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Sat Eye Candy: David Bowie

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OH, ALLADIN SANE, WE LUV YA!



We're as susceptible to suggestion as the next person, and if David Bowie was good enough to get the first set closing nod last night with Phish then he's a perfectly suitable candidate for Eye Candy - really one of the best, given the costume changes, hair mangling and overt aesthetics of The Thin White Duke, Mr. Ziggy Stardust, Sir Laughing Gnome in the Hole. He's about due to resurface soon, perhaps backed by Arcade Fire and Rebirth Brass Band conducted by Les Claypool. It's a dream we had once after eating half a ham and some fermented ginger ale late one night, but it lingers still



We couldn't think of a more appropriate eye-opener to offer you for this week's opening selection. Wake up you sleepyheads, it's time to get out of bed.






Now, he shows us the way to the next whiskey bar.






The Starman is clearly diggin' the hippy scene at Glastonbury a few years back. He's right you know, we can be heroes. We just forget that most of the time.






At least one-third of our introductory dream has come true. This is a wonderfully clanging pleasure.






Bowie isn't without influence of his own, and here he salutes the late Syd Barrett with his old Pink Floyd mate.






Few phrases more succinctly capture the man's vast oeuvre better than this one, captured grandly in this really lively take.






Bet you thought we were kidding about the 'gnome' crack at the top but no. The cut was a novelty single released in 1967, and we found this keen fan video that mixes old and new in a way that'll have you reaching for your water pipe and sack of Shire greens.






If this doesn't put lead in your pencil then nothin' will.






This really is one enduringly nasty lil' riff, eh?






Taken from Cher's short-lived TV show sans Sonny, this version of “Young Americans" is both a hoot and a holler. Just so you don't go in unwarned, this transforms into a terrifying medley including “Da Doo Doo De Da Da Da Da" and other popcorn radio crapola.






The brief intro to this clip is the sort of BBC perfect silliness Monty Python skewered so well. The song was supposedly inspired by Lou Reed at his cock gobbling '70s apex.






One of the more striking interpretations of Bowie's work occurred in Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic, where Seu Jorge applied a tropicalismo touch.






Of more recent vintage, here's a quite swinging take on one of Bowie's late '70s best by A Camp






No one else in rock does maudlin spectacle with quite as much aplomb as Mr. Bowie. We bid you adieu this week with one more taste of his collaboration with that big, ambitious band to the North.






And don't forget, you can eyeball video sweetness 24/7 with JamBase TV.

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