Imagine, for a moment, that you were talented and fortunate enough to land a gig in a band that shot straight to the top in virtually no time at all. Lauded by critics and your fans, you could do no wrong. Until, that is, your frontman decided it was all over for him and it was time to move on to the next chameleon skin. Such was the fate of The Spiders From Mars, David Bowie's band from that classic time slot. Circa 1975. Bowie morphed into the plastic soul man. Ronson formed an alliance with Mott the Hoople. That left bassist Trevor Bolder and drummer Mick Woodmansey with nothing but the name. Recruiting guitarist Dave Black and vocalist Pete McDonald from Newcastle prog-rockers Kestrel, The Spiders From Mars were back in business. Bowie keyboard genius Mike Garson even added his talented fingers. A bit too late. Attention had started to shift to the emerging punk scene, and the fine recording of jazz-rock infused with a Bad Company spirit was all but overlooked.

I had fondly remembered this lp, and finally added it back to the collection. On a first hurried screening, it seemed my moniker "some things are best left fondly remembered" was apropos here, but a week later and I'm still revisiting. Sometimes similar to Bad Company, but also quite Squeezish and jazzy in spots, it's not a bad disc at all.

footnote - it has ever stuck with me how two of the songs on this set have "interpolated" inserts. First place I ever saw the word used.

• Song plays (1) |
• Permalink
• | Write Comment
• | Comments (7)

Comments

scotfree says:

.
.
.

Whie Man, Black Man. I hear pre-Squeeze here.
.
.
.

Can It Be Far/interpolating Running Round In Circles...gotta love interpolation!

Posted 1 day ago | Delete

runobodyii says:

Nice tunes. I like the interpolation. Thanks for the intro.

Posted 1 day ago | Delete

Bartleby says:

I can't imagine what they could have been if Bowie kept on with the project.

Posted 1 day ago | Delete

Anyone else having trouble? A few of the red buttons played, after about a 30 second wait. Now they don't work at all.

• Video views (18) |
• Permalink
• | Write Comment
• | Comments (9)

Comments

Bartleby says:

Oh, how I like your tags... I didn't push the red button because there was none to push in the first place. However, I've noticed that some red buttons will not play any music at all, especially in comments.

One way I've managed to listen to the uploaded track in the post is to flush my browser cache. It sorted out the problem and frustration on more than one occasion.

Nice videos also, Scot. -- Incidentally, have you ever tried pushing a red mutton?

Posted 8 days ago | Delete

indiepixie says:

don't get me started. Bart KILLS me with his picts. where the hell! did he find a picture of a red mutton! I didn't even know. sadly. they exist. ;)

Posted 8 days ago | Delete

Bartleby says:

Actually, the sheep above were painted by their farmer who wanted to cheer the people who drove past his animals on the M8 M8 in West Lothian. He did it last year surprising more than on commuter travelling between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

There is also the red sheep of the Ardennes in France ;)

Posted 8 days ago | Delete