What are David Bowie's 3 signature songs?

Based solely on my location, I picked:
Space Oddity
Rebel Rebel
Fame

I'm sure in other areas different songs are more iconic. These 3 just seem to get the most play (radio) at any point in time.

 

No way. It's one thing to say they should have been included, quite another to say they would be competitive.

The guy you mention has a better chance of winning than those songs.

 

And Lorde chose Life On Mars for the Brit Awards this year, after our heroes played some notes from Space Oddity, Rebel Rebel, Let's Dance, Ashes To Ashes, Ziggy Stardust, Fame, Under Pressure, "Heroes"

 

I voted 123 but honestly in a catalog of utter genius I think "Life on Mars" is the best of all.

 

Wow you like to put it difficult to us, don't you ? From the poll options -and it's hard not to let personal tastes influence the decision, so I won't. I chose :

Space Oddity
"Heroes"
I'm Afraid Of Americans

I'd have personally included Hang On To Yourself (my absolute personal fav) in the poll

 

I saw Eric Burdon sing it the other night.....and it was really good. He combined it with "Sky Pilot."

 

Suffragette City
Space Oddity
Stay

Rock, psychedelic pop and dance. Need diversity with Bowie's sig.

 

Ok, is there much of a difference between a signature song and a live favourite?

 

A signature song should be one that is quickly or uniquely identifiable for an artist. Bowie reinvented himself so many times - his swig was quite a bit more wide than most.

 

For me only two make the list

Space Oddity
Heroes

 

I would say Space Oddity, Fame, and Let's Dance, based on how much they were played on the radio. With Rebel, Rebel, Modern Love, and Changes running close behind.

 

Thanks for the shout-out

I would say his 3 signature songs would be "Space Oddity," "'Heroes'," and "Changes," the latter of which I give a slight edge over "Under Pressure," which misses out because it's only half-Bowie.

Some other songs I would have used as options in the top 25: "Young Americans," "The Man Who Sold the World," "Golden Years," "Moonage Daydream," ""Suffragette City," "Oh! You Pretty Things," and as awful as it is, "Dancing in the Street."

 

At the risk of repeating myself, this wasn't the question. Any snapshot taken right after a major star's death will be misleading. I'll concede the point that Bowie was much bigger in the UK, but Life on Mars wasn't even a #1 record there. I don't know if it was ever released in the States -- it appears nowhere on the charts -- but it's a rare American, young or otherwise, who'd call it a signature song.

 

While I personally did not vote for "Life on Mars?," a strong case can definitely be made for it being one of his signature songs:

WatchMojo.com listed it at #6 on their list of top 10 David Bowie songs:


According to AcclaimedMusic.net, "Life on Mars?" is Bowie's 3rd most acclaimed song of all time, behind "Heroes" and "Space Oddity."

"Life on Mars?" also has more user ratings than any other Bowie single on RateYourMusic, and is the 3rd highest-rated single of all time by anyone. ("Heroes" happens to be #2).

 

Those songs were actually my first 2 choices eve though I selected 4 songs, but I actually concur, as I think no matter the country, those 2 selections are Bowie's Signature Songs.

 

Well, Bowie didn't have chart-topping singles until 1975, but Life On Mars? came close.

Hit No.3 as Ziggy retired in the summer of 73, and was the UK's 26th best-selling single of the year, which is no mean feat when you consider DB was the (combined singles and albums) best-selling artist of the year in Britain. That year it outsold Jean Genie, Sorrow and (ahem) The Laughing Gnome, and like the latter was released by the record company due to public demand (it says here).

 

Impossible.

 

If we're talking signature songs (even with the impossible-to-define and thus broadly interpreted term 'signature') I could easily say Moonage Daybream, Golden Years and Station To Station. And they didn't even make the list. Which is absolutely nutbar and shows you just how amazing Bowie was.

Full disclosure, I voted Heroes (all-time favorite), Modern Love (don't even really like, could have easily picked Let's Dance) and Space Oddity.

 

One of them yeah, and it still is. But unlike Uptown Girl here, lots of the older post-middle age general public who know that song would know some of his other ones.

"I'm Still Standing" was played when Elton came on set for the Ellen show last year though. So maybe it's now one of his theme songs in the US too.

 

Surprisingly easy given the depth of Bowie's catalogue. His two most well known songs have to be "Space Oddity" and "'Heroes'". The third choice is more tricky but I went for "Life On Mars".

 

BTW: Shouldn't the shoes in the quote after "Let's Dance" be red?

 

If signature songs have anyrhing to do with recognised by the public at large, than my top-4 needs to be different. Bowie went superstar with Let's Dance in my country, so Let's Dance (the single) and China Girl are most played on the radio. At a long long long distance followed by Heroes …

 

Pretty sure it means exactly that. If you polled 100 Americans at random and asked them to name Bowie songs, those two would be near the top of the list too. Changes and Fame would be up there, as would Rebel Rebel and most of the songs in the poll. Nirvana put Man Who Sold the World on the map in the US.

 

Heroes is my favorite Bowie song but I never thought of it as nearly as signature as a few others. At least not in the States. Maybe it is in the UK and I am unaware.

 

the first three