Between “Tonight” and “Never Let Me Down” Bowie starred in another movie, the utter embarrassment that is “Labyrinth”. He contributed 5 songs to the soundtrack too, none of which are worth dwelling on. Remember that thing I said about “Scary Monsters”, Bowie was saying “OK I’ve done enough, it’s your turn” well, it has come to pass, it felt like he was barely trying.

Received wisdom is that “Never Let Me Down” is bloody awful, Bowie said as much himself later on…

 “I thought it was great material that got simmered down to product level. I really should have not done it quite so studio-ly. I think some of it was a waste of really good songs. You should hear the demos from those albums. It’s night and day by comparison with the finished tracks…When I listen to those demos it’s, How did it turn out like that?”

The album reeks of the 80’s, big drums, big hair, synthesizers and metal-ish guitars. Some of its component parts are indeed horrible, most of Side 2 falls under that description. But in the spirit of positivity I’m trying to cultivate I could make a case for “Time Will Crawl”, “The Beat Of Your Drum” and “Zeroes” being good songs that would be regarded much better than they are had they been treated differently. The album does have 10 new original Bowie songs, they may none of them be classics but that’s more than “Let’s Dance” and “Tonight” combined.

On Friday Night with Jonathan Ross in 2002 Bowie said:

“Of the 26 albums I've made I think there were two when I really wasn't involved and that was "Tonight" and "Never Let Me Down" … That period was my Phil Collins years.”

These two albums (and I’d chuck “Let’s Dance” in to this too. Nile Rodgers has said he was allowed to make the album of songs that Bowie supplied and then he just got off the sofa and sang) were a time when he gained the attention of an audience whose tastes he didn't understand and they almost certainly didn’t understand him. Could you imagine your first exposure to Bowie being “Let’s Dance” or this and then sitting down with “Low” or “Heroes” ?

Beat Of Your Drum - https://youtu.be/Cdd-heyXc3w

I know it’s really a Various Artists OST but the only reason I own it is for Bowie’s contributions so it sits here among my Bowie albums.

I have to admit that I’ve not seen the film since it was released in 1986 (I’d actually quite like to remedy that) but I don’t remember Bowie’s performance, as advertising executive Vendice Partners, convincing me that he was suddenly going to become a feted act-or anytime soon.

He contributed 3 songs to the soundtrack, “Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu)” you’d know it if you heard it, it was Italy’s entry to the 1958 Eurovision Song Contest and Bowie delivers it in Italian, “That’s Motivation”, a set piece for Bowie’s character in the film based around the motivation to make money and including the intro motif from the title song, and of course, the title song itself.

“Absolute Beginners” might well be the greatest song David Bowie wrote and recorded post “Scary Monsters” and pre “Earthling”. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios after an invite to record with “Mr X” went out to a group of musicians including Thomas Dolby, Prefab Sprout guitarist Kevin Armstrong and former Soft Boy Matthew Seligman, it is an enormous, 50’s/60’s doo-woppy styled power-ballad, embellished by “Rachmaninov style” piano from Rick Wakeman, which Bowie performs absolutely brilliantly. Of course it’s the highlight of a very patchy soundtrack.

Absolute Beginners - https://youtu.be/iCJLOXqnT2I

“Tonight” gets some really bad press, even at times from Bowie himself. 

I was all ready to make a controversial statement (to some) and say that I could make a case that “Tonight” is a better album than “Let’s Dance”. It does have some stinkers (two more rotten covers in “God Only Knows” and “I Keep Forgetting” and the cod-reggae takes on the title song with Tina Turner and Iggy’s “Don’t Look Down” are best glossed over) but in “Loving The Alien” and “Blue Jean” we have two winners and the other Iggy cover on here, “Neighbourhood Threat”, is better to my ears than the “Let’s Dance” take on “China Girl”. And to round it up “Tumble And Twirl” and “Dancing With The Big Boys” are VERY 80’s but they’re better songs than most of what’s on “Let’s Dance”. But having listened to the album again as a whole Bowie was right to say it’s not very good.

Much of “Tonight”'s problems stem from it sounding soooo 80’s (and did I mention the cod reggae ?) and from being somewhat lazy. If you count the previously released Iggy songs (3) and the 2 covers Bowie only wrote 4 new songs for this album, that’s less than “Station To Station” !

The video’s for the singles “Blue Jean” and “Loving The Alien” were pleasant epics and hopefully our hero made a few more quid on the sales of this one.

Loving The Alien - https://youtu.be/ns2hmyP0mGY