Life on Mars? and Hunky Dory

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by primejive, Feb 12, 2017.

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  1. primejive

    primejive Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks to this recent performance by Tom Chaplin, I'm discovering Life on Mars? and the rest of Hunky Dory. The song itself is very cinematic and now has become an ear worm.



    The next track for me to dig in on is Quicksand. I heard Neil Finn in some interview saw that Quicksand was a great influence on him because it showed him that songs don't have to follow the rules. It's funny how that is the same thing Rick Wakeman said about Life on Mars?

    Guess I've avoided the deep dive into Bowie long enough.
     
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  2. Neonbeam

    Neonbeam All Art Was Once Contemporary

    Location:
    Planet Earth
    Wait a minute.... it took that bloke from Keane for you to discover "Life On Mars?" and "Hunky Dory"? Jesus....
     
    Cassius, Frosst, RoryMcBride and 6 others like this.
  3. jawaka1000

    jawaka1000 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Netherlands
    He Probably never knew were the kooks got their name from.
     
  4. vonwegen

    vonwegen Forum Resident

    Unlike the 2 jerks who replied before me, I say: Welcome to the magic of David Bowie!
     
  5. primejive

    primejive Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks for the Welcome. While I certainly know the larger American radio hits, I never took the time to explore his music in depth and I have certainly never taken the time to focus on lyrics.

    There has always been some other artist stuck in my head. So for me, Life on Mars? Is one of those songs not on the beaten path.

    I don't know the Kooks, so they'll have wait.
     
    vonwegen likes this.
  6. MHP

    MHP Lover of Rock ‘n Roll

    Location:
    DK
    Welcome to the crazy world of David Bowie.
    Once you're hooked, you will never part with his music.
    Be prepared to be taken on a journey where you will be challenged in your tastes, as he was VERY diverse!
     
  7. Blank Frank

    Blank Frank King of Carrot Flowers

    Try "The Man Who Sold The World".

    Hunky Dory has long been the favourite album of The Strange Person I Live With, although in Bowie terms I prefer Ziggy, Diamond Dogs or Low, or even The Man Who...
     
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  8. Neonbeam

    Neonbeam All Art Was Once Contemporary

    Location:
    Planet Earth
    There's this British TV show that's called "Life On Mars", it's hilarious.
     
    Jarleboy likes this.
  9. Terrapin Station

    Terrapin Station Master Guns

    Location:
    NYC Man/Joy-Z City
    Something recently made me love "Life on Mars" more than ever, too. But in my case, it was Jessica Lange doing it in character as Elsa Mars on American Horror Story - Freak Show:

    It's going to have more impact for you in the context of the show, if you're digging the show, but here it is in isolation:

     
  10. BlueSpeedway

    BlueSpeedway Curated Iconic Half-Speed Picture Disc

    Location:
    England
    Yeah, there's no rules about these things, and discovery. No need for rudenesss from people. When I was a smallish kid I got heavily into a lot of "punk" or "post punk" stuff, like Bauhaus, the Banshees, at a young age, around 8 to 12 years old, mostly via the John Peel radio show. But I didn't hear a Joy Division album all the way thru until I was over 30, despite them being arguably the "ultimate" band of that ilk / era..
     
  11. LandHorses

    LandHorses I contain multitudes

    Location:
    New Joisey
    You can't go wrong with most anything from Space Oddity through Scary Monsters.
     
  12. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Pitchfork recently placed it at no. 1 on their list of the best songs of the 70's. I was a bit surprised, but it's an inspired choice and defensible.
     
  13. cellery

    cellery Well-Known Member

    Location:
    The Netherlands
    Definitely one of my favorite Bowie tracks. Coincidentally I recently rewatched Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zisou and this song is featured in one of its key scenes. There's also a lot of other Bowie songs on the soundtrack, sung in Portugese and played on accoustic guitar by one of the cast members who is actually a Portugese musician of some repute (Seu Jorge's his name).
     
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  14. Tanx

    Tanx Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    Another welcome. It's never too late to discover any phase of Bowie's career. I've been at it almost 40 years and am only now exploring his '90s output.
     
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  15. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    It's probably best to go chronologically from Hunky Dory. That way you get all the changes as they happen. Probably less jarring that way.:D
     
  16. vonwegen

    vonwegen Forum Resident

    Yeah, that's how I began, way back in 1974. Bored after hours of homework algebra, I stumbled across WROL-149 on the AM dial in Knoxville, TN at a time when I was barely teenaged. "Changes" was the first cut, but it didn't rock enough then for my nascent heavy guitar thirsts, but I did decide to like "Suffragette City" until the synth sax lines swamped the distorted Ronson guitars, and "Rebel Rebel" was something fine, though I could not work out why. "Diamond Dogs" was something weird and out of tune, but it stuck in me memory too.
    Took me a while to warm to that big BONK! of "Fame" and shortly after Station To Station made its K'ville debut, the station got sold down the corporate disco road.
    Then I stumbled across the single of "heroes" on a whim after attaching me dad's stereo receiver to the TV antenna on the roof, and the whole romance started up again.
    That b*stard Bowie, he never could stop corrupting us youth!
     
  17. pool_of_tears

    pool_of_tears Searching For Simplicity

    Location:
    Midwest
    Who cares how the OP discovered them, right? The point is "he discovered them".
     
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  18. husafreak

    husafreak Great F'n music that's difficult to listen to!

    Location:
    NorCal, Bay Area
    I've always liked David Bowie and just recently picked up a copy of Hunky Dory on vinyl. Somehow I never got that before. So I'm sitting in my "listening" chair last night spinning the disc and reading the lyrics, I've heard all these songs before, right? Greatest hits and compilations and whatever. But listening to the entire album start to finish was mind blowing! What an incredible album! This is like Bowie's "Tumbleweed Connection" to me. Wow...
     
  19. Neonbeam

    Neonbeam All Art Was Once Contemporary

    Location:
    Planet Earth
    Why not "Honky Dory Château"???:laughup:
     
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  20. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Best sounding Hunky Dory?
    Vinyl always has a thin sound no mid range, reminds me of After The Goldrush in that respect. Great songs though.
     
  21. timnor

    timnor Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    I'm almost envious that you have so much to discover and enjoy. Life On Mars and Quicksand are absolute timeless classics that I never tire of.
    There are so many paths back to the source ! I love this haunting performance

     
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  22. LeBon Bush

    LeBon Bush Hound of Love

    Location:
    Austria
    Yeah, I discovered Bowie through one of my teachers who would always quote his songs and wear tour shirts and stuff... :D

    OP: Welcome to Bowie! Try Station to Station - you've heard Golden Years for sure, but tracks like the 10-minute title cut and the very deeply moving cover of Wild is the Wind made this my definitive lonely-island record :angel:
     
    Sebastich likes this.
  23. lennonfan1

    lennonfan1 Senior Member

    Location:
    baltimore maryland
    I've been listening to Hunky Dory a lot lately, it's just so strange, it's influences are pretty well articulated....it's mostly sad but there's joy to be found in Kooks and a couple others. Station To Station is my Bowie Jam, but anything he did in the 70's is totally worthy.
     
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  24. GyroSE

    GyroSE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    My go to is the EMI100 Centenary vinyl reissue from 1997- it sounds stellar to these ears.
     
    Neonbeam and alexpop like this.
  25. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Straight analog transfer ?
    No digital, that's a good thing.
     
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