Being on the road can be a pain, especially during the \u201cgreat 2020 Covid-19 stoopid-fest\u201d. As I said in an earlier article, I\u2019m certainly glad to be home.<\/p>\n
Yet being on the road, even during such times, does have a few good points. One of those is the chance to listen to music you missed the first time around \u2013 with the perspective of additional age and experience.<\/p>\n
Here are two cuts I missed when they first came out. They were always great tunes; I just didn\u2019t realize that until recently.<\/p>\n
Yeah, this is another musical \u201cwalkabout\u201d. Continue at your own risk. (smile)<\/p>\n
. . .<\/b><\/p>\n
David Bowie was a true original. And his breakthrough album – Ziggy Stardust<\/i> – was critically acclaimed. It\u2019s today widely regarded as a popular music classic.<\/p>\n
However, like every other artist Bowie had to continue with his recording career; this meant putting out other albums. His next original album was eagerly expected \u2013 and like every other artist, I\u2019m sure he knew he\u2019d have a hard time topping his previous effort.<\/p>\n
Bowie\u2019s follow-up album to Ziggy Stardust<\/i> was titled Aladdin Sane<\/i>. The title is a deliberate play on words. It references an unfortunate fact in Bowie\u2019s immediate family: mental instability was prevalent in his mother\u2019s side of the family. That, however, won’t be discussed today (though it might be the topic for a future article).<\/p>\n
I\u2019d passed on getting a copy of Aladdin Sane<\/i> when it was first released. And in truth, though it was initially more commercially successful and charted higher in the US than did Ziggy Stardust<\/i>, IMO it\u2019s nowhere near as good. (That\u2019s understandable; few albums are as good as Ziggy Stardust<\/i>.) It\u2019s not as focused, thematically, and though it has its moments it\u2019s simply not as good as its predecessor.<\/p>\n
Because I\u2019d passed on the the album, I\u2019d missed a true gem of a tune \u2013 one that was never released as a single (though it was used on a single released in Italy as a the B-side for another tune from the album). For years it was also omitted from Bowie\u2019s \u201cbest of\u201d compilations. It\u2019s a tune where Bowie rocks out in Rolling Stones style, and shows he can hang with anyone in rock \u2018n roll.<\/p>\n
Bowie himself described the Aladdin Sane<\/i> album as \u201cZiggy Stardust comes to America\u201d. This tune perfectly describes that \u2013 as well as the raucous early 1970s.<\/p>\n
Without further ado: Watch That Man.<\/p>\n
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