David Bowie, song by song, in rough chronological order, with exceptions.
“Pushing Ahead of the Dame” is written by Chris O’Leary. Contact: judgeparker@yahoo.com.
All recording and release dates mentioned are from Nicholas Pegg’s The Complete David Bowie and/or Kevin Cann’s Chronology and Any Day Now.
“Pushing Ahead of the Dame” will be published in book form (likely two volumes) by Zero Books. The book will have a better title.
An excellent site and excellent insights. This is a most enjoyable read. I look forward to new posts.
Cheers
John
Just wanted you to know that I am loving “Pushing Ahead of the Dame.” Thanks so much!
Thanks for this one – from one kook to another..
Your site is one of the prettiest stars in the astronet.
Chris, thank you immensely for better aquainting me with these songs that I love. And for explaining so well all the reasons why I love them. You’re brilliant.
Great writing and wit.
”Seize the Day”
http://www.lowartmusic.com/mp3/ultravioleteye/EthanHawk/08%20Sieze%20the%20Day.mp3
Well, an excellent site I discovered my mere chance.
In my opinion intelligent music contributes to people culture because they search, they find and they read further and listen further(at least that’s my story: I started with punk rock in 1977 and then moved and moved and moved)and watch further …
Really a work of love and intelligence; the pictures are very interesting too.
You might want to send an e-message to people when you update the website? Feel free to do so with me.
ALl the best and good work.
Stefano, Milano, Italy
This site thrills me! Please send me updates.
Also, I would very much like to read your take on “Teenage Wildlife”.
This site is wonderful!!
cool!
i don’t understand why you haven’t talked about tin machine yet. i want to know why their live cd didn’t have more trax from the second tin machine album, tin machine II.
It feels like end of Empire.
But you have shone so very very brightly.
& You have guided me back home…
Thank you
Only recently found site googling “Metrobolist”.
I like it lots. Good luck with blog-to-book process!
I’m so happy that I found your blog, you are doing a job, I keep pulling out records to hear wile reading.
You have covered the first of my 3 favorite Bowie records, Station to Station, I look very much forward to you dealing with Low and Heroes
Thanks
That was supposed to be: doing a great job, lol
thanks again
It was amazing to find this website. You’re doing a phenomenal job, very, very impressive. You probably already have it, but check Any Day Now for further details on recording dates, origins of songs, etc.
Per
Any Day Now is excellent—it’s the gold standard of Bowie reference books (unfortunately only goes to ’74, though).
Hey Pushing Ahead of the Dame big daddy, Toy has leaked (if you didn’t already know!) Do a search or go to
http://www.bigozine2.com/
and download it, ready for when you need to review it (in the 60′s or 2000/2001?)
Also, I’ve wondered why in your past posts why you haven’t written about a lot of Bowie’s great unreleased tracks, like Rupert the Riley plus many more, whilst you have done so for others, like Tired of my life and Shadowman. Is it because you haven’t heard them? Do you want to if that’s the reason? – or is it legal reasons?
I did hit “Rupert the Riley,” which is one of my fave outtakes! It’s somewhere in the grab-all categories, like Early RCA Years or Philips/Merc years.
I likely have missed a couple outtakes due to not hearing ‘em (like “C’est La Vie”, from 1967, which I only heard a couple weeks ago–it’ll be in the book.)
That’s strange – I had a real good look and couldn’t find stuff like that, hmmm, I’m I missing something? Rupert is one of my faves too, as is Right on Mother. Did you do that? Am I missing that as well? Have to go back and look. Also what about the Arnold Corns stuff?
I’m not hassling you BTW, just curious….
Thanks for the “C’est La Vie” link. Not heard that one before. I’m sure you’ve spotted it, but there’s a lot of ‘Shadowman’ in there, isn’t there.
BTW – never heard of C’est La Vie!!! Wow – thought I knew them all….
Yeah, it just leaked. Very sweet song. Is something up in the Bowie organization? Bit weird that this song, and Toy came out in the same month, esp. as DB’s been very good at keeping a lid on studio boots:
Use the search box above the archives, and put titles in quotes. That should get them (“right on mother,” “miss peculiar,” “looking for a friend” etc.). Arnold Corns stuff is part of the Ziggy entries for “Moonage” and “Hang Onto Yourself”–
Great – thanks! Also I saw where I was going wrong. When I clicked on say 71 to 73 RCA I saw the end page of that era, not noticing the “previous post” link right at the bottom….Look forward to reading the rest.
Congratulations this blog by the way – great idea and I’m glad I lucked on it – never get sick of reading about Bowie….
Wow. What a brilliant site this is. It will be a pleasure to read through it all. Good job!!!
Tremendous effort. Kudos.
A truly terrific blog, and I’m glad to hear that you’ve got a publishing deal lined up.
Your criticism reminds me a bit of Ian McDonald. Was he an influence (I can think of no better)?
Hi, thanks! Yes, McDonald’s “Revolution in the Head” was a primary inspiration for doing this (including the chronological-by-recording scheme), and hopefully I’ve credited him enough (and Nicholas Pegg) over the course of this thing.
Just in case you didn’t know – you’ve been namechecked in an Uncut magazine Bowie special.
“Best of all, though, is Queen Bitch: as Chris O’Leary of online blog Pushing Ahead of the Dame puts it, ‘Not so much an imitation of the VU as much as an utter annexation of their sound’.”
I’ve been reading your blog since the Guardian pointed it up in their Guide, back when you were covering Diamond Dogs. It’s just a shame that the end will eventually be reached!
Once more I say: great job.
I am glad as well that you will publish in print your work (hopefully with illustrations?).
I have a blog (in Italian, but topics are not that much Italian) and I will add your blog – more a website indeed – to my list.
How will we know when you will publish?
By the way, I believe Any Day Now will have a following, sometimes.
Pity the promised bio by Tony DeFries looks almost vanished.
This blog is one of my faves! I’ve just finished Buckley’s “Strange Fascination” and am now starting Trynka’s “Starman”, but you know how it is… us Bowieites just can’t get enough of our man
Looking forward to your book… and I think the name is perfect (unless you’re concerned about angering DB)
“the book will have a better title”
Nothing at all wrong with PAOTHD .. (why isn’t it dameS) … but some ideas for the eventual book title …
“A Crash Course For The Ravers”
“Undetected By The Stars”
“I Am What I Play”
…. are reasonable, but my vote is:
“Stuck On My Eyes” …
Anyone else ?
JD.
How about Such Is The Stuff From Where Dreams Are Woven (Or simply From Where Dreams Are Woven)?
Hello,
I see you did not reply to me, but you checked my blog:
http://steg-speakerscorner.blogspot.com/
So thanks anyway.
I am not a fan of pun titles at any price (especially considering that it IS a common practice when naming a book about DB or his work), hence to me even if you decide for “The annotated and illustrated David Bowie songbook” it will be fine.
Alternatively you might find a good title through any of the books which inspired DB.
Best
Stefano/Steg
hey stefano—
no solid idea when the book will be ready yet (still trying to get it done this winter) but will let you (& everyone else obvs) know when I know more. It’s been a bit of a rough six months, financially, and I need to do other work that actually pays bills, that sort of thing.
& again, don’t know what the title will be yet.
This is the most incredible site – thank you. Thought I knew everything there was to know about David Bowie but how wrong I was. I love the detail and the humour. I promise to buy it in book form. Liz
I love this blog, -navigation can be a little tiresome but fortuitous as well. I am reading the bio “The Man Who sold the…” and although enjoyable he sometimes doesn’t get to the essence, -this blog hits mostly the bullseye.
thought: Soundwise Station2Station is (IMO) more like Young americains than “Low” & “Heroes” (but I see it often considered Berlinesque, rather than Soulesque(
2nd Thought: don’t publish yet.
3rd Thought: I wanted to be sick and felt betrayed on hearing “China Girl” on Tonight, -even to this day the change up to the guitar: DaaaDa DaaaDa DaDaDa DaaaDa on “the Idiot” makes me Flow My Tears……… thus “Tonight” my last Bowie record
good job
Thanks again for the site, and as if there isn’t enough here, a request for more…..
Could you possibly include the Santa Monica 72 recording, but in full as it’s own entity, a full album ? Probably the best concert record of that DB era, finally released in all countries as a legitimate live-album, and squarely centered in the Ziggy period, which of course was pretty brief, looking back… Many would call this the closest thing to going to a Ziggy Stardust concert (and minus the drama, missed cues,and overall loopiness of the filmed DAPennebaker ‘farewell’).
Oh, and as if you don’t have enough to do, and since the “imagine” entry kind of brought it to mind …. I’d think the major Bowie-authored tracks– “Growing Up And I’m Fine” for example— that show up on other records,eg Iggy, Ronson, others — would be fair game for individual entries … perhaps ?
cheers, J.
J–
thanks. those songs you mentioned have, for the most part, their own entries (the Ronson stuff is all one entry) already! I know the search function is not the best on this site, but if you put in a song title in quotes in the search box, you’ll likely find it quickly.
having the santa monica show, great as it is, as a separate album just doesn’t work for the song-by-song format. Instead i reference any particularly good live versions of various songs in their own entries—
best
chris
Aha. Just found the ronson+ page. Nice. Great photo, too (which if I recall one of the books has captioned something like “british rail entrée & two veg”).
Too bad the SM72 can’t have it’s own general over-arching entry; think we’d love to hear your take on the overall vibe. It always felt like DB was performing, not only to the faithful cultmembers at the other end of the world, but to the shocked children of the wild-west hippie/surfer dream. And he knew it well, and you can almost feel the glee in scandalizing them… and their acceptance.
Along with that lobster tail … there’s some kind of reciprocated shock/fascination going on, and : the spiders are tight & light on their many feet.
I do think it will be treated to its own place in any future discographies, though, and it’s so much better than longtime placeholder entries like “Stage”.
Great website. Run into it by chance; just added it to my bookmarks. Thanks for sharing your insights and analyses.
Well done. Love the imagery as well.
Insight, humour, honesty and a good ear.
My favourite being the review of ‘Fall in love with me’.
If you want help with the design of the book / cover, I’d like to lend a hand.
Hello Chris,
Just discovered this website and I am ESPECIALLY happy to know you’ll be releasing this in book form. I will purchase it immediately. Do let us know when it is finally going to be released. Notice you’re reading Peter Doggett’s ‘Man Who Sold The World’ book. How is it? It’s yet to be released here in the States, I believe.. Could be wrong.
Anyway, cheers on the blog. Love it.
Chris,
I spent countless hours here. Thanks from Germany for taking a bit of space in my head`s hard disk …
A friend of mine was compiling a series of BowieRare Cds for his personal use and, finding your blog invaluable, recommended it to me. He was right to do so. Your style and scholarship are both solid–well done, sir. When your writing comes out in hard copy, it will do for DB what Ian McDonald (an influence?) did for the Beatles definitive critisism-wise.
On my blog, I try to mix criticism with fiction, phoney news and humour and without wishing to sound generic and Spam-like, you may find this slightly different attempt at critique of Let’s Dance interesting: http://thriftyvinyl.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/david-bowie-lets-dance/
Thanks for such an amazing site- you’re bad for my freelancer’s productivity! One question: is there any way to see the Category list chronologically- some categories share the same year, so it’s hard to get a snapshot of the chronology. Thanks again- I’ll be buying the book.
Looking forward to the book! Any word on when that will happen? There doesn’t seem to be any mention on the Zero Books site.
hey, thanks. Zero’s been very tolerant, as the revision process for the early entries has been far longer and more grueling than I ever thought possible, plus new stuff keeps appearing to complicate things (e.g., “April’s Tooth of Gold,” a ’60s obscurity, leaked last year, so that needed an entry, etc.). But my goal is to send in a draft by this summer at the latest, so hopefully at some point in ’13 for Bk. 1.
Just found this blog the other day, and I’ve had a blast perusing the entries from some of my favorite (and not-so-favorite) tracks. I love what I’ve read so far and can’t wait for what’s yet to come.
Hi. First of all, thank for this amazing blog.
Just wanted to ask if you can make an entry on Bowie’s work on Peter and the Wolf? Thank you.
hey. Omitting “Peter & the Wolf” was a tough call, but it didn’t seem to quite fit the formula: it’s not quite a song or a cover. That said, I might do it for this year’s Xmas post.
As a Christmas post is a great idea. Peter & the Wolf deserves a mention somehow. And if we’re still going the following Christmas(!!) how about an honorable mention for my own guilty pleasure – The Snowman? I know he doesn’t sing on it but …
Absolutely wonderful site, I’m incredibly impressed. I have discovered so much more about Bowie on this extremely well written resource. I look forward to the book…
This is my favourite Blog by a long way.
I thought it would be fun to add some brevity;
so here is…
David Bowie
two word
Album reviews
‘David Bowie’
Eccentric juvenile
‘Space Oddity’
Earnest spaceman
‘The Man Who Sold The World’
Smoke metaller
‘Hunky Dory’
Flouncy genius
‘The Rise & Fall Of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars’
Perfect popstar
‘Aladdin Sane’
Evil popstar
‘Pin Ups’
Glamorous masquerador
‘Diamond Dogs’
Decaying recluse
‘Young Americans’
Streettalkin’ emoter
‘Station To Station’
Palaced gnostic
‘Low’
Bare experimenter
‘”Heroes”‘
Knowing giver
‘Lodger’
Clever traveller
‘Scary Monsters’
Intelligent viewer
‘Let’s Dance’
Slick businessman
‘Tonight’
Bored businessman
‘Never Let Me Down’
Confused parent
‘Tin Machine’
Loud neighbour
‘Tin Machine II’
Detached neighbour
‘Black Tie White Noise’
Sexy uncle
’1: Outside’
Creepy Storyteller
‘The Buddha Of Suburbia’
Suburban reminiscer
‘Earthling’
Eccentric uncle
‘Hours’
Tired muser
‘Toy’
Shelved re-hasher
‘Heathen’
Clearheaded seer
‘Reality’
Excited commuter
I love these! And I think you’ve got most of them spot on! x
Chris, I was leafing through my Rolling Stone Stone Record Guide (1st ed.) and it notes what it calls an “inexplicable remake” of “To Know Him Is To Love Him” by Steeleye Span on the Lp Now We Are Six which features Bowie on sax. I couldn’t find any Steeleye Span in the PAOTD search engine and thought, apprised of this revelation, there was another chapter’s worth of writing in it for you.
Or maybe it’s simply a bridge to bloody far…
Anyway hear it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4i82rF3qLU
Best Bowie blog on the net – any word on a book release date yet Chris?
trying to get the draft done by end of summer. we’ll see from then.
Since discovering you a few days ago I’ve been having a fine time reading, and have learned much (and left comments on a few entries), but I’m puzzled about the order in which you’re dealing with the tracks. Just what is it? You’re dealing with the albums chronologically, I see, but what’s the order of blog entries within an album? Sorry if I’m being very dense, but the current Tin Machine entries (Heaven’s in Here, Bus Stop, Amazing, Baby Can Dance, Tin Machine, Run and I Can’t Read) aren’t in the order of the tracks on the album, and aren’t alphabetical, so I’m a little confused.
Thanks!
Incidentally, I know it’s a hell of a long way off, but I can’t wait to read your thoughts on one of my great favorites, When the Boys Come Marching Home. I expect we have to wait for you to get to the great Heathen for that. Ah, well!
Stuart–
The chronology of this blog is imperfect and at times quite arbitrary. Basically, the intent is to address the DB songs in order of composition and/or recording.
So for Tin Machine, I generally wrote about the Bowie/Gabrels songs hailing from the summer of ’88 first, and now I’m about to get into songs that, to my knowledge, came out of the actual LP recording sessions (these include all the Sales-Bowie collaborations). Given that we have no day-to-day record of what was recorded when in a typical DB album, the order of tracks is in part guesswork and in part thematic: so I’m going to (mild spoiler) group all of the TM “protest” songs together starting next week.
hope this sheds some light into the process.
Thanks!
And do understand, please, that I wasn’t criticizing in the least. I was only asking because I thought I might have been overlooking something, as not only your blog but all of WordPress is new to me and I’m still learning how to navigate.
There’s a Ken Scott book coming out that may or may not have some new info on some Bowie records. Should be worth looking into. http://www.amazon.com/Abbey-Road-Ziggy-Stardust-record/dp/0739078585
Chris, there’s a PAOFTD big-up in the online Guardian Music Blog here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2012/may/31/blog-jam-thrifty-vinyl
courtesy the, er, fine people at Thrifty Vinyl.
thanks very much. That’s so nice of you.
Esta es la página web más interesante que he visto en los últimos 10 años. Gracias.
This is the most interesant web page that I’ve seen in the last 10 years. Thanks.
Chris, I felt I should let you know that when posting a comment just now (on “How Lucky You Are” / “Miss Peculiar”) I was met with a Microsoft Security Alert asking whether I wanted to proceed in view of a problem with your site’s Security Certificate; either the name on it is invalid or it doesn’t match the name of the site.
I’ve no understanding of such things but expected you’d want to pass this along to your web master.
thanks. I have no understanding of such things either. anyone else had this problem?
This is a wonderful website and will be a book well worth reading and re-reading . . .
Hi there, as with many others I have spent way too many hours reading your analysis! As a seasoned DB fan I was most impressed with what I read. As you mention, most biographers focus on the man and not his music. This is the best thing I have seen on his music since Charles Shaar Murray did the ‘David Bowie’ extra large book analysis which stops at Scary Monsters. That was awesome and your work is in that great tradition. Please let us know when the book is coming near to production.
I’ve nominated your blog for the Thought-Provoking Blog Award. What you have to do about it is here: http://mlewisredford.wordpress.com/2012/09/01/thought-provoking-blog/.
It’s just a bit of recognition and publicity. If you don’t want to pick it up I won’t be offended.
A wonderful read, I came across unexpectedly. Many thanks and I look forward to the book – love on ya!
a contribution to A Bowie Rykodiscography (US) release dates:
(I have them all except The Singles Collection, Fame ’90 and 808 State)
Sound + Vision : 19 Sep 1989
Space Oddity, Hunky Dory,The Man Who Sold the World : 30 Jan 1990
Changesbowie : 20 Mar 1990 Note 1: the vinyl release is two records, the cassette release is two cassettes. Additional songs (“Starman” after “Space Oddity,” “Life on Mars?” after “The Jean Genie,” and “Sound and Vision” after “Golden Years.” Note 2: The Au20 release (2 Jul 1996) substituted the album version of “Fame” for the egregious “Fame ’90.”
Fame ’90 : 20 Mar 1990
Ziggy Stardust: 6 Jun 1990
Aladdin Sane, : Pin Ups : 13 Jul 1990
Diamond Dogs, David Live : 16 Oct 1990
Young Americans, Station to Station : 14 May 1991
Low, “Heroes”, Lodger : 27 Jul 1991
David Bowie vs. 808 State : 17 Dec 1991
Stage : 8 May 1992
Ziggy Stardust The Motion Picture : 7 Aug 1992
Singles Collection : 16 Nov 1993
Ryko also did gold disc versions of several releases. As far as I know they use the original masterings, but also include the same bonus tracks of the original releases; I can pull the insert out if you care to know exactly what they say.
Ziggy Stardust : 16 Aug 1994
Hunky Dory, Changesbowie, Low : 2 July 1996
The Man Who Sold the World, Station to Station, Young Americans, “Heroes” : 8 Apr 1997
This is a great blog. Loving your work….
I have stumbled across your blog only recently and accidentally. It is really stunning, I am amazed about the depth and plentiness of background information you provide in context of even the obscurest Bowie songs. Your observations are well researched and insightful. Sometimes I feel a bit sad when you tend not to praise a song or it’s interpretation that I love (like “My Death”). As you have “arrived” in the Nineties now, I am very much looking forward to your analysis of “1.Outside”, for example, which I adore, like most of the later Bowie stuff, as much as his great work of the Seventies and early Eighties.
This is one of the best pieces of music writing I have ever encountered–I can’t wait for the book version (even though I’ll have read it all by then)!
Amazing work–thanks so much!
John
I can’t remember now how I got here but damn I’m glad I did.
Absolutely incredible.
Chris, when you do get published please keep the name; it’s absolutely right for a work of this magnitude. You are, quite literally, pushing ahead of the others, dames or otherwise!
Ian MacDonald’s ‘Revolution In The Head’ is a magisterial study of a great band’s recorded output and it’s title captures their revolutionary effect on popular culture…don’t you think ‘Pushing Ahead of the Dame’ achieves a similar effect for Bowie’s case? He really did push ahead in lots of areas and, of course, when it comes to dames, well, there really is nothing quite like one; especially ours!
Please reconsider; it was an inspired choice of name for the blog and I’m certain it’ll translate well in print. Great work and good luck.
Hi Chris,
I just want to join in the chorus of praise. Since I discovered this site I’ve been going around with the warm feeling of having received a really great surprise gift. This site is easily the equal of Ian McDonald’s great “Revolution in the Head”. Not only is your analysis sharp and fascinating, but you’re also a really talented writer.
Anyway, a request: Could you throw in some sort of global analysis of the characteristics of Bowie compositions?
For example, I’ve read elsewhere of John Lennon’s loose ways with meter, and his tendency to use more or less single-note melody lines concluded by sort of melismatic bit at the end, and how this contrasted with the McCartney approach of aiming more towards formal perfection.
I understand this sort of analysis only vaguely, but it’s still fascinating. I’d really love to see Bowie get the same sort of treatment, and it could be a valuable addition to your book.
hi–thanks. in a nutshell, yes–there is some of this in the book revision (one reason it’s taken so long to revise it), looking at DB’s general tendencies in vocal melodies, chord progressions, meter, etc.
Looks like Pushing Ahead Of The Dame will be expanding its scope:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2013/jan/08/david-bowie-man-mystique?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
New DB Album 2013
Hi,
I’m a new Bowie fan (only 22, I missed most of his career =/). I’ve heard his songs before but sometime during last week something suddenly clicked and I finally Listened to them for the first time.
Now he’s one of my favorite artists and your blog has been the perfect guide to exploring his discography for the first time.
Since this site seems to be frequented by so many longtime fans who have already shown their appreciation, I just wanted to let you know that for someone out there, yours is the first window into Bowie’s music. Thanks!
Great job !
A truly excellent and informative site, many thanks for the work.
I look forward to the book/s
Tim (Noggin)
I remember an interview – I think Charles Shaar Murray – did in 1977 for NME discussing Low with Bowie and his time and musical influence in Berlin, with his reference to influence by Edgar Froese and Bowie’s appreciation for Edgar’s album ‘Epsilon In Malaysian Pale’.
Have you seen the interview ? I don’t know if it was later reprinted in Charles Shaar Murray’s and Roy Carr’s book ?
I have found this quote in the net but there is unfortunately no source given to the text :
Bowie quote: “I was a big fan of Kraftwerk, Cluster and Harmonia, and I thought the first Neu! album, in particular, was just gigantically wonderful,” admits Bowie. “Looking at that against punk, I had absolutely no doubts where the future of music was going, and for me it was coming out Germany at that time. I also liked some of the later Can things, and there was an album that I loved by Edgar Froese, Epsilon In Malaysian Pale; it’s the most beautiful, enchanting, poignant work, quite lovely. That used to be the background music to my life when I was living in Berlin. In a way, it was great that I found those bands, because I didn’t feel any of the essence of punk at all in that period, I just totally by-passed it.”
Any idea as to where did this above quote stem from?
Have there been many books about Bowie’s stay in Berlin?
I have read Low by Hugo Wilcken on your recommendation and find it very good and accurate.
Seabrook’s book is not so good .
Oh! …and a big Thank you, I have learnt much here
A fantastic blog. For whatever reason, I’ve only just discovered it, despite being an adoring fan of Bowie’s music for… well, for ages. Keep up the good work!
Don’t get stressed out! The book is worth the wait. Just get it the way you want it. I’ll buy it. I love your writing. Thank you!
merci, merci from Paris
What a great website !!
Just WOW!
I don’t know where to start reading.
this is a magnificent project – ‘opened up a whole new lode in Bowie for which I am grateful