I don’t know If I’ve ever mentioned it, but I’m sort of a fan of David Bowie.
By the time Dave went silent beginning in 2003, I had heard all of the official albums from Space Oddity onward, and plenty of B-sides and demos as well.
But at some point, Bowie’s prolonged disappearance started to worry me.
And so I began to fill the silence with music of his that I had never heard before. I decided to seek out every song that he had ever recorded!
When he finally emerged with new music in 2013, I was of course excited, elated, and relieved.
(And when he returned in 2016, I delighted, I exulted,
…and then I grieved.)
But I also came to his new music with a new perspective, now that I had studied his entire life’s work.
Nothing has changed, everything has changed.
So I’d like to share some of my favorite Bowie songs that casual fans tend not to know.
Here we go. Count it down, Ground Control!
C’est La Vie (1967)
When I first got into Bowie, the CDs available were released by Ryko, and their catalog started with Space Oddity. Which in fact is Bowie’s second album. It would be a few years later that I’d learn that his true LP debut was recorded in 1967 for Deram Records. But I had no strong urge to hear it until decades later, once I began to seek out his entire catalog.
I’m guessing that most Bowie fans don’t ever get into this early stuff.
So they’ve definitely never heard this 1967 demo!
Most of the pre-Oddity work is rather silly, for better or worse. Yet C’est La Vie is different. It’s got a simple, sweet melody and a plaintive delivery. What’s not to like?
Right On Mother (1974)
In 1971, Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits made his solo debut with a song that David Bowie had given to him: Oh You Pretty Things.
Bowie then gave Noone another song, Right on Mother, which Noone released as a B-side to Walnut Whirl, that same year.
Bowie subsequently recorded his own version of Pretty Things for Hunky Dory. But Right on Mother only exists as a demo and a BBC session cut. It’s a shame. It would have fit rather well on the album.
Candidate (1974)
Fans of Diamond Dogs know that Candidate is the center of a three-song suite that is the beating heart of the album.
But this is not that Candidate.
This is a demo from the Diamond Dogs sessions, perhaps an early sketch that turned into something else completely. The grandiosity of the canonical Candidate is nowhere to be found here. This is a simple little song. Upbeat but with an appealing resignation to Bowie’s singing. The lyrics are rather clumsy, but that’s part of its charm as well.
Music Is Lethal (1974)
This was not an obscurity in the 70s; the album it’s on peaked at #9 on the UK album charts. But nowadays many casual Bowie fans don’t know it. Because it’s not on a Bowie album.
It’s on a Mick Ronson album!
Bowie gave three songs to his former guitarist to record for his solo debut, Slaughter on 10th Avenue. For Music Is Lethal, he set his lyrics to music from a song by Italian balladeer Lucio Battisti. The result is a glorious work of campy high drama that could have fit on Diamond Dogs. Mick’s singing isn’t quite on the level of Bowie, but it’s close enough to hit the spot.
Who Can I Be Now? (1975)
There are several great extra tracks from the Young Americans sessions. This one is the strongest.
Featuring Dave Sanborn’s distinctive sax work and Bowie’s over-the-top soul singing.
It’s surprising it didn’t make it to the album. Rest in peace, guys.
Some Are (1977)
This was a highlight when I first got into Bowie’s Low album. At the time, it was included as a bonus track on the Ryko disc release.
Simple, spare, haunting. Lovely.
And based on a bad pun.
Goodbye Mr. Ed (1991)
Skipping past the 80s, which was Bowie’s creative nadir. Bowie capped off that decade by forming a hard rock band, Tin Machine.
It’s not all great, but it helped get his juices flowing again.
And some of it’s fantastic! This song comes from their second LP, which for some reason is out of print. It’s one of my favorites.
Untitled No. 1 (1994)
Bowie also provided music to soundtrack the television series The Buddha of Suburbia.
I have still never seen the show. But the music is mostly good, and sometimes great.
Here is an example of Dave dipping into loungey dream pop, not too far off from late-period Cocteau Twins.
We Shall Go to Town (1999)
Bowie had spent most of the 90s chasing hip new sounds and trends, but by the century’s end his age had caught up with him.
Much of his Hours album was reflective and fairly conservative folk rock.
Some of the B-sides from this period were excellent though. Better than the album tracks. We Shall Go to Town is a haunting, atmospheric number, and features a deliciously creepy solo from guitarist Reeves Gabrels.
Shadow Man (2000)
Bowie wrote this song in the early 70s, but it remained a demo until around 2000. At this time, Bowie recorded Toy, an album that mostly consisted of reworked songs from his early years, and mostly obscurities.
Where the original demo was a dreary stab at Neil Young, this re-recorded Toy version is simply majestic.
Bowie eventually shelved Toy, and it was only released officially after his death. Now everyone can enjoy it. Come for Bowie’s deep croon, stay for Mike Garson’s elegant piano. It’s a little slice of perfection.
I could go on and on, but I’ll stop here.
What are your favorite lesser known Bowie songs?
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Looks like I’ve got some listening to do. Thanks for sharing these with us, Phylum!
Great subject! I’m a Bowie fan but although I’m familiar with all the studio albums (some much more than others) I haven’t dug that far into the rarities.
These all sound great so it’s clear I need to get onto putting that right. I do know Goodbye Mr Ed and the Buddha of Suburbia track but the rest are new to me.
Love that you’ve covered all stages of his career. Right On Mother seems a very of its time Bowie title. C’est La Vie is really interesting. He took a while to work out his sound, going through R n’ B and blues in his early bands before moving onto his Anthony Newley phase for the first solo album in ’67. That C’est La Vie is from the same period suggests he was trying out different sounds trying to find what worked for him. It puts me in mind of Rubber Soul era Beatles.
My own favourite lesser known Bowie then….
From the ’69 David Bowie album is closing track Memory Of A Free Festival. A beautiful, wistful track ending with the mesmerising mantra; ‘The sun machine is coming down and we’re gonna have a party’ repeating over and over for several minutes.
https://youtu.be/SVF8V4VKSX8?feature=shared
Foot Stompin’ which is a cover of The Flares 1961 doo wop effort but given the Young Americans soul treatment. With a Carlos Alomar guitar line that would be adapted for use in Fame.
https://youtu.be/bZTwnR9nLvY?feature=shared
Ooh, haven’t heard this before. Thanks!
Lastly, Love Is Lost from The Next Day but the remix with the unwieldy title Love Is Lost – Hello Steve Reich Mix By James Murphy For The DFA.
There’s a four minute edit but the full 10 minute version is my go to. Often remixes are entirely superfluous and although I like The Next Day album as a whole this is one where I far prefer the remix to the original.
https://youtu.be/lyGO0IxAr4A?feature=shared
And featuring a prominent sample of “Clapping” by Steve Reich, who I covered a few weeks ago.
Here’s one that I always liked. I think it was a B-side or something?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=42&v=fA5WyBMPULE&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY
Yup! A great one. And another that Bowie redid in 2000 for Toy, but I prefer the original.
Bowie is one of those artists with such a varied catalog that whatever song I’m listening to makes me think, “This is my favorite Bowie song.”
So among my favorites is “Dead Man Walking” from Earthling. What do you think of that period?
Also, shout out to Blackstar. What a swan song.
https://youtu.be/md8DgNa-rKQ
I think the Earthling era is mostly underappreciated. I’ve always been a fan, and “Dead Man Walking” is perhaps the best song from the time.
Here’s a relevant bonus beat (albeit without an actual beat): Bowie singing on a Goldie track, from 1998:
https://youtu.be/9UWUgxu1iXY?si=9IAKv3YOVdEtYQdw
Wow, that’s beautiful.
I don’t run very deep with Bowie. I mostly know the hits and I knew none of these. When Tom first covered Bowie a few years back, a few commenters mentioned the album Station to Station and how great it is. I listened to it for the first time and got hooked immediately. The whole thing is great and should be listened to all the way through, but the album cut I like best off of it is “Stay”. It’s like disco glam. His voice sounds awesome. The groove hits so hard and that bass line, especially toward the end just bowls me over.
Yes, that album is a stunner. The guitars really stand out to me. My favorite track is “Word On a Wing,” which perfectly captures Bowie’s spiritual twilight from the era.
I assume you’re not interested in the Davie Jones era stuff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZmUAdo-ueI
“Liza Jane” is the best of his first run of songs. I like a few others, including this cover, which was perhaps the first time he gave his signature dramatic vocals on record:
https://youtu.be/SklUpMpuMcE?si=9_XABWL2OPLzPn05
I think Quentin Tarantino tried to rehabilitate David Bowie’s eighties output by using “Putting Out the Fire(Gasoline)” in Inglourious Bastereds. Ironically, the song’s reboot has aged better than the film. A whole lotta cringe in regard to the latter.
Moonage Daydream was great. I take back all my Gary Numan fanboy comments.
I still haven’t seen IngBast, but it’s an inspired song choice.
As long as it was the original version from Cat People and not the tepid Let’s Dance remake.
Some days, it seems like I’m the only person who loves this one from his “bad” album:
https://youtu.be/HTl2PWcIiIk
No, I’m with you, that’s a good one.
One of exactly two songs from that album that don’t corrode my soul…😁