DAVIDBOWIE: ALBUMTOALBUM (ALBUMTOALBUM)
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| Date | Titre | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02 Mar 2018 | S1 Ep1: Nicholas Pegg on Space Oddity | 00:47:28 | |
Join me and The Complete David Bowie author Nicholas Pegg for a lengthy ramble around 1969's 'Space Oddity' and discover why this 'debut' was in fact, probably the most raw, personal and heartfelt Bowie album ever made. From breakups to breakdowns, disillusionment, bitterness and resignation, rock, folk, country and space jams - a relative flop on release (apart from the hit title track) this remains an extraordinary breakout album from an extraordinary fellow. | |||
| 10 Mar 2018 | S1 Ep2: Charlotte Hatherley on "Heroes" | 01:06:10 | |
In this episode, we delve into the magisterial 1977 epic "Heroes" in a very entertaining chat with former Ash guitarist and composer Charlotte Hatherley. Along the way, Charlotte and I ponder Frippertronics, try to fathom the mystique and romance that the "Heroes" album holds for us, pick apart the songs, ponder Bowie's sexiness, indulge in world-class pedantry and hear about the time Bowie forgot Charlotte's name. | |||
| 20 Mar 2018 | S1 Ep3: David Quantick on Hours... | 00:29:07 | |
When Q journalist David Quantick flew to New York in 1999 to meet Bowie ahead of the release of 'Hours…' he found King Gnome in chipper form, sprightly, funny and eager to discuss almost everything other than his new album. Maybe that was because (in my opinion) it's far from being one of his best. I think it's dull and ininspiring. Not Quantick. Listen and marvel as my guest fights his corner with grace and insight, countering my rather lumpen repeated assaults on the record. He cleverly admits its shortcomings while stubbornly extolling its virtues. Can I sustain my position in the face of such eloquence? I must apologise to you, as I had a terrible cold when I recorded this, so had to subsequently dub some questions on afterwards, for clarity, instead of the snivelling sneezing mess that originally ended up on tape. So there will be a few minor glitches, echoes and weird edits. But I hope they don't distract you from this half an hours or so [arf!] of Bowie chat. | |||
| 27 Mar 2018 | S1 Ep4: Nicholas Pegg on Never Let Me Down | 00:48:49 | |
Mullets! Marimbas! Multimedia arachnid mayhem! Yes it's the spidery folly of 1987's 'Never Let Me Down', with Nicholas Pegg returning to stoutly defend his choice of album to a sceptical public, in this highly entertaining ramble. The 1987 album 'Never Let Me Down' was a mishmash of styles, songs and haircuts as Bowie attempted to jumpstart his flagging career, with this confused follow up to 1984's 'Tonight'. Reflecting the uncertainty of Bowie's mindset at the time - casting around for a new direction and harking back to the theatricality of 'Diamond Dogs' a decade earlier, while trying to forge a contemporary sound. In this very entertaining conversation, The Complete David Bowie author Nicholas Pegg joins me again to chew over the album which he maintains, is not quite the car crash I always considered it to be... Plus, we hear Bowie's Iggy and Springsteen imitations and Nick explains why the Glass Spider is really a magical moment in Bowie's oeuvre... | |||
| 31 Mar 2018 | S1 Ep5: Albumtoalbum: The Easter Pegg bonus episode | 00:14:36 | |
Hello! Here's a little Easter treat for you all, a couple of outtakes from my conversation with Nicholas Pegg last week in which Nick explains how he came to write 'The Complete David Bowie' and then, an interesting bit about the Glass Spider tour and Bowie at Live Aid. My mic was undergoing some sort of trauma for this section, which is why it didn't make the final cut - but it's well worth hearing. Enjoy and I'll be uploading the next edition of ALBUMTOALBUM next week! | |||
| 05 Apr 2018 | S1 Ep6: David Quantick on PinUps | 00:31:23 | |
PinUps is Bowie's fond parting gift to 1960s London, with covers of classic and less-known tracks from the Who, Kinks, Yardbirds, Syd's Pink Floyd, Them and more. It's also his farewell to Ziggy - having broken up the band when the kids had killed the man in July of 1973, our little wonder was going places - inventing Orwellian rock dystopia and becoming a grand, raddled dame of despair. But first! There was this LP to do, and what a fine album it is, a rocking, reeling rolling romp through the track listing but unlike similar covers albums by contemporaries Bryan Ferry, and a few years later, Lennon, PinUps has a deliciously freaky feel to it - these aren't straight covers, they're fantastically inventive impressionistic reworkings. You hear Bowie and band deconstruct the Who's 'I Can't Explain' or Pink Floyd's 'See Emily Play' with spooky menace and dread, yelp manically through Them's 'Here Comes The Night' and the Pretty Things' 'Rosalyn' and croon beautifully in the Merseys' 'Sorrow'. It's an extraordinary album and one that stayed close to its creator's heart for many years to come. David Quantick tells me why it has stayed with him all these years in a most enjoyable chat - so come and hear for yourself and enjoy! | |||
| 21 Aug 2018 | S2 Ep1: Nicholas Pegg on Lodger | 01:09:34 | |
Released in 1979 to mixed reviews and a sense of bewilderment at the change of direction from the preceding two instalments of the 'Berlin trilogy', 'Lodger' has never quite assumed iconic status. But there is much to enjoy in this 10-track outing, from a sort of travel themed suite of songs to a more broader set of topics on side two. Containing hits such as 'DJ' and 'Boys Keep Swinging', it also referenced Bowie's long-standing love affair with Krautrock, the Middle Eastern/reggae mashup of 'Yassassin', the starkly minimal story of 'Repetition' and the proto-world music feel of 'African Night Flights' and much more. So, to get to the heart of Lodger - which was remixed last year by Tony Visconti, a mix I am a bit unsure of - I called up the one and only Nicholas Pegg, author of 'The Complete David Bowie' and went down to visit him one sunny day to get his take on all things Lodgerian. I really enjoyed this one, and hope you do too - spread the word, Albumtoalbum is back for another batch of Bowie geekery! | |||
| 29 Aug 2018 | S2 Ep2: Let's Dance with Joachim Hentschel | 01:09:12 | |
Let's primp our hair, pat our shoulder pads into place, put on our red shoes and dance the blues in this edition as we head back to 1983 and the world-beating, mainstream-baiting majesty of Let's Dance, with the Berlin-based author and critic Joachim Hentschel. In this episode of Albumtoalbum, we explore the back story of Let's Dance and talk through the uneven collection of dance, rock, r'n'b and pop, as Bowie began his uneven, perilous navigation of the hostile swamps of the 1980s. We hear from Joachim's interview with the man himself, ruefully reflecting on the aftermath of the album's phenomenal success, and debate the possibility of a revised track listing and chew over that rather dodgy China Girl video. If you know when to go out, when to stay in, or simply, just when to get things done, this is a must-listen. Enjoy! | |||
| 27 Sep 2018 | S2 Ep3: Charlotte Hatherley on Tin Machine | 01:16:16 | |
Heaven's In Here! Under The God! Video Crime! Bus Stop! The critical consensus is one of mockery and disdain, but to paraphrase a magazine article of the time - "Are Tin Machine Crap? Discuss" - the wonderful Charlotte Hatherley and I reconvene in the kitchen to crack open a bottle of wine and do just that. We ponder the stories behind the Tin Machine project, chew over our favourite and not so favourite tracks, look at what alternatives Bowie had at the time and how the group did him a bit of good. We had a great time on this conversation, I hope you enjoy listening to it! | |||
| 04 Oct 2018 | S2 Ep4: Nicholas Pegg on Hunky Dory (Part 1) | 01:11:00 | |
It's the album that, arguably, revealed more of Bowie than any other, before or since. It's a masterstroke of songwriting, melodies, esoterica and soul-searching. It's Hunky Dory and in the latest episode of Album To Album, we embark on the first of a two-part discussion of Bowie's 1971 landmark work, with our good pal Nick Pegg in the house to discuss Bovril, Andy Warhol, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Mickey Mouse, Norfolk Broads, generational angst, Peter Noone, Alley Oop, Alastair Crowley and much much more! (And that's only side one...) Thank you for listening and please do share, rate and get in touch with your thoughts as ever, I appreciate all feedback and love hearing what you make of our ramblings. | |||
| 22 Oct 2018 | S2 Ep5: Nicholas Pegg on Hunky Dory (Part 2) | 00:43:51 | |
We return from a short international expedition with Part 2 of our Hunky Dory hoe-down in which acclaimed Bowie biographer and Albumtoalbum regular Nicholas Pegg and I sit down to try and work out what makes Bowie's 1971 album just so damn good. I can't seem to string together a coherent sentence in this episode, which I will defend, by saying Hunky Dory leaves me speechless. In this edition, we focus on side two, and cover all manner of Bowiephilia, debating the impact of his first trip to the States, his adoration of Biff Rose, Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, the creepy witchy genius of 'The Bewlay Brothers' and try to avoid the use of the word 'iconic'. Plug in, tune in and turn on and enjoy! | |||
| 02 Nov 2018 | S2 Ep6: Siân Pattenden on Low | 00:51:37 | |
Low! The 1976 masterpiece which saw our man frazzled and burned-out, on the cusp of mayhem, relocated from the madness of Los Angeles and teaming up with Brian Eno for a lot of experimental doodling and dallying and along the way, coming up with one of the most revolutionary albums in rawk history. The opening salvo of the 'Berlin Trilogy', Low is a beautiful racket of proto-electronica, effects and ambient soundscapes, that gave Bowie a new lease of life, electronic music to the mainstream and no doubt, ulcers to the good folk at Bowie's long suffering record label RCA. In this episode, we meet the wonderful Siân Pattenden, writer, artist, co-host of the brilliant Bigmouth podcast and all-round good egg, for an illuminating wander along the Low road. Along the way, we debate the value of creative block, blues and greys, masculinity, divorce, love and depression as well as the circumstances around the making of this extraordinary album. Unfortunately, there was a car alarm outside during recording, which some of you might find annoying, but I hope you can persevere and enjoy Siân's engaging and illuminating chat, nevertheless. And should you be in the market for some quirky, fabulous lo-fi art creativity, check out her site at raw-art.co.uk for Bowie mugs and much more! | |||
| 26 Nov 2018 | S2 Ep7: Murray Chalmers on Young Americans | 01:10:19 | |
Here we are, with the shimmering soulboy, Bowie '75 style and 'Young Americans', that louche blend of slow jams, dirty funk and smooth grooves. Bowie's 1975 album veered dramatically away from the trashglam-apocalypso of 1974's 'Diamond Dogs' and presaged the chilly Eurotech of 1976's 'Station To Station' with joyous verve and energy. 'Blue eyed soul', its emaciated creator later dismissed it as being, but we love it to bits and so does my guest this week, the PR main man Murray Chalmers. As a young pup in 1970s Dundee, Bowie lit up Murray's world, paving the way for a punk obsession that brought him to London and led to him today, being the PR for the likes of the Pet Shop Boys, Yoko Ono, Kate Bush, Robbie Williams, Suede and many more. Over two meetings (one in the slightly echoey surroundings of Murray's London HQ), we blether away about Bowie, Young Americans, meeting Bowie, Murray's beginnings in the London music industry of the late 70s and how one particular track from this album gets him. Every. Single. Time.. Enjoy and as ever, please do let me know what you think and spread this podcast like melting butter on internet toast. Ain't there one damn podcast that can make you… | |||
| 08 Jan 2019 | S2 Ep8: Nicholas Pegg on Heathen | 00:50:14 | |
We're back! Happy new year and a very happy birthday David Bowie... In this episode - the first in another two-parter - Bowie biographer and solid superstar Nick Pegg dissects the rich, complex tapestry of Bowie's 2002 magnum opus 'Heathen'. An album brimming with imagery, profundity, magisterial ambition and beautiful music it's amongst the very best of the canon. In this two-part episode, recorded in a subterranean cell in South London, Nick holds forth in typically entertaining manner, with erudition, insight and plenty of digressions along the way. | |||
| 22 Jan 2019 | S2 Ep9: Nicholas Pegg on Heathen - Part Two | 01:00:14 | |
A multi-million selling critical smash, laden with inventiveness, melody, reflection and profoundly questioning lyrics, 'Heathen' was the album everyone was waiting for, back in 2002. As Nick Pegg and I discover, during the course of this second part of our megachat, 'Heathen' touches on many facets of Bowie's artistry over the years. It revisits familiar themes of mortality, angst, identity and God ("Come on God, buck up!") alongside perhaps some of the best music of Bowie's 2000s. Older, wiser and more comfortable in himself, Bowie could address an intransigent Higher Being and rock out exuberant Pixies covers or indeed, pay homage to the Legendary Stardust Cowboy with equal aplomb and conviction. Tony Visconti was back on board for the first time since 1980 (maybe prompting all those "best LP since Scary Monsters" accolades?) and the resulting album is definitely worthy of Visconti's heartfelt tribute, Bowie's 'magnum opus'. Thanks as ever for listening and getting in touch with me with your thoughts on our discussions. If I could ask a favour - please do share and spread the podcast as much as possible! Thanks x | |||
| 22 Feb 2019 | S2 Ep10: Samira Ahmed on Space Oddity - Part 1 | 00:56:17 | |
It's back to 1969, and a repeat appearance on Albumtoalbum for Space Oddity, the second full-length Bowie LP and with me to discuss all things Oddity-esque is BBC Radio 4 presenter and journalist Samira Ahmed. In this revealing chat - again, a here a two-parter - Samira explains her love of Bowie, her particular love of this album, the influence it had on her as a young Asian child growing up in 1970s Britain and the effect it had on her peers - something she documented to fascinating effect on her Radio 4 programme "I Dressed Ziggy Stardust" in which a number of Asian women recounted their experiences of Bowie's music and style impacting on their lives. As well as that, Samira takes us on a tour through the first half of this landmark record, throwing in plenty of piquant observations, fascinating facts and insights into what made Bowie someone who "got inside my brain and messed with it - in the most wonderful way" Follow us on Instagram @albumtoalbum, Facebook and Apple Podcasts and do leave a review and share if so inclined! Thanks as ever for your feedback and love, it means a great deal. You can check out Samira's programme here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r91qk | |||
| 05 Oct 2019 | S2 Ep11: Samira Ahmed on Space Oddity - part 2 | 00:34:09 | |
The long-delayed and oft-promised second part of my two-parter on 'Space Oddity' with Samira Ahmed is finally here, almost 50 years to the month after Part 1. It covers not only the latter half of Bowie's 1969 LP, but veers across a number of topics as we trudge through the dampened grass to approach the summer's end. Tall Venusians will be passing through. I hope you enjoy this - and don't forget to warm up with Part One: https://audioboom.com/channels/4948081.rss
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| 14 Oct 2019 | S3 Ep2: Alan Johnson on Hunky Dory | 00:39:06 | |
WELCOME TO THE NEW episode of Album To Album in which we meet former Labour Home Secretary and award-winning memoirist Alan Johnson, former MP for Hull West and Hessel. We met recently in his Hull offices – ‘in Spiders From Mars land!’ as he proudly informs me - to reminisce about Hunky Dory, the 1971 LP which ch-ch-changed everything, not only for Bowie, but for legions of young rock’n’rollers.
In the course of course of our chat, Alan recalls his days as a shelf stacker and postman in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a new father inspired by ‘Kooks’, a songwriter in love with ‘Life On Mars’ and a fan besotted with ‘Changes’. Along the way, we touch on Alan’s other great musical love, The Beatles, the mood and atmosphere of the early 1970s and Alan even sings one of his own songs.
“It really is a remarkable record,” says Alan of Hunky Dory “And it’s an album as a whole. You can’t really think of Changes without morphing into Oh You Pretty Things, Life On Mars, Kooks – it’s all of a piece.”
Thank you as ever for listening and if you enjoy this episode, please do share and review. If you would like to buy us a drink, we have a Patreon account under ‘albumtoalbum’ where all donations are very welcome indeed. And please do check out Alan’s site at www.alanjohnsonbooks.co.uk where you’ll find details of his current tour of the UK, reading from his music memoir ‘In My Life”. And Alan’s three award-winning instalments of his autobiography are all available from amazon.co.uk And if you want to hear Alan’s Spotify playlist to accompany 'In My Life', check it out here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4yds4L2hR0j5etsDtRHcpc
https://alanjohnsonbooks.co.uk/in-my-life/ | |||
| 01 Dec 2019 | S3 Ep3: Nicholas Pegg on 1.Outside | 00:53:47 | |
Released in September 1995, 1. Outside (The diary of Nathan Adler or the art-ritual murder of Baby Grace Blue: A non-linear Gothic Drama Hyper-cycle), was [Wikipedia says] "set in 1999, in which the government, through its arts commission, had created a new bureau to investigate the phenomenon of Art Crime".
How disappointing that 1999 in fact, just brought us "...hours" instead. Anyway, 1. Outside was intended as the first in a series of releases intended to articulate a sense of dystopian tension in the air as we hurtled towards 2000. It was a return to the sort of scabrous sounds and scary monsters of 1980, much to the joy of the Bowie hardcore but given it was issued during the blearily sunny era of Britpop, the album befuddled many, not least the fiercely savage music press of the time (remember them?) who savaged the strange suite of songs, set amidst experimental collages of spoken word fragments and featuring some of Bowie's most abrasive music in ages. Having reunited with Mr B. Eno, Mr R Gabrels and Mr E Kizilcay, Bowie allowed his imagination to run riot, indulging his newly reignited love of contemporary art, sci fi and electronica in a startlingly original statement that stands up to repeated investigation to this day. | |||
| 06 Jan 2020 | S3 Ep4: Nicholas Pegg on 1. Outside Part 2 | 00:50:19 | |
Spongebob Squarepants, Scott Walker, Eno, murder, murder, madness, the Pet Shop Boys, Algeria Touchshriek, Noah and Nelly, death, millennial angst and one of Bowie's finest albums, yes it's more from the dark, dangerous world of Outside, with the one and only Nicholas Pegg.
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| 20 Mar 2020 | S3 Ep5: Nicholas Pegg on 1.Outside Part 3 | 00:53:18 | |
The final part of our king-sized 'Outside' chat with the MC of DB, Nicholas Pegg sweeps us up in a torrent of facts, trivia, analysis and architecture and morality. We push to the close of our investigation into this esoteric masterpiece and ask the important questions of the day including whether Oxford is actually a town or city, what track would make Bowie duck onstage when he played it live and the album's pleasing ability to be played in any old way you like. Join us!
Don't forget the previous two episodes here: Part 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/3-nicholas-pegg-on-1-outside/id1355073030?i=1000458374296 | |||
| 24 Mar 2020 | S3 Ep6: Stuart Maconie on Diamond Dogs Part 1 | 01:00:04 | |
In the year of the Diamond Dogs... while the zombie peoploids were crawling through Hunger City yowling with rage, a cheerful 13 year old lad in Wigan encountered Bowie's chilling, thrilling 'Diamond Dogs' LP. Today, Stuart Maconie, BBC DJ, critic and author joins me for a wonderfully rambling and enjoyable chat about all things Diamond Dogs. In this first episode, as well as recalling those halcyon days of the mid 1970s (and indeed they were halcyon, according to his new book The Nanny State Made Me), we delve deep into the mid 70s world of Bowie, the rise and fall of glam, debate the Rolling Stones, why Jagger and Bowie fell out, what Paul McCartney told Stuart when he asked him about a legendary outtake, why Alan McGee inspired the 'Exactly!' game, more about Diamond Dogs, Brownie and Nidge and wonder why poor old Hallowe'en Jack only gets one line to himself. I hope you enjoy and of course, check out Stuart on BBC6 where his Freakzone show is a reliably magical pot pourri of esoteric sounds from distant shores and look out for his fantastic new book The Nanny State Made Me: A Story Of Britain And How To Save It here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nanny-State-Me-Stuart-Maconie/dp/1529102413/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1SFWPCJLJB1A6&keywords=stuart+maconie&qid=1585055403&sprefix=Stuart+%2Caps%2C144&sr=8-1 | |||
| 31 Mar 2020 | S3 Ep7: Stuart Maconie on Diamond Dogs Part 2 | 00:28:50 | |
"This is not the end. This is not the beginning of the end. But it is the end of the beginning." Winston Churchill could have been talking about this episode of Albumtoalbum, in which Stuart and I continue our deep dive into the world of Bowie's* Diamond Dogs and conclude the first part of our chipper chat session. In this handy, pocket-sized episode, we marvel at Sweet Thing/Candidate and Rebel Rebel, via Bowie's eyepatch, John Lennon, Alvin Stardust and a choice of Germanic influence - 1920s Berlin Cabaret or pounding krautrock?
*Have you noticed how, in 1974, it was just "Bowie"? | |||
| 12 Apr 2020 | S3 Ep8: Stuart Maconie on Diamond Dogs part 3 | 01:00:14 | |
With our tin cans and string stretching across the locked down nation, Stuart and I return to conclude our scuttle through the dark underworld of Bowie's Diamond Dogs. In this episode, we rattle through what we quaintly call 'Side 2', taking in the soul-inflected death disco vibe and pondering its debt to Orwell. Along the way, we look at the disparate influences that come into play and touch on disco, soul, claret, Stormzy, the Arctic Monkeys and Chas'n'Dave and debate the burning issue of the day - viz. Is it "reason" or "treason"? Find out more ... in NINETEEN EIGHTY FOOOURR
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| 23 Apr 2020 | S3 Ep9: Guy Pratt on Lodger part 1 | 00:49:29 | |
1979's 'Lodger' is an often underrated album but upon further inspection, this blend of new wave, electrorock, globally-inspired music and esoteric experimentation stands the test of time. It's a shift away from the previous two 'Berlin' albums and probably the most Eno-esque of all Bowie's records, until 1995's '1. Outside'. The tough line up of Carlos Alomar, Dennis Davis and George Murray are on top form and our man Bowie sounds, in turn, edgy, expansive, impassioned and artful.
Joining me to discuss this superb moment in Bowie's career is the legendary boss of the bass, Guy Pratt who since the early 80s has been boosting the bottom end with the likes of Bryan Ferry, The Smiths, Icehouse, Coverdale/Page and in a relationship spanning over thirty years, various permutations of Pink Floyd. Today, he plays with Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets band, who bring the magical era of Syd era Floyd to the stage. His 2009 autobiography, 'My Bass And Other Animals' is one of the finest, funniest and most enjoyable accounts of a life out on the wilds of the rock scene at its most debauched and delightful best. Guy has also been in the enviable position of having supported Bowie in 1983, as part of Australian art rockers Icehouse, in the midst of a fan scrum with him in Rotterdam and having Bowie meet his mum outside a caravan full of coke-deranged Australians. He also played bass on Bowie's last ever UK appearance, when he joined Dave Gilmour and band for 'Arnold Layne' and 'Comfortably Numb' in London's Royal Albert Hall in 2006. This recording, done under lockdown via Zoom, gets halfway through side one of Lodger, with many many digressions and much deviation on the way - and I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it! Stay tuned for Part 2 imminently Check out guypratt.com for news, info and updates on all things Guy Pratt https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bass-Other-Animals-Guy-Pratt-ebook/dp/B001NLKY5G/ref=sr_1_1?crid=FB2HVV7IX4UW&dchild=1&keywords=guy+pratt+my+bass+and+other+animals&qid=1587652109&sprefix=guy+Pratt%2Caps%2C133&sr=8-1 | |||
| 29 May 2020 | S3 Ep10: Guy Pratt on Lodger part 2 | 00:49:54 | |
The legendary bass player to the stars Guy Pratt joins us for a wonderful succession of amazing tales, rock and roll anecdotage, fashion advice, Floydian digressions and hot takes on Lodger in this second part of our megachat extravaganza!
1979's 'Lodger' is an often underrated album but upon further inspection, this blend of new wave, electrorock, globally-inspired music and esoteric experimentation stands the test of time. It's a shift away from the previous two 'Berlin' albums and probably the most Eno-esque of all Bowie's records, until 1995's '1. Outside'. The tough line up of Carlos Alomar, Dennis Davis and George Murray are on top form and our man Bowie sounds, in turn, edgy, expansive, impassioned and artful. Joining me to discuss this superb moment in Bowie's career is the legendary boss of the bass, Guy Pratt who since the early 80s has been boosting the bottom end for Robert Palmer, Bryan Ferry, The Smiths, Icehouse, Coverdale/Page and in a relationship spanning over thirty years, various permutations of Pink Floyd. Today, he plays with Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets band, who bring the magical era of Syd era Floyd to the stage. His 2009 autobiography, 'My Bass And Other Animals' is one of the finest, funniest and most enjoyable accounts of a life out on the wilds of the rock scene at its most debauched and delightful best. Guy has also been in the enviable position of having supported Bowie in 1983, as part of Australian art rockers Icehouse, in the midst of a fan scrum with him in Rotterdam and having Bowie meet his mum outside a caravan full of coke-deranged Australians. He also played bass on Bowie's last ever UK appearance, when he joined Dave Gilmour and band for 'Arnold Layne' and 'Comfortably Numb' in London's Royal Albert Hall in 2006. This recording, done under lockdown via Zoom, picks up towards the end of side one of Lodger, and makes it to the end of side two via the scenic route. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed talking to Guy! There are occasional groans from my dachshund, the worst of these have been removed. Check out guypratt.com for news, info and updates on all things Guy Pratt and look up his Lockdown Licks on YouTube and get the inside scoop on how to play some of his best-loved licks and lines. | |||
| 21 Jun 2020 | S3 Ep11: Donny McCaslin & Leah Kardos on ★ | 00:37:19 | |
2016’s ★is a dense, darkly textured epic that reveals Bowie in full flight as a musician, improvisator, lyricist and performer, a tour de force that demonstrated that Bowie was as much at ease with his past as he was with his present.
A remarkable accomplishment indeed, of course, for as we know this was Bowie’s farewell. And what an album ★ is. Like Johnny Cash or Leonard Cohen, Bowie left us with a complex and astonishingly powerful final statement. It’s the sound of an artist at the top of his game, confident, with nothing to prove and that fertile, quicksilver mind running at full throttle.
It was clear that Bowie wanted something different, yet again, for ★ and in New York based jazz saxophonist and bandleader Donny McCaslin, he found it. An acclaimed composer, performer and lynchpin of the experimental jazz scene, McCaslin’s love of improvisation and passion for ensemble playing created a secure, inspiring pocket around the singer, from where he emerged with some of his greatest tunes. Bringing us a melange of styles from avant-jazz to electro beats, reflective acoustic strumming to theatrical overtures (very much in Bowie’s mind as he was simultaneously preparing the stage show ‘Lazarus’), ★ remains not only the ultimate masterpiece of Bowie’s recording career, but the last masterpiece he would ever do.
Also joining us on this introductory episode, where we set the scene and get acquainted with Donny, is Leah Kardos - composer/producer, and music scholar and currently senior lecturer in Music at Kingston University near London. She’s co-founder of the university’s Visconti Studio with the one and only Tony Visconti and also runs the Kingston Uni Stylophone Orchestra (the only group of its kind in the world). She is currently writing a book about Bowie's late-period work (2013-2016) called "Blackstar Theory: David Bowie's Death Art", out next year from Bloomsbury Publishing.
Thanks are also due to the wonderful David Bowie Glamour Fanzine, without whom this podcast would not have happened.
https://leahkardos.bandcamp.com/merch | |||
| 06 Jul 2020 | S3 Ep12: Donny McCaslin & Leah Kardos on ★ Part 2 | 01:04:34 | |
Welcome to the second of a megachat with musicians Donny McCaslin and Leah Kardos, as we discuss at length the life and times of the final epic album, 2016’s ★
2016’s ★is a dense, darkly textured epic that reveals Bowie in full flight as a musician, improvisator, lyricist and performer, a tour de force that demonstrated that Bowie was as much at ease with his past as he was with his present.
A remarkable accomplishment indeed, of course, for as we know this was Bowie’s farewell. And what an album ★ is. Like Johnny Cash or Leonard Cohen, Bowie left us with a complex and astonishingly powerful final statement. It’s the sound of an artist at the top of his game, confident, with nothing to prove and that fertile, quicksilver mind running at full throttle.
It was clear that Bowie wanted something different, yet again, for ★ and in New York based jazz saxophonist and bandleader Donny McCaslin, he found it. An acclaimed composer, performer and lynchpin of the experimental jazz scene, McCaslin’s love of improvisation and passion for ensemble playing created a secure, inspiring pocket around the singer, from where he emerged with some of his greatest tunes. Bringing us a melange of styles from avant-jazz to electro beats, reflective acoustic strumming to theatrical overtures (very much in Bowie’s mind as he was simultaneously preparing the stage show ‘Lazarus’), ★ remains not only the ultimate masterpiece of Bowie’s recording career, but the last masterpiece he would ever do.
Also joining us on this episode is Leah Kardos - composer/producer, and music scholar and currently senior lecturer in Music at Kingston University near London. She’s co-founder of the university’s Visconti Studio with the one and only Tony Visconti and also runs the Kingston Uni Stylophone Orchestra (the only group of its kind in the world). She is currently writing a book about Bowie's late-period work (2013-2016) called "Blackstar Theory: David Bowie's Death Art", out next year from Bloomsbury Publishing.
Thanks are also due to the wonderful David Bowie Glamour Fanzine, without whom this podcast would not have happened.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please do share and comment, it's really appreciated :) https://leahkardos.bandcamp.com/merch | |||
| 09 Aug 2020 | S3 Ep13: Donny McCaslin & Leah Kardos on ★ Part 3 | 00:49:23 | |
The third and final instalment of our epic conversation with Donny McCaslin and Leah Kardos takes a behind the scenes look at the recording of David Bowie's final album, ★ in New York. Donny tells us what it was like to work on Bowie's demos and how even in his last sessions, David B was as inspired, energised and excited as ever by his music and collaborators. Thanks to Donny for his time and generosity in sharing these precious memories and especially to Leah Kardos for her insights and perspectives on the album. Don't forget to follow them both at
@DonnyMcCaslin @LeahKardos and keep an ear out for their latest sonic adventuring. Meanwhile, if you've enjoyed these podcasts, please do share, review and let me know! If you want to send a small something to keep self and dog in biscuits, I do have a Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=23724958&fan_landing=true and all tips much appreciated! | |||
| 31 Aug 2020 | S3 Ep14: Chris O'Leary on David Bowie (1967) | 00:56:25 | |
Following on from our conversation about Bowie’s final album, this episode of albumtoalbum whizzes us back 53 years to his first, the eponymous debut, released in Britain on June 1 1967. Of course, any other artist in the world might be nervous about releasing an album - a debut album! - on the same day as The Beatles dropped their long-awaited follow up to Revolver, but that's showbusiness baby. Still, one can only imagine the sense of panic felt in the Decca boardrooms, when puce-faced executives heard just exactly what their newest star would be releasing in competition with the Beatles' masterpiece.
And history proves that for record buyers hotfooting it to their local disc emporioum, pounds shillings and pence burning a hole in their kaftans, Sgt Pepper beat Uncle Arthur and company hands down, in face of stiff competition from other new releases, which included The Parable of Arable Land by the Red Krayola, the debut album by The Bee Gees and Mr Spock’s Music from Outer Space. Hardly surprising, but still disappointing, when the album barely grazed the charts, reaching 125 in the UK and something even less impressive in the US. ’Aarrghh, that Anthony Newley stuff, how cringey,' recalled a Tin Machine era Bowie in 1990. 'No, I haven’t much to say about that in its favour. Lyrically I guess it was striving to be something, the short story teller. Musically it’s quite bizarre. I don’t know where I was at. It seemed to have its roots all over the place, in rock and vaudeville and music hall and I don’t know what. I didn’t know if I was Max Miller or Elvis Presley’
Max Miller and or Elvis Presley don’t really come to mind when listening to it now. Instead he was consciously creating songs that would span his palette of interests at the time, solid songs that turned out to stand him in good stead for the next year or so as his interests veered towards theatre, mime, Buddhism and the emerging singer-songwriter genre.
Here, he flits magpie-like, alighting on this style or that, immersing himself in the art of crafting songs. He’s moved away from the rough RnB of his first few years and is experimenting with characters and scenarios that owe something to the general mood of acid-tinged weirdness of the times. But as we can see, these mini capsules of narratives and characters were like Bowie opening up his playbox for the first time, and donning the first of many many costumes to come. From the slightly Syd Barret esque Uncle Arthur to the chilling spoken word murder ballad of Please Mr Gravedigger, these songs aspire to pretty broad palette, veering between enchanting, entertaining, unsettling and ephemeral. This album is 60s London at its height, Britpsych and sci fi pop jostling with folky sensibilities, Anthony Newley-infused story songs with a Weimar-era Berlin side eye. So in order to look at it further, I’m glad to welcome on board the man behind the best Bowie blog ever, Chris O Leary, whose essays on each song and album in his blog Pushing Ahead Of The Dame have become to Bowie what Ian McDonald’s Revolution In The Head was to the Beatles - intelligent, enjoyably opinonated, well researched beautiful slices of prose that manage to conjure fresh perspectives and insights into Bowie’s work. Chris’s blog has been revised and edited into two brilliant volums, Rebel Rebel and Ashes to Ashes and if you haven’t yet read them or the blog, I strongly recommend you do either immediately after listening to this podcast.
As ever, please do share and recommend this podcast where you can and follow the lovely O'Leary on Twitter if you don't already at @bowiesongs | |||
| 22 Sep 2020 | S3 Ep15: Chris O'Leary on David Bowie (1967) part 2 | 00:45:10 | |
Let us head back to the summer of 1967 and the second side of the debut album by promising pop hopeful David Bowie. On this side of the disk, we encounter Little Bombardier, Silly Boy Blue, Arthur (uncle Arthur?) a singer in a band, the Maid of Bond Street, the sneezing Mr Gravedigger and many others. Guiding me in this kaleidoscopic quest is my friendly guest, the man behind Pushing Ahead Of The Dame, Chris O'Leary. In amongst the ditties, he tells me something of his own work and the story behind his remarkable chronicle of Bowie's life and work and how he came to assemble it. We also look at religion, God, gender and theatre. All the cool things. I hope you enjoy this episode and if you do, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or your podporium of choice and check out Chris's work at - https://bowiesongs.wordpress.com
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| 17 Nov 2020 | S3 Ep16: Tim Worthington on Holy Holy | 00:54:59 | |
Tim Worthington - writer, podcaster and cultural archaeologist - is someone who digs deep and delights in obscure details. So, it follows that in this episode of Albumtoalbum, he chose to eschew the album format and instead, picked an intriguing slice of Bowie history - the 1971 single 'Holy Holy', originally recorded in the weird dead period just after the recording of The Man Who Sold The World in 1970, after a disillusioned Mick Ronson had returned to Hull to work as a municipal gardener, marking out rugby pitches on council playing fields instead of living it up with the Bowie gang at Haddon Hall. David recorded the single for his record label Phillips, with guitarist Alan Parker and bassist Herbie Flowers and despite its very voguish cocktail of sex, black magic and religious torment, nothing much happened. But a year later, when a reinvigorated Ronson and the Spiders were cutting tracks for the
Ziggy album, they recorded a new, spikier more glam version for the LP, but for some reason, Bowie dropped it from the running order at the last minute, relegating it to the B-side of Diamond Dogs in 1974.
In this episode, Tim teases out numerous lines of enquiry leading from Holy Holy and looks at its importance as a pivotal moment in Bowie's fledgling career. As a summation of intent, an assault on the charts, a fabulous slice of black occult glam it succeeds in significance where it failed commercially (as did most Bowie releases at the time. It also suffered an ignominious afterlife, a remake, being shunted onto b-sides and bonus discs. Do please review and share this podcast if you like it and let me know what you think. And if you enjoy it, check out Tim's numerous activities at tomworthington.net and pump up your Twitter by following him at @outonbluesix Thank you all as ever for all the support and encouragement - I do have a Patreon account at @albumtoalbum if you would like to buy me a pie and a pint that would be lovely https://www.patreon.com/user?u=23724958 | |||
| 15 Dec 2020 | S3 Ep17: Adam Buxton on Scary Monsters | 01:12:25 | |
Welcome back to Albumto album with guest Bowie obsessive Adam Buxton!
Scary Monsters is a milestone album. It is one I have long wanted to tackle here and I have quite a few thoughts about it. Here are a few of them. David Bowie entered 1980 restless for change and a new sense of purpose. The generally lukewarm reaction to his previous album Lodger clearly prompted an internal audit and the 33-year old artist, on the move from Europe and now soaking up the energy of New York city, felt the time had come to harness the spirit of adventure and experimentation of the ‘Berlin’ era with a scaffold of tough, catchy rock. The songs, constructed by the dream team core combo of producer Tony Visconti, guitarist Carlos Alomar, bassist George Murray and drummer Dennis Davis, came together fast. Gone were the conceptual hi-jinks of the Eno era and instead, Bowie crafted these tracks with painterly care and attention. Each has a dynamic chiaroscuro, silhouettes and shadows are everywhere. Bowie’s interest in Expressionism and surrealism filters through these songs that tease the listener, before giving up their charms with sluttish abandon.
Bowie recorded the album at a brisk clip in spring 1980, working hard and fast at the New York Power Station studios with his band and assorted guest musicians including left field guitarists Chuck Hammer and Robert Fripp, both of whom left their distinctive fingerprints on the record. The former, with his customised guitar-synths, aroused Bowie with talk of “guitarchitecture”, the latter, a veteran of strange spontaneous sessions for Heroes and Lodger, scrawled atonic graffiti phrases across the title track, Its No Game, Fashion and so on, while a delighted Bowie would give gnomic instructions, “Play like Ritchie Blackmore, without sounding like Ritchie Blackmore!”
The lyrical content of the album gives us a fascinating insight within the author’s brain. Clear-headed, relatively sober and facing down the barrel of his 30s (many messianic men feel weird at 33, especially those of self-mythologising bent) and for the first time, seeing the results of his influences on a new wave of foppish romantics. His constituency had always been in the margins of the mainstream, but now, in the sulphurous afterburn of punk, it seemed as if his legacy was everywhere. From the so-called Blitz kids, some of whom he rather smartly re-appropriated for use in the Ashes To Ashes video to his swipes and bitchy asides aimed at the younger generation in songs like Teenage Wildlife and Because You’re Young, it seemed as if the unwilling role as older statesman of rock was sitting uncomfortably. His ambivalence to the generation of ‘Blitz kids’ who followed in his wake, was understandable. Bowie had always valued the courage to move on, look ahead and explore. His cadre of imitators that reached a peak around 1978, 1979 - pale, robotic - staccato of delivery and alienated of mien - irritated him, outweighing any personal gratification and flattery.
As Bowie the artist would tend to leg it, on achieving a degree of success and acclaim, Bowie the viable record label investment and going concern was in deep shit, thanks not only to the aftermath of his disastrous mid 70s breakup with avaricious manager Tony DeFries, but generally dismal sales figures. The need to generate serious cash with serious moonlight would dominate the years ahead, leading to questionable artistic decisions and generating much unhappiness for fans, peers, record label and not least, the actor himself.
But that was all still in the future. Looking back, we can mythologise 1980 as being the year that Bowie came of age as a recording artist. The self-referential myth-making wove throughout his year. It can be seen in the small, roughly obscured covers of Low, Heroes and Lodger on the Scary Monsters album artwork, the revisiting of ‘Space Oddity’s Major Tom in the astonishing ‘Ashes To Ashes’. It’s the howling anguish in opener ‘It’s No Game (Part One) and the resigned indifference of the track’s reprise at the close of the record. The lurking Pierrot of the cover figure, an affectation that stretched back to Bowie’s days in mime with the Lindsay Kemp company, was also something of a marker, closing the blinds on yesterday as a ‘cunt in a clown suit’. And this was the last time the alchemical magic of Alomar, Davis, Murray and Visconti would burn in the crucible of the studio. Shortly after the album was released, on September 17, 1980, Bowie was starring in a successful Broadway run as The Elephant Man, his close friend and inspiration John Lennon would be dead and the actor would return to his Swiss fastness, to plot yet another about-face. From now on, every album featuring Bowie that was released, would be compared to ‘Scary Monsters’, a millstone around its creator’s neck who, despite the decades of artistic, critical and commercial successes and flops to come, would never again quite match its extraordinary moment and magic.
For more Adam Buxton shenanigans, check out his site at: www.adam-buxton.co.uk Subscribe to his podcast here (The 2016 'Bowiewallow' episodes ate especially recommended) https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-adam-buxton-podcast/id1040481893 Adam's cartoon on the making of 'Warszawa' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FODvjYoVEi8&t=58s Chris O'Leary's masterful Pushing Ahead Of The Dame blog special on Scary Monsters at 40 https://bowiesongs.wordpress.com/2020/10/08/scary-monsters-at-40/ | |||
| 08 Jan 2021 | S3 Ep18: Adam Buxton & Chris O'Leary on Scary Monsters (Part 2) | 01:23:52 | |
Part Two of my megachat with comedian and author Adam Buxton and in this episode, we’re joined by the one and only Chris O’Leary, returning to Albumtoalbum after his chat with us on ‘David Bowie’ (1967) some months back, author of Pushing Ahead of the Dame blog and collected essays on Bowie’s canon in ‘Rebel, Rebel’ and ‘Ashes To Ashes’.
We travel through the album’s tracklisting in this episode, from Ashes to Ashes to the closing Its No Game Part II and a bit beyond too. Chris and Adam swap nuggets of Bowie trivia and anecdotes and Adam blesses us with his incomparable tribute to Gary Numan. We talk about pirates, midwives of history, broken pizzas, bad theatrics and s-s-s-s-s-ociet-t-t-t-t-ty. Additionally, Chris shares a prized Tom Verlaine anecdote whilst I generally burble and chuckle along. A fuller meander through my thoughts on the absolute belter Scary Monsters is included in the notes for Part One, but if you want to explore Adam and Chris’s work in greater detail, as well as following up on some of the topics that arose in the chat, here’s a handy cut out and keep list:
Chris O'Leary's study of Scary Monsters at 40 General Buxton stuff
‘David Bowie in New York 1980 • The Elephant Man, Scary Monsters & Other Strange People’ by Nacho
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| 09 Mar 2021 | S3 Ep19: THE 198MORE SHOW WITH NICK PEGG PART ONE | 01:28:43 | |
The 1980s were Bowie's lost decade. True? No, says Nick Pegg. Join me and the much-loved author of The Complete David Bowie for a reappraisal of Bowie's musical adventures around and beneath the official albums released between 1980 and 1990. We're looking at Baal, Queen, Pat Metheny, Cat People, Live Aid, Band Aid, Labyrinth, Absolute Beginners and of course, as is always the case with Mr Pegg, a whole load of assorted trivia, facts, opinions and theories. Whatever you think of Bowie's notoriously divisive EMI albums, one thing's clear - there's much more to Bowie in the 80s than Never Let Me Down and Tonight.
Recorded via Zoom in November 2020, with some occasional input from my dog Otto in the background. If you enjoy this podcast, please do follow us, review and share the episode and let me know what you think! Nick's book, in case you haven't yet read it, is something of a Holy Grail of Bowie info and detail - available here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-David-Bowie-Revised-Updated/dp/1785653652/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2VA9CC0ZX6SVO&dchild=1&keywords=nicholas+pegg+the+complete+david+bowie&qid=1615294898&sprefix=Nicholas+Pegg%2Caps%2C228&sr=8-1 Furthermore, edited out due to space, but we briefly talked about Nick's fleeting cameo in the recent, brilliant TV series "It's A Sin". If you've missed THAT and can access UK TV, then really, what are you waiting for, go and watch it and then come back. It is a superb, heartrending and life-affirming piece of drama (and Pegg-watchers, look out for the Dalek). https://www.channel4.com/programmes/its-a-sin OK, thanks for reading, thanks for listening, thanks for supporting us - let's dive in! | |||
| 03 Apr 2021 | S3 Ep20: THE 198MORE SHOW WITH NICK PEGG PART TWO | 01:23:47 | |
Join us for this 90 minute epic as we continue our mid 80s odyssey through the hectic schedule of D. Bowie, who is dressed in a frightwig and tights hurtling around labyrinths, or smoother than a filtered Turkish gasper, suave and Soho-sexy for Absolute Beginners. We get to grips with the music from both movies, debate Bowie's astonishing work rate, enjoy his Iggy Pop impersonation, tell you all you ever wanted to know about the Italian evergreen 'Volare' and Pegg shares some fruity opinions on Chris de Burgh and the Thompson Twins. We're very happy with this one and I hope you like it too! STAY TOONED: Next up - Live Aid and beyond. Join the gang, share the love.
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| 13 Jul 2021 | S3 Ep21: THE 198MORE SHOW WITH NICK PEGG PART THREE | 00:40:50 | |
It's Live Aid Special! Join us as we join Bowie behind the scenes at the global jukebox on July 13 1985 for a day that changed pop'n'roll history
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| 27 Aug 2021 | S3 Ep22: THE 198MORE SHOW WITH NICK PEGG PART FOUR | 00:38:27 | |
Join me and Nick Pegg for the fourth and final part of the 198more show, an all-singing, all-dancing odyssey through the wildly underrated Bowie 80s. In this part, we address post Live Aid Bowie, his work with Iggy Pop, Tina Turner, Jimmy Murakami, Martin Scorsese, La La La Human Steps and a fellow called Reeves Gabrels, who would play a huge role in reorientating our hero with his muse, as the 90s loomed.
I hope you enjoy this episode and do share and spread the word about the series if you are so inclined. Meanwhile, keep an ear out for new episodes on the way soon! | |||
| 10 Dec 2021 | S3 Ep23: Mark Plati & Sterling Campbell on Toy (Part 1) | 00:44:11 | |
Welcome back to Albumtoalbum, the David Bowie albums podcast with me, Arsalan Mohammad. And it’s a very exciting podcast indeed today as we welcome not one but two Bowie alumni, producer/musician Mark Plati and drummer Sterling Campbell, to talk about a new old classic lost collection of remakes, the legendary TOY.
TOY was released last month as part of the Brilliant Adventures box set, which covers the 1992 – 2001 period, an era in which Sterling and Mark worked with Bowie, together or individually, on albums like Black Tie White Noise, Outside, Earthling, hours and TOY as well as some of the most high profile live shows of the era – the Glastonbury performance in 2000, the BBC Radio Theatre show of the same year and the subsequent TOY sessions, where Mark and Bowie selected a number of David’s songs from the 1960s to remake and remodel with a full band. Strangely, from the perspective of 2021, when TOY was offered to Bowie’s then-record label Virgin, it was met with some degree of perplexity, a distinct lack of energy and never got released, although the energy and positivity of those sessions led naturally onto 2001’s magnificent Heathen.
By all accounts, these were amazingly creative, enjoyable sessions, a fact that is audibly evident in the charismatic interpretations of the songs. Tunes that were barely heard by the record-buying public at the time, subsequently ignored by their creator for thirty years were now lovingly revisited by a band who knew just what to do with them.
In part one of this conversation with Mark and Sterling, we begin by going back to New York in the late 70s and 1980s, rediscovering the music that shaped their lives and creative outlook. It’s the stories of two future musicians growing up in the midst of a cultural new wave shaped by punk, hip hop, disco, techno - and Bowie.
Fast forward to the 1990s and the pair fondly reminisce about their time in the studio working with David Bowie and his collaborators, including Brian Eno, Gail Ann Dorsey, Gerry Leonard and many others. The group dynamic was productive and creative – and hugely enjoyable. Sterling recalls Bowie’s devotion to British contemporary comedy colouring the mood of sessions, with David frequently insisting on group breaks to watch videos of Alan Partridge and The Office. Mark affirms how, in the studio, Bowie would pounce on random ideas and accidents, a characteristic recalled by so many of his collaborators over the years.
The pair also reflect on the shifts in pop culture and technology from the time of the Beatles to the present day as successive generations have accrued a shared pop culture history and debate how the pandemic might change things for the future.
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| 10 Dec 2021 | S3 Ep23: Mark Plati & Sterling Campbell on Toy (Part 2) | 01:21:15 | |
Welcome back to albumtoalbum the David Bowie Albums Podcast with me Arsalan Mohammad and in this second part of our chat with David Bowie’s long time collaborators Mark Plati and Sterling Campbell, we recall the making of albums including Black Tie White Noise, Earthling and of course, the great lost album of 60s tunes revisited, TOY, all of which feature in the new box set Brilliant Adventures. During the course of this episode, Mark and Sterling dig deeper into the sessions for TOY and the anecdotes come thick and fast. Do you know, for instance, what classic Bowie track inspired Sterling’s drums on ‘Conversation Piece’? What was the track that Mark was invited to mix and so impressed Bowie that he ended up working with him for seven years? How many kids does Mark have? And what did Bowie think of his appearance at Glastonbury in 2000? All of these nuggets and more await you in this episode of albumtoalbum!
With thanks to Mark Plati and Sterling Campbell and Julian Stockton
Mark Plati is at www.mark-plati.com
Please share and review this podcast and follow us at @albumtoalbum Brilliant Adventures (1992 – 2001) is out now! Buy it here
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| 14 Jan 2022 | S3 Ep24: Reeves Gabrels: Part One | 01:15:48 | |
In this, the first of an epic conversation about life, music, art, noise, haircuts, farts, Tin Machine, Buck Owens, Mick Ronson, Mick Jagger - oh, yes and more Tin Machine, legendary guitarist, composer and performer Reeves Gabrels joins me for a wonderfully random chat that charts our hero's early years, his career as a lawn-mower, wedding-party guitarist par excellence right up to meeting the man with whom he would spend the next ten years as a co-writer, guitarist, performer and friend.
Join us as we while away an hour or so looking back on an extraordinary life and make sure to check out Reeves's numerous projects over at his site! Do share and comment on this podcast if you like it and let me know what you think. https://reevesgabrels.bandcamp.com | |||
| 17 Apr 2022 | S3 Ep25: Reeves Gabrels: Part Two | 01:08:18 | |
He's back! Join me and Reeves Gabrels for more tales from the rock'n'roll frontline.
It's not surprising that the calm, can-do polymath Reeves, who barrels from rock to roll in the blink of an eye, so appealed to David Bowie’s need for a foil, friend and co-conspirator. It had been apparent from their first proper collaboration, the 1988 Reeves/La La La Human Steps performance in which Reeves oversaw a coruscating rendition of 1979’s Look Back In Anger, at London’s ICA. Explaining to Bowie what he wanted to do to the song, the guitarist said he wanted “the repeated forms of the buttresses going down the sides of the sculpture”. Bowie instantly clicked with him. And as Tin Machine I melded into Tin Machine II, the pair’s creative sparks were flying. In this episode, we find Reeves still belongs very much in rock’n’roll as he talks Strats, Steinburgers, the Sales brothers, vibrators, eclairs, male pattern baldness and of course, DB. Along the way, via an abundance of entertaining Gabrelsian digressions, we revisit the making of Tin Machine II in Sydney, and the stories behind the otherworldly rhythms, tones and textures Reeves summoned to Bowie’s songwriting whilst keeping that back-to-basics ethos live feel and how, despite the energy pouring into the project, the cracks in the machine began to appear…
Subscribe and share albumtoalbum! An occasional bream in April’s tooth of gold.
https://reevesgabrels.bandcamp.com | |||
| 01 Oct 2022 | S4 Ep1: Brett Morgen on Moonage Daydream | 00:52:43 | |
The auteur responsible for one of the most talked-about Bowie events in years, Brett Morgen, joins me for this episode of albumtoalbum - the first of a new season! - to discuss the ideas behind, meanings within and reaction to, his film Moonage Daydream. In a wide ranging talk, Brett talks about the acclaim and complaints the film has garnered, why he made it the way he did, why he didn't include your personal favourite Bowie moments and what he might do next.
Recorded over Zoom (apologies for the poor sound quality) in September 2022, our conversation was incredibly insightful and answered a lot of questions I had about the film. We only got started when we had to sign off. But despite warning me before tape rolled, that he wouldn't choose his favourite album, he rather sweetly did, at the end. And it was a semi surprise. Please enjoy this episode and let me know what you think! | |||
| 09 Oct 2022 | S4 Ep2: Mike Garson on Aladdin Sane | 00:32:47 | |
In this episode we talk to the one and only Mike Garson, pianist extraordinaire!
From playing with the Spiders from Mars to improvising one of the most extraordinary passages in pop music – that utterly frenetic piano solo in Aladdin Sane – to the elegance of 2003’s Reality - Garson was one of the only musicians to have played with Bowie across decades, sculpting the sound for Aladdin Sane, Pin Ups, Diamond Dogs, Young Americans, Black Tie White Noise, Outside, Earthling, Heathen and Reality. And, as he explains here, he was originally only hired for eight weeks…! In this episode, Mike talks us through his story, demonstrates his process live and reflects on how, almost half a century later, people still love that solo. Check out everything Garson here | |||
| 24 Mar 2023 | S4 Ep3: Leah Kardos on The Next Day Part 1 | 01:21:27 | |
The Next Day is 10. And what a sprawling, dense forest of darkness, enervation and guttural thrills it is. The perfect halfway point between the charismatic rock of Reality and ethereal elusive Blackstar, it's often overlooked and overshadowed by that monumental successor. But there is a lot here to unpack and to do it, I could think of no one better than Leah Kardos, senior lecturer in music at Kingston University where she co-founded the Visconti Studio with Tony Visconti, the leader of The Stylophone Orchestra, a frequent contributor to The Wire magazine and author of the universally acclaimed Blackstar Theory: The Last Works of David Bowie a wonderfully engaging tome that offers a rich reading of Bowie's final works through the eyes of a musician, musicologist, historian and fan.
In this, the first part of our conversation about The Next Day, Leah and I discuss the background to the album's recording, the uniquely long timespan of sessions that indicated a very different approach from Bowie and Visconti, the wealth of themes emerging in the text and quite a bit of tangential chat too along the way. And as you'll hear, this is an album that really does fascinate Kardos - she has oodles of Bowie related material including performances, talks, podcast and song analyses on YouTube that are really worth checking out too. | |||
| 28 Aug 2023 | S4 Ep4: Leah Kardos on The Next Day Part 2 | 01:16:11 | |
We're back! And by we, I mean me and musician, writer and academic Leah Kardos, amongst whose many achievements is the critically-acclaimed book 'Blackstar Theory: The Last Works of David Bowie' which takes a thoughtful and informed view of Bowie's final projects. She is also a friend and trusted collaborator of Tony Visconti's, founding The Visconti Studio at London's Kingston University. Currently, Leah's working on her next book, exploring Kate Bush's 'Hounds of Love' album.
In this conversation, we continue our deep dive into The Next Day, with anecdotes, opinions, random theories and what we hope are facts, all of which will hopefully entertain you as much as they did us, in the making of this podcast. Huge thanks this episode to bowiebible.com for tons of helpful information, a shoutout to our writing hero Chris O'Leary and thanks again to Leah for her custom-made theme music for this episode. | |||
| 26 Dec 2023 | S4 Ep5: Leah Kardos on The Next Day Part 3 | 00:44:03 | |
Stadium rock! Ziggy! Morrissey? John Cooper Clarke? The Singing Detective! Join author of Blackstar Theory: The Last Works of David Bowie, musician and director of The Visconti Studio Dr Leah Kardos as she continues her full-spectrum analysis of The Next Day, David Bowie's masterful penultimate album from 2013. In this episode, we look at the final three songs of the album - (You Will) Set The World On Fire, You Feel So Lonely You Could Die and brooding closer Heat.
This is the third of four episodes devoted to The Next Day and its unruly children on The Next Day Extra. | |||
| 31 Dec 2023 | S4 Ep6: Leah Kardos on The Next Day Part 4 | 00:33:30 | |
In this episode we analyse The Next Day Extra, November 2013's accompanying min-album chock-full of tasty treats, rambunctious remixes and some songs that inexplicably never made it onto the album proper. Never mind. Now they get their moment in the sun and thanks to Leah Kardos's encyclopaedic knowledge of all things late-era Bowie, a fascinating conversation ensues in which we gallop across this collection and appreciate anew the understated and undersung treasures that await within.
Thanks again to Leah for all her time and insights and for making this conversation so enjoyable and illuminating. You can find out more about her work here and follow her here on Twittex. The opening and closing music on this and previous episodes is also composed by Leah - follow her musical adventures here! | |||
| 28 Jan 2024 | S4 Ep7: Earl Slick on Station to Station | 00:57:19 | |
Back in 1974, Earl Slick was a 22-year old jobbing session guitarist fast developing a reputation for his supple, searing style and versatility in all idioms. Hired by Bowie to join his Diamond Dogs tour, Slick then had to suddenly pivot from apocalypto-rock to sleek Philly soul at a moment's notice - but acquitted himself so well, he was invited to play on tracks destined for Young Americans before forming the core band, alongside Carlos Alomar, Dennis Davis, George Murray and Roy Bittan to cut the extraordinary Station to Station, in LA, during October 1975.
Bringing his charismatic flair to the sessions, Slick rose each time to Bowie's demands for an esoteric sonic palette, turning in one bravura performance after another despite, by his own admission, almost matching Bowie's ridiculous drug consumption levels at the time. Although his boss's directions could be at times gnomic - Bowie instructed him on one occasion to simply play a Chuck Berry riff repeatedly throughout a track - the pair sparked off each other, forging a deep bond. Despite a contretemps between Bowie's management and Slick at the end of the sessions, Earl returned to the Bowie band in 1983 for Serious Moonlight and then again during the early 2000s, when he became again, a key member of the group, up to The Next Day. Today, Station to Station stands out as one of Bowie's finest records, the pivot from Young Americans' funk and soul to the electronic abstractions and experimental textures which would emerge fully with Low. Despite the frenzied sessions, the album's six tracks are each mini-masterpieces. In this episode, the first of two devoted to the album, we take a leisurely stroll down memory lane and begin with Earl's reminiscences of pre-Beatles America, his first audition for Bowie and Visconti, bafflement at the Philly soul era, meeting and forgetting (and then meeting again) John Lennon, and the intense sessions that made up the first side of Station to Station. Thanks to Earl, Oliver and of course the regal Tank for all their time and help in assembling this episode and as ever, please do let me know what you think of our chat and share this podcast far and wide! Follow Earl Slick on Instagram and Facebook Intro/Outro music by Leah Kardos | |||
| 19 Jan 2025 | S5 Ep1: Nicholas Pegg on Tonight (Part One) | 01:10:02 | |
Returning to albumtoalbum for a long-overdue reunion is renowned actor, occasional Dalek and author of The Complete David Bowie, Nicholas Pegg.
Nick's an old friend of the podcast and has tackled some of David Bowie's most acclaimed albums in previous episodes - as well as exploring entire eras (our 198More series of chats take an overview of Bowie's singles, soundtracks and various off-extramural activities 1981 - 1989). Now, he's back to tackle one of the most challenging artefacts in the Bowie oeuvre - the much-maligned 1984 album Tonight. A rag-tag bag of semi-sentient cover versions, marimbas, an absolutely bracingly brilliant long-form promo video (very 1984) a couple of superb Bowie evergreens, some blue-and-brown-eyed reggae and uncharacteristically insipid production, Tonight might not be the worst album of 1984, but it fell short of what long time Bowie fans had come to expect. Clearly geared to what Bowie assumed were his new Let's Dance-era fans, the album was recorded almost straight after the massive Serious Moonlight tour, without the satisfying thwack that conceptual cohesion and creative conviction characterising Bowie's best work to date. Here, Bowie opted to work with a young British producer, Derek Bramble, who had little awareness of Bowie's work. As Nick says in this episode, Bramble's lack of public profile might have appealed to Bowie, after the megawatt presence of Nile Rogers on Let's Dance. Fair enough. But then, getting happening, in-demand producer, most recently with The Police, Hugh Padgham on board, in the junior role of engineer, wasn't Bowie's brightest idea. In this episode, we kick off by looking back at the lead-up to the album's recording (in Canada), a cast of characters including Derek Bramble, Hugh Padgham, Iggy Pop and Carlos Alomar and the album's first three tracks - Loving The Alien, Don't Look Down and the unforgettable cover version of the Beach Boys' God Only Knows. With thanks to Nicholas Pegg, and Leah Kardos for the background music. During the conversation, we have references from Chris O'Leary, Charles Shaar Murray and that Bowie resource par excellence, bowiebible.com | |||
| 27 Jan 2025 | S5 Ep2: Nicholas Pegg on Tonight (Part Two) | 00:57:30 | |
Nicholas Pegg and I continue our voyage into the heart of darkness as we venture deeper into the depths of Bowie's 1984 album 'Tonight'. Can we find our way back from the sadness of 'God Only Knows' into the light? Will there be redemption with Tina Turner on the title track? How do the ongoing Iggy covers fare? And what on earth does the surreal 1960 TV series 'The Strange World of Gurney Slade' have to do with the wonderful 21 minute mini epic 'Jazzin For Blue Jean' produced to promote one of the album's clutch of solid gold bangers? It's real, it's 'Tonight' and we're here for it.
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| 02 Feb 2025 | S5 Ep3: Nicholas Pegg on Tonight (Part Three) | 00:41:12 | |
Nicholas Pegg and I are back for the final instalment of our three part extravaganza about David Bowie's 1984 album Tonight and its a good one - you'll have never heard anyone explore the joys of 'Tumble and Twirl', 'I Keep Forgetting' and 'Dancing With the Big Boys' in quite such vivid detail before. In making this series of episodes, I've changed my mind about 'Tonight' to some extent. Going in, I'd dismissed it as a load of old horse manure, but having heard what Nick has to say has made me if not love it, at least appreciate it a bit more, especially, 'Tumble and Twirl', 'Loving the Alien' and even 'Don't Look Down'. Still can't be doing with 'God Only Knows' though. Some things will never change.
Thanks to Nicholas Pegg for his time and generosity in sharing his insights and research into 'Tonight', a huge thanks to Leah Kardos for crafting the beautiful music bookending this and previous 'Tonight' episodes and of course thanks to YOU, dear listener, for taking the time to reassess this most esoteric and divisive of albums. | |||
| 23 Feb 2025 | S5 Ep4: Gail Ann Dorsey on Young Americans (Part One) | 00:48:34 | |
Buckle up listeners, we’ve got a very special guest in today and it’s none other than Gail Ann Dorsey, legendary session musician/singer/songwriter and bassist who accompanied David Bowie on tour and in the studio between 1995 and 2013. In that time, she became a core of the Bowie band, loved by David, bandmates and fans alike for her innate musicality, soaring vocals and cool, calm and stylish presence on stage.
Gail’s story stretches out way before Bowie, and has thrived afterwards too. In this episode, the first of two, we talk about Gail’s solo career, growing up in a big family in 1970s West Philadelphia, digging the city’s sizzling soul and R&B scene, as well as immersing herself in the best of the era’s music, from solo singer songwriters to the thunderous sounds of Cream, Queen and Slade – and that British guy, who had come to Philadelphia in 1975 to record an album that blew her mind…
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| 03 Mar 2025 | S5 Ep5: Gail Ann Dorsey on Young Americans (Part Two) | 00:33:03 | |
We continue our chat with Gail Ann Dorsey as she explains the seismic impact Young Americans made on her - and hear a snippet of her breathtaking version of 'Can You Hear Me?' - and reflect on friends and collaborators from Bowie universe, past and present – from Carlos Alomar, Mike Garson and David Sanborn to her current project with Donny McCaslin, the mighty orchestral Blackstar Symphony. And of course, along the way, we come back time and again to that one omniscient figure, who brought them all together.
Gail and the Blackstar Symphony play Nashville on June 18, 2025 and San Francisco on June 26th - see more via Donny McCaslin's page here Keep up with Gail's music and appearances via her Instagram and Spotify - and keep an ear out for new music soon! Many thanks to Leah Kardos for the original music for this episode | |||
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