In honor of the death of all-around music god David Bowie I've decided I need to listen to a completely non-classic and forgotten album from Bowie's catalog. Because let's face it, everyone on the day after the death of a legend wants to listen to their equivalent of Ziggy Stardust or Heros. Hell my initial reaction to Bowie's death was to listen to Station To Station as many times as possible. Instead I really feel I must listen to Bowie's equivalent of The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, which I would call Pink Floyd's slightly embarrassing debut they'd rather everyone were ignorant of.
In 1967 before anyone knew who the hell David Bowie was Deram Records released his self-titled debut. Unfortunately they released it on the same day The Beatles were releasing Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, so it's doubtful anyone would have noticed. In any case the album didn't sell, and Deram Records terminated their contract with Bowie. Eventually Bowie would get a recording contract with Philips and essentially disown his Deram debut. To this day critics and fans mostly choose to ignore the Deram album and prefer his first album with Philips (also titled David Bowie, also known as Space Odyssey) as his true debut.
Since this album is largely ignored I had a bit of trouble finding it in print or online. I eventually settled on buying through Murfie.com a collection of all of Bowie's recordings with Deram Records including the first David Bowie in full. It actually turned out to be half as expensive as buying the album proper, and also included the preceding singles Deram produced. As an aside, do you like Alvin and the Chipmunks and gnome-based puns? Then you might like David Bowie's second Deram Records single "The Laughing Gnome." If I do wind up listening to the entire David Bowie studio catalog I wouldn't be surprised if this wound up being the worst song he ever wrote/recorded.
It's not really surprising nobody cares to hear this album ever again. It's not awful, but in retrospect with everything else we know David Bowie recorded calling this album "quaint" might be underselling it. Bowie certainly sounds like Bowie, and the lyrics are just as eccentric and whimsical as ever. It's the backing band that just crushes any hopes of this album ever being a classic. It basically sounds like David Bowie singing with a studio band from a late 60s variety show. There's an acoustic guitar, a piano, Hammond organ, and a few horns, including a tuba playing a large role in "Rubber Band". It's so weird to hear David Bowie's classic voice over such a milquetoast arrangement of instruments.
That being said if Bowie were to update these songs by re-recording them with more impressive arrangements I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't become just a beloved as the rest of his catalog. I recall The Moody Blues doing something similar with two of their older songs on a 1989 compilation. Both "Isn't Life Strange" and "Question" were released in the late 60s when The Moody Blues were a psychedelic/progressive rock band, and were updated with full orchestral arrangements resulting in much superior listens. Perhaps Bowie has already updated a few of these songs and I'll find them if I search deeper into his catalog.
Maybe the most interesting track on David Bowie is "Please Mr. Gravedigger." It's not really a song, more of a poem kinda half-sung over the sound of a thunderstorm and somebody shoveling gravel. Twice during the poem Bowie sneezes as if he's really been standing outside in the cold and rain for hours. I find it fascinating the Deram Records actually let Bowie include this somewhat avant-garde piece on his debut album. Not that it would have made much difference had they left it off, and it being the album's final track might be a sign of the hesitation Deram had for including it.
In any case, David Bowie's actual debut album has always fascinated me because it was tough to find and I wasn't sure I'd ever get a chance to actually hear it. Now that I've heard Bowie's true humble beginnings I kinda really badly need to listen to Station To Station. Not because David Bowie was terrible, it was just so weird. I know, David Bowie the person was pretty weird. In light of that David Bowie is quite normal. Unsettlingly normal. I guess that's what's really wrong with this album. It's too ordinary to be real David Bowie. 2 stars.
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