6 of David Bowie's favourite songs - from Bruce Springsteen to Ronnie Spector
In 1979 David Bowie turned radio DJ, settling into the 成人快手 studios to record a two-hour long Star Special show. Picking a host of his favourite songs – as well as few of his own tunes – the rarely-heard programme has now been unearthed and can be listened to on 成人快手 Sounds, as part of 6 Music and Radio 4's Bowie Five Years On season.
A fascinating, intimate insight into an artist at the peak of his powers, Bowie is charming, funny and a little bit naughty as he rifles through an eclectic offering of records at what he calls “the Beeb”, playing everything from Edward Elgar and Phillip Glass to the Mekons, The Doors and King Crimson.
We’ve dug into Bowie’s personal playlist to bring you six of his favourite songs. Listen to the full Star Special show on 成人快手 Sounds with Part 1 and Part 2.
1. Iggy Pop - 鈥楾V Eye鈥� Live Version (1977)
This rowdy, chaotic version of The Stooges’ 1970 classic was taken from Iggy Pop’s iconic ‘TV Eye Live 1977’ album, which was made up of various live recordings from across a handful of American shows. Bowie himself features on four tracks on the record, including this version of TV Eye, recorded at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio as part of Pop’s ‘Idiot’ world tour. The pair first met in the early 1970s at Max’s Kansas City in New York and in 1976 they lived together in West Berlin.
David says: “A buddy of mine, Iggy Pop. This is just something that I remember with affection because it’s when I was with him on tour, playing piano for him.”
2. John Lennon - 鈥楻emember鈥� (1970)
‘Remember’ features on John Lennon’s first solo album, ‘John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band’, and was written about the former Beatle’s therapy sessions with famed psychologist Arthur Janov. Bowie and Lennon were firm friends, first meeting at Elizabeth Taylor’s house in Beverly Hills in 1974. Taylor had invited Bowie over to try and convince him to work with her on a film called The Blue Bird. He declined, but ended up working with Lennon instead, writing and recording the song ‘Fame’ with him the following year.
David says: “I think this is a really despondent track. He left his band and he was doing his first solo album and I found it rivetingly depressing and really enjoyed playing it to myself.”
3. The Velvet Underground - 鈥楽weet Jane鈥� (1970)
Now one of Lou Reed’s best-loved tracks, ‘Sweet Jane’ first featured on 1970’s classic Velvet Underground album ‘Loaded’, but flopped upon release. Reed had already left the band by the time the album came out, but produced various other versions of the song over the course of his solo career, including on 1974’s ‘Rock 'n' Roll Animal’ live album. In 1972 David Bowie produced Mott The Hoople’s cover of the song, taken from their album ‘All The Young Dudes’, the title track of which was also written by Bowie.
David says: “The first single that I heard when I first went to America on the first day that I got there was in New York and I was taken over to a writer’s apartment that he had, I think it was probably on 8th Avenue somewhere, and he played me a new album that had just come out and he was very excited about this track – and so was I – and I expect you were as well when you heard it. It was Sweet Jane by the Velvet Underground.”
4. Talking Heads - 鈥榃arning Sign鈥� (1978)
Taken from Talking Heads’ second album – which also featured the new wave icons’ cover of Al Green’s ‘Take Me To The River’ – ‘Warning Sign’ was part of a clutch of songs which turned this underground act into a mainstream concern. It was actually written by the band’s David Byrne and Chris Frantz in 1973, when they were part of another group, The Artistics.
David says: “Here’s a band that I admire very much. Some very, very charming people, David Byrne in particular. I’m talking about Talking Heads of course. Here’s a track from their last album ‘More Songs About Buildings and Food’. I found this very impressive, it took me back actually to the days of the early Yardbirds, I don’t know why.”
5. Ronnie Spector - 鈥楾ry Some, Buy Some鈥� (1971)
‘Try Some, Buy Some’ was written by George Harrison and was set to be part of a Ronnie Spector solo album that was to be released on The Beatles’ label, Apple Records. However, the album never came to be. Harrison decided to record his own version of the song for his 1973 album ‘Living In The Material World’. 30 years later, David Bowie would record the song too, featuring it on his 23rd album, ‘Reality’.
David says: “Here’s a song that made me fall in love with the singer. Absolutely incredible. My heart went straight out to her. It was produced by Phil Spector. I may be wrong, but I think it’s the last single that he ever made because he was so depressed that it didn’t do anything, that nobody bought it. Which is quite ironic really, because the title is ‘Try Some Buy Some’. It’s by his ex wife, Ronnie Spector.”
6. Bruce Springsteen - 鈥業t鈥檚 Hard To Be A Saint In The City鈥� (1973)
One of Springsteen’s earliest songs, the rolling ‘It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City’ features on his debut album ‘Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.’ and was one of the songs that secured Springsteen his record contract the previous year. David Bowie was such a fan of the song that he covered it in the 1970s, the track eventually surfacing on 1989’s ‘Sound + Vision’ boxset.
David says: “Here’s a great writer. I don’t like what he’s doing very much now. I loved this album when it came out, it was on ‘...Asbury Park’. And after I heard this track I never rode the subway again... That really scared the living ones out of me, that.”
