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  1. 2023 Albums Thing #050 - David Bowie “Glastonbury 2000”

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    A posthumously released live album from Bowie’s festival closing performance at the Glastonbury Festival he had previously played back in 1971. Just 4 years after this show Bowie suffered a heart attack on stage in Prague. After getting through one more show in Germany he never performed a full set again and by 2007 he had withdrawn from the stage completely.

    He sounds happy (despite admitting he’s been ill in the run up to the show), if you watch the BBC footage he looks happy. and why shouldn’t he, the birth of his daughter was imminent, he complains about time spent rehearsing being time away from home in the sleeve notes. The set is a masterclass in how to cover a 30 year career, crowd favourite after crowd favourite with some newer songs (“Hello Spaceboy”, “Little Wonder”) and serious fan favourites (“Station To Station”) although opening with “Wild Is The Wind” must have confused the casual observer.

    It’s a nice souvenir of an oft talked about show.

    Glastonbury 2000 - https://youtu.be/HUwUBH9t_10

  2. 2023 Albums Thing #049 - David Bowie “Legacy”

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    A 2 LP Best of Bowie (that’s like the Pacific-est of oceans or the Everest-est of mountains…geddit?) of which there has been at least one other in the 6 years since this was released (I hate to use the term flogging a dead horse but…).

    Interesting only in that it features a new remix of Life On Mars ?” by original producer Ken Scott and some 7” edits/versions of singles. If you are a complete Bowie newbie either this or any of the “Changes” compilations might be a good starting point.

    I remember seeing the blue suit Bowie wears in the video below at the “David Bowie Is…” exhibition at the V&A in 2013 and thinking “my god, he was so skinny” !

    Life On Mars ? (2016 Mix) - https://youtu.be/UipTt-qqZOE

     

  3. 2023 Albums Thing #048 - Various Artists “Lazarus: Original New York Cast”

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    Of course it wasn’t just another “Juke Box musical”, this one was by Bowie ! Juke Box Musical has become a catch all term for musicals written around the music of a single artist and that is what “Lazarus” is, but…Bowie was involved from this ones inception and made his final public appearance at the New York premiere on 7th December 2015.

    I haven’t seen “Lazarus” but the story is a continuation of that of Thomas Jerome Newton set after the events of “The Man Who Fell To Earth”. Based around 13 songs from Bowie’s career, an excerpt from “Sound And Vision” plus 4 new songs ("Lazarus" (at the time “Blackstar” had yet to be released so it was a new song), "No Plan", "Killing A Little Time" and "When I Met You”. Versions of these songs by Bowie were included on the Original Cast recording album) the story is loosely that Newton is a man trapped on earth, he cannot die, but then meets another person who may bring all that to an end. I’ve also read that the case of the murder of Baby Grace Blue from “1. Outside…” is resolved.

    Included in the show are songs from right across Bowie’s career from “The Man Who Sold The World” right up to “Blackstar”. The cast recording was made on on 11th January 2016, the day after Bowie’s passing, and the cast were told as they arrived at the studio. It’s interesting to hear the songs sung by others in a different setting. The versions of “Life On Mars ?” and “All The Young Dudes” stand out, but it’s far from essential listening, apart from the new songs, and it really doesn’t throw any light on the story the songs are used to support. 

    The three new songs were recorded as part of the “Blackstar” sessions with the band of Donny McCaslin’s quartet and Ben Monder on guitar. Very much in the style of that album the stand out is “When I Met You”. They were the last new music we would ever hear from David Bowie.

    When I Met You - https://youtu.be/5fDy-mRGFkw