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

...and I want my Isolar II ticket refunded!!

 

Not on his Mt Rushmore of albums, but good enough to land in the second tier. And he supported it with a tour.
Caught it at day on the green (no pun intended) in Oakland. Long time ago memory fades but I do remember him playing
a couple cuts off Hunky Dory and some of the teenagers there didn't have a clue what the songs were.

 

An important part of music history though not great.

 

Well, I actually played four or five numbers from this album a couple nights ago - trying to gee myself up for the box. I played Shake It, Without You, Criminal World, and Ricochet (I know the other track well enough that there'd be no chance of changing my mind about them).

And.... damn, I'd already said I disliked this album, but this play through was horrific. I appreciate that people like this album, and let's face it, that's what makes things interesting, but I'm miles from being able to say the same. For me it's a case of: "What in the world are these people hearing?!?"

I'll never know why Bowie disliked Too Dizzy, but seemed to like Shake It. Still, you can't say I'm not trying - I'll try again at some point, probably when the box hits. I'm hoping I can turn this one around, it is Bowie, after all. However, at the moment i stinks like week old road kill in Texas.

I might try Tonight soon, just for the laughs.

 

Just add US after Texas at the end and you have a brand new opening line for Ricochet

 

I always thought he pulled Too Dizzy because it's where the macho posturing that he was prone to indulge in during that period tipped over into something more sinister.

 

Well, since there's a typo saying "i stinks like week old road kill in Texas", rather than "it stinks like week old road kill in Texas" - I'm expecting someone to resuscitate a falling Freud at any moment.

 

Ah, Touché

 

I voted essential. If I were only to take one album of him to a deserted island, this would be it. Of course it helps I’m a big Chic / Nile Rodgers fan. But I always liked David’s funky side more than his rock/punk/grunge side. So Blackstar and Young Americans are other favourites.

In favour of David, just like Madonna he managed to get his own identity in Nile’s production. It’s not like what happened to Diana Ross, who was produced by Nile and ended up singing on a Chic record.
That’s what makes this album so special. Yes, it’s mainstream and commercial, but there’s also some off centre edginess that makes it stand out from the crowd.

 

Yeah, I'm no Chic of Nile fan - not my kind of music at all, so thatg's one big thumbs down right from the off. On the other hand, I love the song Let's Dance, leading me to believe that it's not the chic thing that's as troubling as the material itself.

 

Didn't Freddie Burretti design the Philly Dogs tour suit?
I'm not sure who designed the Serious Moonlight Tour blazer, pleated trousers and tie, but the feel is more like this monstrosity:

 

I suspect part of,the push back from long time fans is the fact that Let’s Dance was designed as something to appeal to as many people as possible.

 

And it worked. I think part of the problem is that I find it all rather bland. The lyrics are terrible, and for once Bowie's choice of cover songs were poor. His voice was good, but nothing about the rest of it - including the worst cover art of his career - came together.

What is was was a huge pop hit. I don't fault it for that though. I love the song Let's Dance, and enjoy Blue Jean, but Bowie was making a couple good songs, rather than a couple good albums. And example of the blandness is to be heard in the re-recording of Cat People. The soundtrack version is leagues better, and leaner. By the time it came to Let's Dance it was smooth, and almost shiny. IMO.

I personally have less of a problem with Never Let Me down, as I do Let's Dance and Tonight.

 

Compared to the next album, Tonight, It's pretty good. So 83-87 wasn't great but for such an incredible run of albums between from 1967-2016, it's easily forgivable. Can't think of many artists that had their biggest seller with studio album number 15.

 

I don’t find them any worse or better than his other Lyrics. Certainly more straight forward than some previous songs, yes. As far as Cat People goes, it’s just a very different approach. I actually find the version on the album leaner than the soundtrack version with its use of synthesizers. It’s more straight forward and direct (again). I like both but the approach is different. As you know, Bowie wanted to use the soundtrack version on the album but wasn’t allowed to as I recall. China Girl is a brilliant song with lyrics by Iggy and Bowie that resonate. Are there tracks that aren’t as good as the three big singles? Yep but they have other pleasures there to present. I think the nadir for Bowie was Tonight. Is it his best album? Nope far from it but he does the funk rock thing very well.

 

Indeed, he also played stuff off of Station to Station, Scary Monsters and Lodger. The further he went back in his catalog the more likely the crowd of teens were bewildered.

 

I get ya. I can't put into words how bad I think China Girl is. No words. But I've written about this before. Cat People was simply rob bed of its majesty. I really can't listen to the Let's Dance version.

I'm somewhat conditioned, perhaps, by knowing the soundtrack version before the Let's Dance version. I loved the movie, and had the soundtrack already, plus it was a single at the time. So I was familiar with it.

No doubt it's the Niles Rodgers factor for me. It's just not a sound I like. Still, that's what we're left with, and if we were counting numbers, I'd be in the minority....

 

Caught his Station to Station tour in Evansville Indiana in '76. FANTASTIC!! He opened with the title cut. If I remember Earl Slick played a dynamite lead that evening. Caught the David Live Tour in Memphis in '74, it was mediocre, he was better at day on the green.

 

I may have to finally go out and buy this album. I have never owned it, I just play my comp of it which I built from the Changes Greatest Hits. But I just now noticed that the title song is 3 1/2 minutes longer than the single version, while China and Love are each a minute longer too. So I have not been hearing the real, full thing all these years.

 

I really liked "Let's Dance" when it was released, so I'll vote it a classic. Especially since there were so many long years of long stretches of Bowie stuff that I didn't like at all.

In that "Dance" blip of time, I liked "Modern Love" better, but the one I love most is the later "This Is Not America". And I really enjoy the (I guess) one single solitary live performance I can find of David doing "America". Great live rendition.

 

It's pretty good, but not as good as his previous stuff.

 

I prefer the single version of Let’s Dance to be honest. More compact and says all it needs to. The trumpet and mainly instrumental segment with the drums spoil it for me.

 

I’m there with you on Cat People as far as the soundtrack version being the preferred version for me. In fact, I like the single version better than the album version which I feel goes on a bit too long but that’s me. I also enjoy what Stevie Ray brings to the song though on the remake.

 

Indeed, if This Is Not America had been available for the album (it was cut much later)it would there are certainly songs I like more than others on the album.

 

I'm guessing you're not a fan of Stevie Ray Vaughan either. He's as much a part of the sound as Nile Rodgers' production. Personally I think it was a genius move to combine the hottest blues guitarist around with the hottest funk producer around - for me it's a timeless record that's chock full of hooks and amazing guitar work. The guitar work is especially innovative on "Cat People" (I love the Soundtrack version too).

"Shake It" is the one song I could take or leave.