Bowie Bio: Starman Chapters 1 and 2

Finished the first two chapters of Paul Trynka's David Bowie bio Starman. Doesn't appear the author has any direct interviews with Bowie which is a shame. He uses this quote from Bowie's 2006 Nokia Recommenders "Sounds of My Universe" about the standout from a bagful of singles his dad brought home when Bowie was 8 years old:
Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti":

My heart nearly burst with excitement. I'd never heard anything even resembling this. It filled the room with energy and color and outrageous defiance. I heard God.

In Chapter Two we read about his association with agent Les Conn ("Conn's the name and con's the game") who signed up the 17 year old and his band ,The King Bees. Through Conn Bowie met Marc Bolan in 1964 (!) The King Bees reworked this "traditional folk song" --made famous by Huey Smith and his Clowns. The single made no impact on the charts despite the band's appearance on Ready Steady Go!



Look closely at the the writing credit. Conn's the name. More to come!

Paul Trynka's Bowie Bio: "Starman"

Paul Trynka's Bowie biography Starman opens by describing this performance on Top of The Pops:

The fifteen-million-strong audience struggles to absorb this exotic, pansexual creature; in countless households, the kids are entranced in their thousands as parents sneer, shout, or walk out of the room...for scattered isolated kids around the UK, and soon on the American East Coast, and then on the West Coast, this was their day. The day of the outsider.

Trynka also notes the chorus of Starman borrows more than a few notes from "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".
All to say I've started reading Starman. I'll let you know whether it's worth a go ( at 500 pages no less!) every so often.

#38 The Dramatics - Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get, 1971

It's true. I lent The Dramatics every formal prom tuxedo I ever rented for their Soul Train appearance. OK. Maybe it's not true.
In the early-70's the R&B world seemed tickled by the sounds of the Caribbean. The promises of good times in the sunshine proved irrestible to AM radio.
The Bahamian pop band Beginning of the End gave us the #15 hit "Funky Nassau" in 1971. Johnny Nash took "I Can See Clearly Now" to #1 in 1972 and introduced a lot of people to the reggae music of Bob Marley with his #12 hit cover of "Stir It Up".
In 1971, after nearly ten years without a hit, the long suffering Detroit vocal group, The Dramatics, combined that sunshine vibe with some fuzztone guitar and a killer horn section for song #38 of 1001.
"Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get" peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the R&B charts. The band would hit even bigger in 1972 with their dramatic single "In The Rain", which topped the R&B charts for four weeks and hit #5 in the pop charts. Personnel changes and legal quarrels soon followed but for one glorious year The Dramatics ruled the R&B roost.

By the way, I am a contributing blogger to Star Maker Machine. This week's topic: Drums. Thought you'd might like to see what I picked.

This is Captain America Calling...

On a busy movie set there are a million distractions for actors preparing for a scene. How do you get in the right mood with all of that yelling, hammering, clanging and more yelling? Many actors use music. They'll plug in their earphones, close their eyes and press play.
1001Songs asked the stars of Captain America ( out Friday) what kind of music they listened to between takes on the set.

Hayley Atwell "You've Got The Love" by Florence and the Machine

I do use music if I need to be in a certain mood and I'm not really in it.
Music is so great at being able to lift your spirits or just take you to a place in your imagination.
That summer I was listening to a lot of Florence from Florence and the Machine
because she's a very amazing artist with an incredible voice so, yeah, she was around the Captain America set quite a bit.

Chris Evans "Goin' to Acapulco" by Jim James and Calexico

"Goin' to Acapulco" I'm Not There. Is that the Bob Dylan movie? With Cate Blanchett! They have a great song. There's a scene in the film (Captain America) where I have to be a little emotional. I don't want to give away what the scene is. but I did listen to that song on repeat. It just kinda gets me brewing.

Sebastian Stan- "Lateralus" by Tool

(Sebastian said he listened to a lot of WW2 era music for research).
You wanted to know what kind of music they listened to, and what kinds of movies they watched because they probably emulated a lot of that so I did look back at jazz in the 40's.
   But  then sometimes you listen to certain songs to get you prepared for an action scene. Like anything from Eminem to Tool.

#37 Amy Rigby - Don't Break The Heart, 1996

Amy Rigby Don't Break the Heart by 1001songs



For her 1996 debut album Diary of a Mod Housewife, Amy Rigby said she wanted to take on "the netherworld between Bohemia and suburbia, between set lists and shopping lists." The Dean of Rock Critics, Robert Christgau,  gave the record an A rating and called it the "concept album of the year". Diary is full of honest, sometimes funny scenes from a marriage on the rocks.(To former dB's drummer Will Rigby who plays on a few cuts)
Amy told a reporter she was inspired by a line Chrissie Hynde wrote in "Middle of the Road": I've got a kid/ I'm 33.
    "It injected a little reality into this rocking little song." Amy said. "I liked the idea of trying to say something a little more complex in the framework of what is basically an entertaining rock song."
Anyone who owns this album has a different favorite song. That's probably why you should buy it ( for only $2.98 on Amazon right now).
     Remembering my own heartsick history in the mid-90's, I pick "Don't Break The Heart": Don't make the fatal error of thinking you'll find someone better/ 'Cuz you won't. Doesn't that just say everything you want to say in a break-up song?

   Amy has bounced back by the way. She's now married to Wreckless Eric. The live in France and record together. For more info on Amy click here.

#36 The Equals "Baby Come Back" 1966

Written by Eddy "Electric Avenue" Grant and recorded with his band The Equals in 1966, "Baby Come Back" did make a come back two years after originally failing to hit the charts. The song became the #1 pop hit in the UK on May 1st 1968 and eventually sold more than a million copies.
But "Baby Come Back" barely broke into the US Top 40.

The Equals were one of the first racially integrated bands of the 60's prompting Eddy Grant to tell Trouser Press Magazine in 1983 that had they hit it bigger stateside there never would have been any need for bands like Sly and the Family Stone.
The Equals never made a big deal of their racial composition. That and their reggae/rock vibe is said to be one of the biggest influences on the whole Two Tone ska movement.
Me, I just dig the beat. Even white people can almost dance to it.

Rock Star to Fan: "What do you want to play?"

Bono brings a blind man onstage to perform "All I Want Is You" with U2.
U2's website has much better video

A few months earlier Paul Simon invited a woman from the audience to perform "Duncan".



Brandi Carlile sings with youngest member of Easy Street Record store audience in 2005.