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. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Maybe the Australian sun did him good. :)
     
  2. NightGoatToCairo

    NightGoatToCairo Forum Resident

    Location:
    .
    So-so. I never listen to it. I like the singles when listening to them in context of a compilation. Cat People is better on the OST. Ricochet was my favourite deep cut when I first started listening to the album in the late 80s.
     
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  3. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    That was always my favourite non-single cut from the album. Fantastic song and a nice 'breather' between Ricochet and Cat People.:)
     
  4. Cyberhog9

    Cyberhog9 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Quad Cities IA
    Putting Out Fire has some tasty SRV playing in it.
     
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  5. Remington Steele

    Remington Steele Forum Resident

    Location:
    Saint George, Utah
    Stevie Ray's work and the sheer melodicism make it worthwhile . I will say most Bowie LPs have some level of pop appeal as even 1977's Low has some hooks on side 1 and the instrumentals could have been used for a Hollywood film.
     
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  6. bcaulf

    bcaulf Forum Resident

    Pretty great!
     
  7. jpmosu

    jpmosu a.k.a. Mr. Jones

    Location:
    Ohio, USA
    Not crazy about "Shake It"--the rest, I have always enjoyed.

    "Pretty great" in my book!
     
  8. richard a

    richard a Forum Resident

    Location:
    borley, essex, uk
    It does what it says on the tin.

    Good fun, danceable, upbeat, commercial and hugely successful.
    It's not as challenging as long time Bowie fans would have liked but it's a great entry point. In 83 it garnered DB a huge number of new fans, many of whom then worked backwards through his catalogue. All the RCA albums were budget price reissued in 1983 as well making it easy to check out the rest of his career.

    So it did its job. And it did it bloody well. Slick, fun and enjoyable.
     
  9. beccabear67

    beccabear67 Musical omnivore.

    Location:
    Victoria, Canada
    Nile Rodgers was told by David to make hits and that's what they did. Definitely cemented in it's time. Had (still have) it and a 12" EP to add to the ChangesBowieChanges and Scary Monsters LPs. Let's Dance gets played the least but I still play Chic. The video set in Australia was very cool. Modern Love and China Girl were also big hits and I got frankly sick of hearing them.
     
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  10. bluesky

    bluesky Senior Member

    Location:
    south florida, usa
    The 'Moonlight Tour 84' was outrageous!

    Saw Bowie in Perth.
     
  11. NightGoatToCairo

    NightGoatToCairo Forum Resident

    Location:
    .
    The Serious Moonlight Tour in '83 wasn't half as crazy! ;)
     
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  12. Pavol Stromcek

    Pavol Stromcek Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    I went with "so-so..." but with the caveat that it does contain at least three songs - the three big singles - which are great, in my opinion. But as an album, overall, it's a much more middling effort.
     
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  13. Shipped_It

    Shipped_It Identifies as Musician

    "Pretty great" just because of the sheer poppy power of the 1st three tracks, all smash singles. A very cool Nile Rogers achievement.
     
  14. MicSmith

    MicSmith Forum Resident

    The hits are worth having. Not so keen on the rest. I do like Criminal World but knew the Metro original long before Bowie did it. I prefer the Moroder version of Cat People too. It's success outweighed it's true worth, but that happens a lot when radio and TV tell people what to buy. He did lots of better stuff and one or two worse.
     
  15. karmaman

    karmaman Forum Resident

    you're not, it's been a favourite of mine since '83. the only track i dislike is Ricochet which feels out of place. i voted #2. it's my 16th favourite bowie album.
     
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  16. footprintsinthesand

    footprintsinthesand Reasons to be cheerful part 1

    Location:
    Dutch mountains
    Played my favourite, Ricochet a lot; the rest of the world played the singles to smithereens. Hated Modern Love. The man wanted hits and hits is what he ended up with and one can forgive an artist for doing that once, if normal business is resumed (which took way too long). He would not bear to be forgotten. Did SRV ever express what he thought of the final product ?
     
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  17. For the Record

    For the Record Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario Canada
    Side A) Excellent
    Side B) Alright
     
  18. rockin_since_58

    rockin_since_58 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Simi Valley, CA
    I voted "Pretty Great", say Bowie the only time on the Let's Dance tour. Anything after this I do not care for.
     
  19. WilliamPoe3

    WilliamPoe3 Active Member

    Location:
    Bay Area
    His last good album. Went with Pretty great because I would recommend it to people.
     
  20. Dan Steele

    Dan Steele Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago suburbs
    Now this is interesting. Ended up at So-So. Cat People was the very first song on cd I ever heard and have always liked it. However, Modern Love, China Girl, and especially Let's Dance are the typical 80s pop songs that I grew to dislike.
     
  21. TheSeldomSeenKid

    TheSeldomSeenKid Forum Resident

    Exactly my thoughts on this album. I also like the Peter Gabriel sounding song, 'Ricochet' more than most people apparently. I also think his version of 'China Girl' is better than this song he wrote and gave to Iggy Pop, as prefer the Funk Sound of DB's version and never get tired of it. I got into Bowie in 1993 with his album, 'Black Tie, White Noise' and bought the 'Singles' 2-CD set, then went back to buy his older albums and the Sound & Vision Box Set.

    Bowie is one of my top 4 Solo Music Artist(along with Peter Gabriel, Joe Jackson & Kate Bush), but do not listen to 'Tonight' or 'Never Let M Down' much. Station to Station, the Berlin Trilogy, Scary Monsters & Super Creeps, Outside & Heathen being my favorite Bowie albums(and I still love 'Black Tie, White Noise' a lot and not just because it was my first Bowie album).
     
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  22. johnny 99

    johnny 99 Down On Main Street

    Location:
    Toronto
    It sounds better to me now than it did in '83.
    Always loved "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" (we used to do it in a band I was in)

    At least 5 of the tracks on it sound great on the radio now after all these years, proving that Bowie was always ahead of his time.
     
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  23. oldturkey

    oldturkey Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gone away.
    It was the first Bowie lp which wasn't ahead of the pack. Bowie floundering, lost his untouchable aura. Everybody knew it at the time except Radio 1 DJs. People make excuses for it now because it had big hit singles and was a worldwide success - a bit like Duran Duran. That's mainly because of the massive marketing campaign, radio play, videos, tour deprivation/pre-tour excitement and hoopla.

    I've got it on record but never bothered to buy it on cd. Never play it and I'm fed up of having you guys call me crazy. I'm not even bothering to convert people anymore - I've given up. SRV was good but Nile did much better work with Chic and even dare I say it Sister Sledge (RIP).
    And it's not because I'm trying to be controversial - it's just not very good, and even Bowie knew that. Stop perpetuating its over-inflated reputation and start listening to his 90s albums instead. I'm calling it right.
    When Bowie bases his art on Phil Collins you know he's lost it.
    It's a rejection of all the things he ever stood for - artistic innovation, and extraordinary ahead-of-the-curve highest quality cool.
    I can't stand listening to the title track on the radio - I just turn it off immediately when the Twist & Shout beginning starts shredding my nerves.
    It made me depressed and start looking elsewhere for my heroes.
     
  24. Thomas Casagranda

    Thomas Casagranda Forum Resident

    Great album; I think Bowie needed some hits, and was also aching to return to some more blues / soul based music. Bowie, after all, started off with a cover of Bobby Bland's I Pity The Fool. The four previous albums, from Low through to Scary Monsters, showed a shift toward a Eurocentric music.
     
  25. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    It doesn't make sense to say it was an "unintentional attempt" to appeal to a commercial audience. An attempt is always intentional, by definition.

    It was an amazing success, and made him a star in America. The massive drum sound from the late, great Tony Thompson that kicks off "Modern Love"! Love it.
     
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