|
The Video Collection |
The vids get better with time. The four early videos, all taped in 1972-3, are period pieces. As the collection jumps to 1977 one characteristic remains - these videos are static. One guy, Bowie, lip synching with a few props and backdrops. Stills from these videos, however, could produce some very nice images.
Narrative picks up with Boys Keep Swinging. Although I'd never been a fan of this song, the video is quite fun,
| what with Bowie toggling between the roles of testosteroni singer and his trademark queen bitch routine. Look Back In Anger has some cool scenes, with Bowie holding a self-portrait and staring into the mirror, watching paint erupt from his face. DJ sports appealing imagery with nifty colors, Bowie messing with the blinds as he tears up the broadcast studio. |
|
The highlight of the anthology is Ashes To Ashes. Surrealistic images effectively capture the feeling of the song, the Scary Monsters era clown drifting through a sequence of emotional prairies, the shrieking of nothing haunting David in the padded corner of the safest place possible for one who finds no refuge from the little green wheels pursuing him.
One drawback to these videos is that many were shot on videotape rather than film, which lends a cheesy, discount air to them. A personal quibble is that most seem to require David to mouth the words of the song. Does this look goofy or what? Lip synching injures the suspension of disbelief. It's as if "No character shall be portrayed at any time unless said character voices lyrics of catalog number being promoted."
Hopefully videos of the future will allow the music to serve as a backdrop, an atmosphere for a narrative (however indirect it might be) that justifies its own existence apart from promotion. An excellent, striking video will speak for itself. Hopefully in the future the video for a song will be released on its music CD single so the buyer can obtain videos as they come out, in a media more resilient than VHS tape.
Note: The video of Blue Jean included here is the song only,
taken from, but not including, the full 26 minute or so extended video.
The videos from the mid-80's films are not straight film clips but do reference the movies being promoted. That would explain the dwarf pervasive throughout the videos from Labyrinth.
Oh yes, one other thing, the video for China Girl is the wholesome version, not the hot n nasty version. Personally I don't know the difference between the two, but my guess is, one shows parts and with the other, parts is just parts.
| The Video Collection | |
|---|---|
|
Space Oddity John I'm Only Dancing The Jean Genie Life On Mars? Be My Wife "Heroes" Boys Keep Swinging Look Back In Anger DJ Ashes To Ashes Fashion Wild Is The Wind Let's Dance China Girl Modern Love Blue Jean Loving The Alien Dancing In The Street Absolute Beginners Underground As The World Falls Down (previously unreleased) Day In Day Out Time Will Crawl Never Let Me Down (previously unreleased) Fame '90 |
|
|
The Man Who
|
| story line and the moral of the story to them. Sure, couple of tits but no explosions. Sorry Beavis. For you and me, though, this is a killer movie that broods with a storm restlessly brewing beneath the surface. |
"high up in the sky the little clouds climb, always reminding me that we're apart..."
|
My favorite moment in the film is the very last scene where Newton drops his drink, to the sound of Harry James' Stardust playing in the background. A tenderly crushing end to a tragedy, with a sad reminiscent song performing a nice twist on both the name of Bowie's character Ziggy Stardust and the fact that Newton fell from the stars.
|
Serious Moonlight |
This was the first DVD I ever bought, purchased with the intent of making sure my DVD drive was working. Well, that was a year and a half ago. Life has been so hectic that it hasn't been until now that I've actually gotten that thing up and running. (Tip: some players come without region codes set and no way to set them so you'll wind up having to hack the damn thing in order to be a dutiful consumer. It's a firmware thang.)
Anyway, I was a little skeptical of this DVD when I bought it. The cover artwork is just plain lame, and of all the Bowie tours I've seen (I skipped the Glass Spider menagerie on principle) the '83 Serious Moonlight tour was my least favorite. Still a good show but it came off as being very stagey, choreographed and not at all the spontaneous rock n roll that I was spoiled by when "new wave" club bands were in their prime.
HOWEVER. This tour makes for great TV! Thank you Mr. Bowie for doing it right. The pacing is perfect, the camera work is immaculate, and I really appreciate the editing. The editing gives you enough time to enjoy a shot and linger on it, but not so long that the pacing withers. The camera's attention is distributed appropriately among everyone onstage, and its focus is always on what should be on camera. At no time do you ever find yourself thinking, "why are we getting a guitar solo audio with a visual of the backing vocalists?"
In this stage show, Bowie makes good use of levels, standing, prowling, crouching. His physical movements are always on target and economical, so there's no haphazard flailing. You know how it is with some of these pups who've only been famous for five years who still don't know what to do with their hands onstage (can you say A-l-a-n-i-s?)
Surprisingly, some of the best moments in this Vancouver '83 show are songs I wasn't even wild about. Cat People, in its less-preferred version from the Let's Dance album really earns its keep. White Light White Heat is another standout. The segue from Fashion into Let's Dance gives me delicious chills. And although I'm no fan of guitar solos, Earl Slick always hits the spot just right, and he's a good performer as well.
You know me though, there are usually a few quibbles. The closing number, Fame, is better than the live version on Stage but it's still that "sally-doo-dah-day" version that Bowie did for so many years. Rebel Rebel as performed live is always the "la-la-la" version, which seems like it's trying to sabotage that great guitar hook. What the frick is up with that la-la-la crap anyway? This song works best as a hard driving rocker, but it's almost like Bowie wishes it be funky instead. Soooorrrrrrrryyy.
There are only two serious flaws in the whole DVD. One, the intro to Station to Station is cut out and replaced by a one-off dressing room scene. The stage show returns with Bowie returning to the stage when the vocals come in for the song. No way man. That intro to Station to Station is one of Bowie's best moments and fully deserves its place in Bowie's live archives. What, is Bowie scared that couch potatoes might not go for a long intro? Phhht. Then put in a brief little bauhaus-styled thin white duke interlude while the music plays or something, but don't be sanitizing history.
The other flaw is that although the packaging claims that this is a full show, anyone who saw Bowie on that tour remembers Modern Love as the encore. This is the only archive most of us will ever have of one of rock's greatest legends touring in support of one of his biggest hits. Editing for length is no more desirable on DVD than it is in bed.
Yeah, this is one you'll want for the archives. And if you ever figure out how to extract DVD audio to a hard drive let me know; it'd be nice to listen to a dub of this in the car.
| Serious Moonlight | |
|---|---|
|
Introduction Look Back In Anger "Heroes" What In The World Golden Years Fashion Let's Dance Breaking Glass Life On Mars? Sorrow Cat People (Putting Out Fire) China Girl Scary Monsters Rebel Rebel White Light, White Heat Station To Station Cracked Actor Ashes To Ashes Space Oddity Young Americans Fame |
|
|
Yahoo Magazine
|
Both videos come in quicktime format, one resolution. Be forewarned that every time you start quicktime, Apple has it set up so you get a nuisance message bugging you to pay for the commercial "upgrade" version that you never wanted. If those greedy crack whores at Apple would spend a larger percentage of their budget on research and development and less on marketing pretty computer cases, maybe they wouldn't have to desperately resort to being pests in the first place. But that's another story. I suppose somebody has to sell computers to people who drive lime-green Pacers and purple Gremlins.
| The CD also includes 30 mp3's for a variety of recording artists, including Elvis Costello doing a live version of Radio Radio. Other mp3's include Bush, Bauhaus, John Lee Hooker, Julian Lennon, Joe Strummer, Gene Loves Jezebel, They Might Be Giants, a couple by Soulcracker, three by Over The Rhine. And 17 other, lesser-known performers. |
|
-
Other David Bowie videos:
- Ziggy Stardust Soundtrack / DVD
- Labyrinth Soundtrack / DVD
- Black Tie White Noise / VHS / CDROM
LinksCopyright © 1996-2004, Philip Drenth. All rights reserved.