Thursday 30 September 2010



The return of The Return of the Thin White Duke

David Bowie's 1976 classic Station To Station is still throwing darts in lover's eyes

His more recent recorded output may bear the names Outside, Reality and Heathen, but the quintessential David Bowie record that encapsulates all of those tags is 1976′s Station To Station. Bowie, outside of his mind on cocaine, living in a paranoid reality where Ziggy Stardust morphed into the Thin White Duke,  was worshiping in L.A., avoiding daylight and subsiding on green peppers, milk and cigarettes.  And cocaine.

Did I mention the cocaine?

I was reading a comment online somewhere where a female fan was complaining that all the media attention surrounding the release of Station To Station was focusing on the fact that Bowie was doing A LOT of drugs at the time of its recording, instead of how amazing the record was (and still is).  Get a fucking grip, lady.  Not bringing up the cocaine while talking about Station To Station is like talking about the resurrection without mentioning the crucifixion.  You can’t have one without the other.

It’s been called a “transitional” album, the bridge between Young Americans‘ plastic soul of 1975 and 19977′s Low, the first in the trilogy of Berlin albums recorded with Brian Eno.  A mere six songs that span almost 40 minutes, Station To Station can’t be distilled down to just one descriptor.  Transitional, yes, but every song has is transition in and of  itself as well.  From the majestic title track’s schizophrenic movements, to the funky “Golden Years”, to the Johnny Mathis-besting cover of “Wild Is the Wind”, Station To Station is an album that doesn’t know what it wants to be, and is all the better for it.

A few months early from celebrating the record’s 35th anniversary, EMI have reissued the album’s original analogue master and packaged it with a disc of radio edits, an audio DVD, vinyl, posters, and additional booklets.  Reviewing the reissue in Q magazine, Dorian Lynskey chides that the Super Deluxe Limited Edition “comes with everything you might want short of a vial of Bowie’s semen”.  The more manageable Special Edition features the remastered Station To Station alongside an official recording of the infamous Nassau Coliseum show from March 26, 1976.

For the uninitiated, Station To Station may be a jarring and confusing entry point, but it’s crucial.  It’s the pivot point around which Bowie’s illustrious 70s catalogue rotates.  Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Diamond Dogs‘ glam and Young Americans‘ soul were all prerequisites for the manic madness in these 6 songs, and without the downward spiral of drug-fueled confusion and creativity, he would not have fled to Europe to isolate himself  for Low, “Heroes”, and Lodger.  It’s a marvel he ever survived the recording sessions, given that he hardly remembers anything about them.  It’s a miracle that a record as perfect as Station To Station came about as a result.

MP3: David Bowie “Station To Station”
Video: David Bowie “Wild Is The Wind”
Video: David Bowie “Golden Years” (performance on Soul Train)
Myspace: David Bowie
Facebook: David Bowie

More on Station To Station from around the web:

DJs at Los Angeles public radio station KCRW 89.9 FM have remixed “Golden Years” in honour of the Station To Station re-issue.  DJ Jason Bentely had this to say about the project: “It’s an incredible honor and a massively intimidating challenge at the same time. It’s important to note that two of our four featured DJs – Eric J Lawrence and Chris Douridas — had no previous experience with remixing, yet they all brought a fresh perspective to the song and had fun doing it.”  There are some pretty cool interpretations, and you can check them all out by going here.  KCRW are also streaming all of disc 1 of  the reissue here.

Stereogum is running a contest to win the Super Deluxe Limited Edition boxset here.  Sadly, though, it’s not open to Canadians.

The L.A. Times weighs in on the Think White Duke here.

Wired takes a walk through Bowie’s closet of alter-egos here.

Matthew Perpetua of Fluxblog talks about the visionary lyrical content of Station To Station‘s “TVC15″ here.  Thanks to Matt for also digging up this classic Saturday Night Live performance:

Video: David Bowie with Klaus Nomi “TVC15″ and “Boys Keep Swinging” (SNL 1978)





by J. Di Gioia | Comments Off

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 30th, 2010 at 8:35 am and is filed under MP3, ViDEO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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