How would you rate "Let's Dance" (1983) by David Bowie?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Haristar, May 29, 2017.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. strummer101

    strummer101 The insane on occasion aren't without their charms

    Location:
    Lakewood OH
    Nah.
     
  2. bob60

    bob60 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London UK
    Yep.
     
    strummer101 likes this.
  3. strummer101

    strummer101 The insane on occasion aren't without their charms

    Location:
    Lakewood OH
    Nah.

    We can always count on high quality intellectual discourse on the Steve Hoffman Forums! ;) :laugh:
     
  4. LeBon Bush

    LeBon Bush Hound of Love

    Location:
    Austria
    Pretty great to me. Cuts like the 7:30 version of the title track, Modern Love or Ricochet are outstanding dancing songs - while pieces like the 'new' recording of Cat People and Shake It tend to drag. Nevertheless, a great album to these ears :righton:
     
  5. LeBon Bush

    LeBon Bush Hound of Love

    Location:
    Austria
    Nooooo, it's a wonderful and very atmospheric song - can't get all the negativity towards that piece.
     
    wrappedinsky likes this.
  6. bob60

    bob60 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London UK
    Sure can...:D
     
    strummer101 likes this.
  7. jmxw

    jmxw Fab Forum Fan

    Actually, I believe there was a bit of ground-breaking going on. Not as huge as his seventies experiments with Eno, but ... the gated horns! That was a super-cool trick that I don't think had been done before [or maybe since?]..
     
  8. jmxw

    jmxw Fab Forum Fan

    I'd recommend it just for the SRV guitar solos. They definitely changed the tone from pure pop dance music to ... some kind of R&B/blues hybrid. [At least for me it did.]
     
  9. Vaughan

    Vaughan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Essex, UK
    I can't say avoid at all costs, the title track is a great song, and Ricochet isn't too bad.

    That said, Modern Love, China Girl, and Cat People are atrocious, and very much lower rung Bowie, imo. Shake It..... well, that's just so bad I try to delete it from memory. Bad album.
     
    mr.datsun likes this.
  10. The Hud

    The Hud Breath of the Kingdom, Tears of the Wild

    I love Criminal World and Cat People!
     
  11. JRJ

    JRJ Forum Resident

    I voted it's a great classic and I have it in my collection and my mother bought it for me when it first was released. I was only 10!
    Highly recommended but not as good as Diamond Dogs or Station to Station.
    Cheers;
    John
     
  12. apesfan

    apesfan "Going Ape"

    I have the two song LP dance mix. Got it at Crazy Eddie when working there in 1983 and I loved it then and still do. The record guy who recommended it also had the Japanese Abbey Road CD some time later. Personally a wonderful year. John M.
     
  13. The Hud

    The Hud Breath of the Kingdom, Tears of the Wild

    I prefer the album version of Cat People as well. SRV really makes the song stand out. The original version is boring to me.
     
    Galeans likes this.
  14. seacliffe301

    seacliffe301 Forum Resident

    Respectfully, I must disagree. It was this tune, with that phenomenal guitar work by Stevie Ray Vaughn that first caught my interest. Still my favorite on the album.

    Wasn't the album version the original? Was that remix/remake out before the album?
     
  15. Vaughan

    Vaughan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Essex, UK
    The original was the soundtrack version, the horrid version on the album came later.

    I can see how the tone of the soundtrack version wouldn't have fit the album, the album version has a sheen to it that ties it in better tone wise. As a performance though, imo, they're not comparable. The original version smokes the Let's Dance version, and it's not even close for me. Still - it is what it is! The soundtrack version was also released as a 12" single. :)
     
    bob60 and footprintsinthesand like this.
  16. Siegmund

    Siegmund Vinyl Sceptic

    Location:
    Britain, Europe
    At the time of its release, I was becoming an ex-Bowie fan. Bob Dylan was my new hero. Yep, I've always been in step with the time! :)

    A friend of mine - who hadn't previously liked Bowie - had it and played it to me. I didn't think it was very good. Although I wouldn't have used the word 'commercial' as a term of abuse back then (or now, come to that), it just seemed very ordinary to me. And when I learned that most of it was old stuff, co-writes or cover versions, the penny dropped - this was an album designed to sell lots of copies at the start of Bowie's new contract.

    Well it did the business but I still don't like it, even though the title track is, objectively, very good pop music (and Nile Rodgers worked wonders in turning a folk song into a dance monster). I still find this Bowie's least interesting period.
     
    mr.datsun and Vaughan like this.
  17. Turntable

    Turntable Senior Member

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    the Cat People Moroder produced version is the original - written and recorded in 1981 specifically for the movie in 1982.

    the version on Let's dance is the re-recorded version. He had originally planned on using the original version of the song on the Let's Dance album, but Moroder's label MCA Records refused to license it to EMI America, so he re-recorded it

    I had heard and owned the original on 12 inch and loved it well before the new guitar version was released.
    Personally I prefer the original version a lot more. no qualms you preferring the re-recorded version.
    cheers
     
    Last edited: Apr 14, 2018
    seacliffe301 and The Hud like this.
  18. jmxw

    jmxw Fab Forum Fan

    I think that makes three of us... :righton:
     
    seacliffe301 and The Hud like this.
  19. Helter Skelter

    Helter Skelter Forum Resident

    The title track is great, China Girl is good, Modern Love is decent, the rest is utterly forgettable.
     
  20. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I'm okay - you're so-so? ;)
     
  21. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    You think the "Let's Dance" version of "Cat People" drags??? :eek:

    I'm make the argument the "LD" version is way less "draggy" than the soundtrack one.

    This song rawks!

     
    California Couple likes this.
  22. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Do you mean the 12" single for "Let's Dance"?

    Isn't the version on that the same as the album version?
     
  23. LeBon Bush

    LeBon Bush Hound of Love

    Location:
    Austria
    To each his own - I just think the LD version of the song lacks much atmosphere of the soundtrack recording ;)
     
  24. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Oh, the soundtrack version is definitely more "atmospheric" - but I still can't see the "LD" cut as "draggy". :shrug:

    FWIW, I knew the "LD" version first, which probably impacts my view of the versions...
     
    LeBon Bush likes this.
  25. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Did someone already post this. Fascinating video of Nile Rodgers recalling the creation of "Let's Dance" with Bowie and Bob Clearmountain. I would love to hear Bowie's original treatment of the song, although it may not exist.

    Amazing that they did the whole album in 17 days.

     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine