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

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

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  1. LeBon Bush

    LeBon Bush Hound of Love

    Location:
    Austria
    So no Station to Station, either? :yikes:
     
  2. LeBon Bush

    LeBon Bush Hound of Love

    Location:
    Austria
    This is true, I just think a cold and distant tone fits the song better (especially since the movie Cat People deals with topics of lost emotion and having nothing but a raw, animalic sexual power to give as well) :)
     
  3. footprintsinthesand

    footprintsinthesand Reasons to be cheerful part 1

    Location:
    Dutch mountains
    Rick Beato dissecting title track Let's Dance with the multitracks

     
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  4. lv70smusic

    lv70smusic Senior Member

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    Interesting dissection. Makes me appreciate the track more from a musical perspective, but in the end I still feel like it's a significant step down in quality for Bowie simply because the lyrics are so ridiculous.
     
  5. mishima's dog

    mishima's dog Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glasgow, Scotland
    Yes it doesn't seem like Bowie was someone who sat at home trying to write songs and stockpiling them. He did his composing in the studio which is probably a big part of how he managed to produce such a diverse catalogue.
     
  6. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    Not one of his best, quite forgettable

    as most of Bowie...I do like Major Tom very much.
     
  7. vonwegen

    vonwegen Forum Resident

    Well... Yes & No.
    Bowie's methods changed a lot. But he did stockpile songs that ended up on Scary Monsters, all through the early & mid 1970s.
    His 'composing in the studio' phase started in earnest with Young Americans, and continued all the way through Planned Accidents/Lodger.
     
  8. Solace

    Solace Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brussels, Belgium
    Very true. When starting Scary Monsters, Visconti recounts that he was amazed that Bowie walked in with 10 virtually completed songs. With Heroes, the only completed song he brought with him was Sons Of The Silent Age.
     
  9. tinnox

    tinnox Senior Member

    Location:
    Maryland
    This LP sees the turntable every so often and I enjoy it I love the title track. I just had the follow up LP on “Tonight” enjoyed as well.
     
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  10. Thomas Casagranda

    Thomas Casagranda Forum Resident

    I love the Let's Dance album; it's almost as if he decided to do a more bluesy Young Americans, but without the disconnectedness and cocaine vibes.
     
  11. NightGoatToCairo

    NightGoatToCairo Forum Resident

    Location:
    .
    Wasn't it that he entered the studio with almost nothing for Scary Monsters, much to Visconti's frustration?
     
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  12. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    Well really, he just presented a new souped up version of Halloween Jack and that 1974 show. The suits, the braces, the backing singers at his side, the soul-funk vibe and of course this dead giveaway:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    This was the only time that our changeling repeated an act/personna from his past - revealing his artistic crisis in the 'orrible 80s.
     
  13. LoveYourLife

    LoveYourLife Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    I get that some fans would have preferred a Ziggy sounding revival, a Station to Station for the 80s or even a Scary Monsters Pt. 2 but that's not Bowie. This is a near 10 out of 10 album for me, with only "Shake It" its marginally lesser track. Unlike many, I love "Without You" (a US single but not a UK one) and "Criminal World" (even if I do like Metro's original more). Despite my musical tastes changing, maturing and periodically alternating over the years, I have not stopped playing this album since the year it was released.
     
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2018
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  14. Solace

    Solace Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brussels, Belgium
    Actually you might be right. I might be thinking about the second lot of sessions in New York (after those in London which only produced It’s No Game Part 2) where he came back having really worked on the tunes, much to Visconti’s surprise.
     
  15. bostonscoots

    bostonscoots Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    I think Let's Dance is a terrific album, and adventurous in its own way despite feeling like an obvious grab at a mass audience. The stroke of genius is Bowie's bringing Stevie Ray Vaughn into the studio - his guitar playing feels so warm and organic against the brittle pop Bowie and Nile Rodgers cooked up.

    I've often believed the album is the return of the Thin White Duke - the overt romanticism, the smooth, blue eyed soul styled singing and lush images of "red shoes" and "dancing the blues" remind me of "Wild Is The Wind" and "Golden Years". And Bowie always seems to make some magic happen with a good guitarist at his side - Ronson, Fripp, Alomar...and Stevie Ray.

    Is it one of Bowie's best? I think some of the songs certainly are - but the album also boasts some obvious filler ("Ricochet") in between the smash hits.
     
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  16. NightGoatToCairo

    NightGoatToCairo Forum Resident

    Location:
    .
    There's more meat on the skull!
     
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  17. Archguy

    Archguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond VA
    Indeed, I had to buy the 12" single of 'Cat People' to get the good version. It's still around here, somewhere.

    Wiki: "He had originally planned on using the original version of the song, but Moroder's label MCA Records refused to license it to EMI America."

    MCA--the label you still love to hate, even after all these years. They managed to break up Steely Dan among other notable accomplishments.

    Exactly, except I never liked 'Modern Love' to begin with. 'Criminal World' and 'China Girl' are as strong as ever.
     
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  18. mishima's dog

    mishima's dog Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glasgow, Scotland
    According to Nicholas Pegg it was the other way around. The New York sessions only produced one vocal (It's No Game Part 2). All the others were done a couple of months later in London after Bowie had worked them up in detail.

    To my mind that makes SM an album that was prewritten. That's in contrast to the way he had been working in the second half of the 70's when as Lennon put it he was 'making up in the studio.' Bowie at that time was all about spontaneity and the alchemy that can be produced by collaboration in the studio. He was trying to capture lightening in a bottle and most of the time he did!
     
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  19. Oatsdad

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

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Yeah, but it really was just for the one song. Bowie reused the "Cracked Actor" shtick from 1974 in 1983 but I don't think the 2 shows are really similar otherwise.

    God, how is it possible the 1983 tour was 35 years ago??? :eek:
     
  20. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    I wasn't only talking about the Cracked Actor thing, David's whole look was the same as the 1974 tour apart from the hair-style:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG][​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Hell, even the boxing thing was reprocessed!
     
  21. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    ...he also revived the use of backing singers performing alongside him!


    I rest my case.
     
  22. mishima's dog

    mishima's dog Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glasgow, Scotland
  23. I love the album--it was a nice and interesting stab for going commercial. I also saw the Serious Moonlight tour and enjoyed that show as well in Anaheim although the venue was too large. He played a healthy selection of his older material that I loved that night as well.

    Is it great? I would argue that, as a strictly commercial album at a time when that type of music was popular, yes. Even though Bowie recycled some songs from his collaborations with Iggy, I think they are interesting variations and love "China Girl". Stevie Ray didn't feel like a natural fit which also made it interesting to me because it kind of combined a player from a more blues based background with these radio friendly songs.
     
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  24. Bowie's doing his Mickey Mouse imitation there (with those gloves) or maybe Daffy Duck after Bugs has won a confrontation.
     
  25. footprintsinthesand

    footprintsinthesand Reasons to be cheerful part 1

    Location:
    Dutch mountains
    Anybody say Bugs ?

     
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