get the soul vibe, though, particularly saxophonist David Sanborn and Puerto Rican guitarist Carlos Alomar and there were soul musicians on congas and backing vocals, including a young Luther Vandross. It is not genuine soul. however, but it is a fine approximation and simply a damn fine record. "Ain't there one damn song that can make me break down and cry...". Indeed. This is up there as possibly my favourite ever David Bowie song. Well, obviously it is, it's number one in the list.

Bubbling under - Golden Years, Absolute Beginners, Loving The Alien, John, I'm Only Dancing, Blue Jean, Boys Keep Swinging, DJ.......