David Bowie - The Gouster (2016)

Tussen 1974 en 1976 bracht David Bowie drie albums uit. Het was de periode net voor hij in Berlijn zou gaan wonen en zichzelf (weer) geheel opnieuw uitvond. 

Uiteindelijk resulterend in enkele geweldige albums die de tand des tijds nog altijd prima doorstaan. Kort voor die periode maakte Bowie echter nóg een album: The Gouster. 

Alleen besloot hij de plaat kort voor de release terug te trekken. Enkele nummers van The Gouster verschenen later op zijn volgende plaat: Young Americans. 

Waaronder het titelnummer. In 2016 werd The Gouster, nadat David Bowie op 10 januari 2016 aan leverkanker overleed, alsnog uitgebracht. Als onderdeel van een 12-delige cd boxset over de periode 1974-1976. Al zijn er fans die blijven volhouden dat er nog altijd songs op horen te staan die niet op deze versie te vinden zijn.

Bowie was begin jaren zeventig in relatief korte tijd uitgegroeid tot een popicoon. Naar zijn albums werd opeens reikhalzend uitgekeken. 

Maar zijn laatste album Diamond Dogs was met gemengde kritieken ontvangen. Toch bleven de verwachtingen hoog. Bowie bleef, ondanks (of dankzij) steeds excessiever drugsgebruik, de ene na de andere plaat uitbrengen. Waarbij hij zich meestal met een alter ego presenteerde. Van Major Tom via Ziggy Stardust naar The Thin White Duke. 

De opnames van The Gouster vonden plaats tijdens een pauze in zijn Amerikaanse tour in 1974. Bowie was in die periode een groot fan van het Amerikaanse televisieprogramma Soultrain, waarin enkel en alleen (de titel zegt het al) soulmuziek te horen was. 

In de tourbus werd ook graag geluisterd naar soulmuziek op Amerikaanse radiozenders. Het inspireerde Bowie en hij besloot twee weken de studio Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia in te duiken om een nieuw album op te nemen. 

Tony Visconti werd ingevlogen om de opnames te produceren. In korte tijd werd een tiental songs opgenomen. In vrijwel alle tracks sijpelt de soul duidelijk door. ‘Gouster’ is niet voor niets straattaal voor een soulman: het type Afro-Amerikaan dat zich met een eigen kledingkeuze, haardracht en eigen straattaal onderscheidde. 

Het album lag klaar om uitgebracht te worden. Alleen kwam het nooit in de winkels terecht. Daarvoor waren meerdere redenen.

Eigenlijk was het album een hommage van Bowie aan de soulmuziek waar hij altijd al groot fan van was geweest. 

Maar anders dan Pin Ups, waarop hij zijn favoriete songs op zijn eigen wijze inkleurde, was The Gouster, achteraf beschouwd, waarschijnlijk eerder een vingeroefening voor Young Americans. Op dat album creëerde Bowie zijn eigen versie van soulmuziek. The Gouster was kaler en miste een ‘eigen Bowie-geluid’. 

Het plan was in eerste instantie het album in één sessie live op te nemen. Dat is te horen, de opnames klinken behoorlijk rauw. Vier nummers haalden het vinyl alsnog op Young Americans, maar in andere versies. 

Een van de redenen dat Bowie uiteindelijk besloot het album niet uit te brengen was dat hij enkele nummers te persoonlijk zou hebben gevonden. Dat althans zou hij tegen Visconti hebben gezegd. Daarbij was er twijfel over hoe de plaat zou vallen bij zijn publiek. 

De overgang van de glamrock van Diamond Dogs naar de soul van The Gouster zou weleens een te grote overgang kunnen zijn, was de gedachte. 

Een nummer als de versie van zijn al in 1972 geschreven nummer John, I’m Only Dancing (Again) had bijvoorbeeld een behoorlijk discotintje. Op dat moment was dat wel erg ver weg van wat Bowie deed en waar hij voor stond. 

Toen het nummer in 1979, in weer een ander jasje, alsnog als single uitkwam, paste het wel perfect.

The Gouster (remastered tracks)

1.  John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)  (not on Young Americans, first released as a single in 1979) - 7:01 

2.  Somebody Up There Likes Me  (alternative early previously unreleased mix) - 6:32 

3.  It's Gonna Be Me   (not on Young Americans, first released as a bonus track on the EMI/Ryko        

      edition  of Young Americans in 1990. An alternative mix with strings was released on the 2007 EMI 

      edition  of Young Americans) - 6:30 

4.  Who Can I Be Now?  (not on Young Americans, first released as a bonus track on the EMI/Ryko 

      edition of Young Americans in 1990) - 4:42 

5.  Can You Hear Me  (alternative early previously unreleased version) - 5:24 

6.  Young Americans  (same version that ended up on Young Americans) - 5:17 

7.  Right  (alternative early previously unreleased version) - 4:40 

Notes

Released: 23 September 2016

Recorded: January 1974 – 23 March 1976

Genre:  Art rock, glam rock, soul

Length: 39:42

Label:  Parlophone Records

https://shareplace.org/Hms/David_Bowie_-_2016_-_The_Gouster.rar

David Bowie - Christiane F./Baal/Rarities (1995)

Re-press of an earlier version of this unofficial release Christiane F. - Wir Kinder Vom Bahnhof Zoo (Original Soundtrack Zum Film) / Baal / Rarities.

Tracks 1-9 soundtrack Christiane F.

Tracks 10-12 en 18-20 Rarities met o.a. Engels-Franse versie van Heroes, en ook Engels-Duitse versie van Heroes!

Tracks 13-17 Baal

A mid-'70s West German film about a 14 year old's descent into drug abuse, prostitution, and general sleaze led to this 1981 soundtrack, comprised entirely of previously released songs from David Bowie's "Thin White Duke" period. 

The bleak music of Bowie's collaborations with Brian Eno provides a fitting backdrop to the film, as his icy soul killer pose perfectly reflected the frozen and fragmented lives of Christiane and her gang: an "alternative family" taking respite in discos and underground train stations. 

Removed from that context, the album is still enjoyable for the sheer quality of the songs. Its primary appeal, of course, is to Bowie completists, who will gush over the relative rarities "Heroes/Helden" (Bowie shifting from English to German in mid-song) and a live version of "Station to Station," as well as some magnificently extensive liner notes recapping both the film and the songs. 

More casual yet devoted fans will be disappointed by the truncated "TVC-15" and "Stay" (the latter excising nearly all of Earl Slick's searing guitar pyrotechnics), but will gain some much-needed exposure to Eno's brand of atmospheric orchestration. 

Despite the melancholia of Eno's wordless contributions and the film's dark theme, there are moments of levity to be found in "TVC-15" and "Boys Keep Swinging"; that mix of darks and lights makes the soundtrack to Christiane F.

Tracklist

1.  V-2 Schneider - 3:08

2.  TVC-15 - 3:28

3.  Heroes/Helden (English-German version) - 6:03

4.  Boys Keep Swinging - 3:16

5.  Sense Of Doubt - 3:59

6.  Station To Station - 8:41

7.  Look Back In Anger - 3:06

8.  Stay - 3:18

9.  Warszawa - 6:19

10.  Beauty And The Beast (1977 Promo 12inch Version) - 5:15

11.  Heroes/Héros (English-French version) - 6:02

12.  Cat People (Putting Out Fire) (original Soundtrack, 12inch version) - 6:38

13.  Baal´s Hymn (Der Choral Vom Grossen Baal) - 4:00

14.  Remembering Marie A. (Erinnerung An Die Marie A.) - 2:05

15.  The Ballad Of The Adventures (Die Ballade Von Dem Abenteurern) - 1:59

16.  The Drowned Girl (Vom Ertunkenen Madchen) - 2:24

17.  Dirty Song - 0:36

18.  Dialogue/Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy (with Bing Crosby) - 4:20 

19.  Lieb Mich Bis Dienstag - Love Me Till Tuesday - 2:59

20.  Revolutionary Song - 0:44

Notes

Released:  1995

Recorded:  1975–1979

Genre:  Art rock

Length:  1:18:30

Label:  RCA Records

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D52cw-Kwii1ZnN10jL3dfx_agsHDL9vs/view?usp=share_link

David Bowie - Station To Station (1976, 2010 Reissue)

Station to Station is the tenth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1976. Commonly regarded as one of his most significant works, Station to Station was the vehicle for his last great "character", the Thin White Duke. The album was recorded after he completed shooting Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth, and the cover artwork featured a still from the movie. During the sessions Bowie was heavily dependent on drugs, especially cocaine, and recalls almost nothing of the production.
Musically, Station to Station was a transitional album for Bowie, developing the funk and soul music of his previous release, Young Americans, while presenting a new direction towards synthesisers and motorik rhythms that was influenced by German electronic bands such as Neu! and Kraftwerk. This trend culminated in some of his most acclaimed work, the so-called 'Berlin Trilogy', recorded with Brian Eno in 1977–79. Bowie himself has said that Station to Station was "a plea to come back to Europe for me". The album’s lyrics reflected his preoccupations with Nietzsche, Aleister Crowley, mythology and religion.
Blending funk and krautrock, romantic balladry and occultism, Station to Station has been described as "simultaneously one of Bowie's most accessible albums and his most impenetrable". Preceded by the single "Golden Years", it made the top five in both the UK and US charts. In 2003, the album was ranked No. 323 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
The songs on Station to Station are composed of a fusion of soul, rock, funk, and disco, twisted by an influence of experimental German artists. When singing as The Thin White Duke, Bowie sounds completely withdrawn from the emotions that the songs convey.
Everything about Station to Station, from its significance as a testament to the evolution of David Bowie as an artist to the role played by his cocaine addiction on its recording, has been oft-discussed in the decades since its release. But if there is ever a time to revisit an album, it’s upon the release of a special edition reissue and new digital transfer. Opener “Station to Station” is as epic an introduction to The Duke as ever.
From the sound of a train chugging along the droning introduction to the buildup to an up-tempo, funky finale, it never slips to anything less than astonishing in its 10-plus minutes. Only someone like Bowie could open an album with his most experimental song yet, and follow it with something as danceable as the still-infectious funk hit “Golden Years”.
“World on a Wing” is an impassioned hymn that seemingly reflects Bowie’s spiritual longing that coincided with his personal woes during the recording of Station to Station. “TVC 15” begins with the false impression of a straightforward piano-rocker but proves to be the most compelling song after the title track, for both its trippy lyrics about a girlfriend getting lost in a holographic television and its desperate coda. Funk-rocker “Stay” features some of the best guitar work of Bowie’s career, and his seductive cover of “Wild Is the Wind” brings Station to Station to a haunting close.
Thirty-four years after its release, Station to Station stands as an intriguing portrait of an artist going through a period of transition. It’s also an excellent album in its own right. The new digital transfer of Station to Station is crystal clear and superbly mastered, but the differences between it and previous masters are subtle and would largely go unnoticed by a non-audiophile. As a better come-on for fans with standard sound systems and/or less discerning hearing, the 1976 concert at Nassau Coliseum is included with the special edition.
The concert captured in the Nassau recordings is energetic, full of hits, and successfully maintains the delicate balance between cleaning up a performance for listening at home and capturing what the music must have sounded like in a live setting.
In addition to the three-disc special edition, a deluxe edition is also available that includes the new Station to Station master and Nassau Coliseum performance on both CD and vinyl, the the original 1985 CD master and an EP featuring single edits, a DVD featuring original analogue masters and new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes, and replicas of the 1976 fan club package and memorabilia from the Nassau Coliseum concert. That’s a heck of a lot of packaging and extra bits, but a dedicated Bowie-ite will surely find it worthy of snapping it up. Otherwise, the new transfer is an improvement from the original, but with an album this amazing, any improvement is like another layer of icing on the cake.

Station to Station 2010 transfer (Disc 1)
1.  "Station to Station"   10:11
2.  "Golden Years"   4:02
3.  "Word on a Wing"   6:01
4.  "TVC 15"   5:31
5.  "Stay"   6:12
6.  "Wild is the Wind"   6:02

Live Nassau Coliseum '76 (Disc 2)
1.  "Station to Station"   11:53
2.  "Suffragette City"   3:31
3.  "Fame"   4:02
4.  "Word on a Wing"   6:06
5.  "Stay"   7:25
6.  "I'm Waiting for the Man"   6:20
7.  "Queen Bitch"   3:12

Live Nassau Coliseum '76 (Disc 3)
1.  "Life on Mars?"   2:13
2.  "Five Years"   5:03
3.  "Panic in Detroit" (With most of drum solo edited out) 6:03
4.  "Changes" (With band intro) 4:11
5.  "TVC 15"   4:58
6.  "Diamond Dogs"   6:38
7.  "Rebel Rebel"   4:07
8.  "The Jean Genie"   7:28

Label - RCA Records