queen bitch Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

David Bowie “Hunky Dory”

sfilzen — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 20:02:22 +0000

David Bowie “Hunky Dory” released 50 years ago today, December 17th, 1971. My absolute favorite Bowie album was his fourth LP. After a slow start, it eventually hit #3 in the UK in ’72 and #57 in the US in 2016 after Bowie’s death. It is regarded as one of the best records ever, hovering at or around the top 100 on many publications’ lists (Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Time, etc.). Bowie released two singles from Hunky Dory: the first in early ’72 was the iconic “Changes” (#66 US in ’72 and then #41 in ’75; #49 UK in 2016), its b-side “Andy Warhol” obviously inspired by the artist of whom Bowie was a huge fan. Bowie performed the song for Warhol; it’s reported that Warhol didn’t say anything about the song to Bowie but “absolutely hated it” which is too bad because it is an excellent hard-strumming acoustic jammer (played by Mick Ronson) that is both glam and pastoral English folk. The other single was “Life on Mars?” which has a complicated and amusing history. Bowie originally wrote the bones of the song in ’68 as an English translation for a French song but they were rejected; Paul Anka rewrote it into “My Way” which had wild success with Frank Sinatra. Irritated, Bowie tweaked it again into “Life on Mars?” to parody Sinatra – the back cover has written next to the song’s title “Inspired by Frankie” The single hit #3 in the UK in ’73. Another fun fact: Bowie originally wanted Dudley Moore (who I associate with early 80’s comedy movies, namely Arthur) to play piano for the song. That plan fell through and Rick Wakeman from Strawbs got the gig. Bowie wrote “Kooks” for his newborn son Duncan (whose birthday is just 2 months before mine so I can pretend Bowie maybe wrote it for me, too) and “Song for Bob Dylan” has the more obvious tribute – Bowie even kinda mimics Dylan’s vocal style (but is a vastly superior singer). My absolute favorite song from Hunky Dory is “Queen Bitch,” an ass-shaking glam-pop rocker inspired by Velvet Unground’s Lou Reed. My kid contributed that song to the birthday playlist that friends and family put together for me this past summer when I also turned 50. I was thrilled because he knew how much I love that song but also amused/annoyed that it’s the song he most connects to me (queen/princess…yes, bitch…?).

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David Bowie “1984″ b/w “Queen Bitch”

sfilzen — Wed, 13 Mar 2019 14:36:51 +0000

David Bowie “1984″ b/w “Queen Bitch” 1974. “1984″ appears on Bowie’s Diamond Dogs LP. It was released only in the US, New Zealand and Japan (where the b-side was “Lady Grinning Soul” – honestly a better stylistic match for the A-side than “Queen Bitch”) and it failed to chart in all three countries. Highly reminiscent of “Theme from Shaft,” the track is super-funky, operatic and a vision of Disco future. Bowie intended the track to be included into the soundtrack for a stage musical of George Orwell’s famous book but Orwell’s estate refused to release the rights. Side B has my top Bowie song ever, “Queen Bitch.” It originally appeared on his 1971 album Hunky Dory as a tribute to Velvet Underground and as the b-side to “Rebel Rebel.”

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David Bowie “Diamond Dogs”

sfilzen — Mon, 24 Apr 2017 16:00:32 +0000

David Bowie “Diamond Dogs” released on this date, April 24th, 1974 (though there is some argument on this point: Wiki puts the date at May 24th but many others say April 24th and since I’m in the mood for Bowie today, I’m going with April). “This ain’t Rock’n Roll — this is Genocide” Bowie shouts out on the album’s title track “Diamond Dogs” and for many critics that was their reaction to Bowie’s 8th studio LP partially based on Bowie having recently fired his Spiders From Mars, replacing them with studio musicians and, most notably, taking the majority of the guitar parts himself from the legendary Mick Ronson. Despite its panning, Diamond Dogs hit #5 on the US album chart and #1 in the UK and contains some of Bowie’s best-known singles: “Rebel Rebel” (its B-side one of my favorite Bowie songs ever, “Queen Bitch”) which hit #5 in the UK and #64 in the US and “Diamond Dogs,” which failed to chart in the US but made it to #27 in the UK.

Bowie envisioned Diamond Dogs as a farewell-to-glam concept album and a political protest based on Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four; he originally intended the record to be a stage musical for the novel. He included “1984″ (a swirly, funky disco track that sounds a lot like the “Theme from Shaft”) and “Big Brother” (the author’s estate denied the rights for the musical). Yet another turning point in Bowie’s career, the album has “been credited with anticipating the punk revolution that would take place in the following years. Bowie himself described the Diamond Dogs, introduced in the title song, as: ‘all little Johnny Rottens and Sid Viciouses really. And, in my mind, there was no means of transport, so they were all rolling around on these roller-skates with huge wheels on them, and they squeaked because they hadn’t been oiled properly. So there were these gangs of squeaking, roller-skating, vicious hoods, with Bowie knives and furs on, and they were all skinny because they hadn’t eaten enough, and they all had funny-coloured hair. In a way it was a precursor to the punk thing.’”

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David Bowie “Hunky Dory”

sfilzen — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 13:23:42 +0000

David Bowie “Hunky Dory” released on this date, December 17th, 1971. Hunky Dory, Bowie’s 4th LP, is considered one of his best and many best-of album lists place it in their top 100; it reached #3 on the UK charts in 1973 after the success of Ziggy Stardust. Hunky Dory is pop, art, glam and pure perfection.

Two of my favorite Bowie songs appear on the record: “Changes,” which hit #66 on the US charts in ‘72 (and #41 in ‘75) and will likely remain a coming-of-age anthem for another 40 years, and the supremely rocking “Queen Bitch,” which Bowie wrote as Velvet Underground musical fan-fiction. Other tracks are amazing, of course: “Life on Mars” encapsualting the essence of Bowie’s other-worldliness, sweet and sorrowful “Quicksand” (this link to a live performance by Bowie and The Cure’s Robert Smith) and “Oh! You Pretty Things.”

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