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Bowie was an egomaniac


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Old 17-11-2015, 16:33
xxtimbo
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The Spiders, those 3 guys from Hull , were basically his band they played on Man who sold the world, Hunky Dory, Ziggy .... but the covers of those three albums only featured the Ego maniac Bowie...
the guys did nt get a look in.

In the end they were just left high and dry as the ego maniac Bowie pursued his career in the USA .... basically as a solo artist
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Old 17-11-2015, 16:40
gomezz
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Ziggy would have happened anyway without TSFM. It would never have happened without Bowie.
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Old 17-11-2015, 16:51
Heston Veston
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The Spiders, those 3 guys from Hull , were basically his band they played on Man who sold the world, Hunky Dory, Ziggy .... but the covers of those three albums only featured the Ego maniac Bowie...
the guys did nt get a look in.

In the end they were just left high and dry as the ego maniac Bowie pursued his career in the USA .... basically as a solo artist
You do know Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars was just a concept, right? Bowie was always a solo artist.
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Old 17-11-2015, 17:32
RikScot
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The Spiders, those 3 guys from Hull , were basically his band they played on Man who sold the world, Hunky Dory, Ziggy .... but the covers of those three albums only featured the Ego maniac Bowie...
the guys did nt get a look in.

In the end they were just left high and dry as the ego maniac Bowie pursued his career in the USA .... basically as a solo artist

This is hardly news....and yes, they were basically his band and he was basically a solo artist.
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Old 17-11-2015, 18:05
mgvsmith
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You do know Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars was just a concept, right? Bowie was always a solo artist.
I'm not sure at the time that everyone bought the idea and many were shocked when Ziggy announced his retirement!
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Old 17-11-2015, 18:57
RikScot
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I'm not sure at the time that everyone bought the idea and many were shocked when Ziggy announced his retirement!
Including a Spider or two
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Old 17-11-2015, 19:02
gomezz
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Apparently the touring second guitarist found out summat was up before the Spiders when he was told to hold off playing the opening riff of the final song until Bowie had made the announcement.
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Old 17-11-2015, 19:19
xxtimbo
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They were great guys and superb musicians... Woody...Mick Ronson and Trev
and should have been treated a whole lot better.
Its too late now poor Mick and Trev are no longer with us.

Its pretty obvious Bowie had no sentiment, he just saw them as hired hands.
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Old 17-11-2015, 19:36
barbeler
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Its pretty obvious Bowie had no sentiment, he just saw them as hired hands.
More likely he had taken the whole Ziggy thing as far as he wanted it to go and realised that the same musicians weren't capable of moving on to the next phase. Having said that, I absolutely hated Diamond Dogs and never listen to any of the songs on it. I also never listen to the albums after that with American hired hands playing those horrible, squealy rock guitars. It wasn't until Lodger, Low and Heroes when he suddenly became interesting again.

I'm sure Mick Ronson was a great pianist and a talented arranger, but to my ears his guitar playing is some of the worst I've ever heard. I could never work out whether he was tone deaf, or deliberately played his guitar out of tune. The solo in She Shook Me Cold is like an excrutiatingly extended version of Dave Davies's in All Day And All Of The Night. Listen to his live solo on Moonage Daydream and cringe with embarrassment.
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Old 18-11-2015, 10:55
Slojo
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They were great guys and superb musicians... Woody...Mick Ronson and Trev
and should have been treated a whole lot better.
Its too late now poor Mick and Trev are no longer with us.

Its pretty obvious Bowie had no sentiment, he just saw them as hired hands.
Was that Trevor Bolder the Bass Player who went on to Uriah Heep??
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Old 18-11-2015, 15:35
xxtimbo
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The cover is so striking on Diamond Dogs ... by the Belgian artist Guy Peellaert

Who can forget his illustrations in the book... Rock Dreams....
how did he do that way back in 1973 ... long before the days of photoshop ?

Bowie must have seen that book and comissioned him for the Diamond dogs album cover
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Old 18-11-2015, 23:15
Thom001
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More likely he had taken the whole Ziggy thing as far as he wanted it to go and realised that the same musicians weren't capable of moving on to the next phase. Having said that, I absolutely hated Diamond Dogs and never listen to any of the songs on it. I also never listen to the albums after that with American hired hands playing those horrible, squealy rock guitars. It wasn't until Lodger, Low and Heroes when he suddenly became interesting again.

I'm sure Mick Ronson was a great pianist and a talented arranger, but to my ears his guitar playing is some of the worst I've ever heard. I could never work out whether he was tone deaf, or deliberately played his guitar out of tune. The solo in She Shook Me Cold is like an excrutiatingly extended version of Dave Davies's in All Day And All Of The Night. Listen to his live solo on Moonage Daydream and cringe with embarrassment.
Disagree, Bowie has always wanted to evolve and experiment not only with a different sound but a new style too. I do know the sound on both "Diamond Dogs" and "Young Americans" albums was being dubbed "plastic soul". This was also a period when his health really suffered and after a serious collapse brought on by drugs, he decided to re-locate to Berlin to escape the pressure, where he met up with Iggy Pop, found inspiration and then worked with producer, Brian Eno on what is known as "the Berlin Trilogy".

Before Mick lost his battle with cancer in 1993, Bowie did work with him again, after the "Ziggy Stardust" period, when he recruited him to work on his album, "Black Tie, White Noise"
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Old 19-11-2015, 12:31
bryemycaz
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Was that Trevor Bolder the Bass Player who went on to Uriah Heep??
Yes that's him.
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Old 19-11-2015, 12:38
Jim_McIntosh
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I think at that level of fame they are all egomaniacs. Bowie at least could back it up a bit with talent and intelligence.
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Old 19-11-2015, 12:49
laineythenomad
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I think at that level of fame they are all egomaniacs. Bowie at least could back it up a bit with talent and intelligence.
Well said - although probably less of an egomaniac than some of the talentless products of the Simon Cowell assembly line.
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Old 19-11-2015, 12:54
gomezz
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All had the talent to play. But it was the writing that made it.

Don't get the Ronson couldn't play guitar vibe. I suppose they also think Neil Young can't play either as there is someone who bends notes out of shape even more than Mick did which adds an extra level of tension to the music.
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Old 19-11-2015, 15:17
Inspiration
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Its pretty obvious Bowie had no sentiment, he just saw them as hired hands.
With all due respect how can you possibly know that?
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Old 19-11-2015, 15:58
xxtimbo
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Angie was a bit of a babe back then ...
In Lycra and hi heels she could have had a spot in the Ziggy show
a song maybe ?
She must have been around for a year or two in the early 70s........ maybe she has a book out about that frantic time ?
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Old 19-11-2015, 17:56
barbeler
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Don't get the Ronson couldn't play guitar vibe. I suppose they also think Neil Young can't play either as there is someone who bends notes out of shape even more than Mick did which adds an extra level of tension to the music.
I know that some people seem to worship Mick Ronson but I've never understood it. I'm all for trying the ugly guitar sound as a one-off statement on a particular record, but he seemed to be playing out of tune all the time. That Moonage Daydream solo on the live Ziggy concert film could have been played by anybody and was just embarrassing.

There's no comparison with Neil Young, who plays both acoustic and electric guitar in a variety of styles and has made that messy, feedback-laden guitar sound all his own. And he plays in tune.
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Old 19-11-2015, 22:32
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At least he's still making music new album out in January
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Old 19-11-2015, 23:25
xxtimbo
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Funny you should mention Neil Young,... did nt he record some of his albums in a barn with straw bails set around ?
Listening back to Mother Nature on the Run...brilliant song but the backing so basic... a piano, couple of guitars !
If he d have got George Martin on his case George would have pulled out the stops with orchestra....mellotron... the works .

Kind of get that feeling with some of Bowies songs... basics done at Hadden Hall, then suped up at Trident studios ? some of those songs deserved more effort.
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Old 19-11-2015, 23:30
xxtimbo
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Looks like that by 1970 the Great Bowie was living in some style at
Haddon Hall, I thought.... we ve got basically Bowie's "Graceland" here

but... would n't you know it .... its been demolished !
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Old 20-11-2015, 00:28
barbeler
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Listening back to Mother Nature on the Run...brilliant song but the backing so basic... a piano, couple of guitars!
If he d have got George Martin on his case George would have pulled out the stops with orchestra....mellotron... the works.
I assume you mean After The Goldrush. I'm sure George Martin would have treated it in much the same way as he treated Tin Man by America.
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Old 20-11-2015, 08:33
Heston Veston
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Funny you should mention Neil Young,... did nt he record some of his albums in a barn with straw bails set around ?
Listening back to Mother Nature on the Run...brilliant song but the backing so basic... a piano, couple of guitars !
If he d have got George Martin on his case George would have pulled out the stops with orchestra....mellotron... the works .
You haven't heard Neil Young's "A Man Needs A Maid" from the 'Harvest' album? Orchestral turned up to 11.
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Old 20-11-2015, 10:03
barbeler
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You haven't heard Neil Young's "A Man Needs A Maid" from the 'Harvest' album? Orchestral turned up to 11.
Obviously digressing from the original post now, but after seeing him perform that song beautifully at the piano on an intimate live BBC concert from years ago, the orchestral version on the album came across as an absolute calamity.
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