“Other Boys Check You Out”
Side 1
Rickie Lee Jones, Rebel Rebel
End Of Fashion, Quicksand
B.E.F (Feat Billy Mackenzie), The Secret Life Of Arabia
Revue Noir, Rock ´N Roll Suicide (Live)
Heartbreak , Loving The Alien
Stone Temple Pilots, Andy Warhol (Unplugged)
Peter Murphy, Space Oddity
The Postmarks, Five Years
Xavier Naidoo This Is Not America
Loopman, Starman
Side2
M. Ward, Lets Dance
Franz Ferdinand (Featuring Girls Aloud), Sound And Vision
Loose Ends, Golden Years
Tori Amos, After All
Nirvana, The Man Who Sold The World(Unplugged)
Claudia Brucken and Andrew Poppy, Drive In Saturday
Danny Michel, Always Crashing In The Same Car
The Cure, Young Americans
Mr Russia, Boys Keep Swinging
Icehouse, “Heroes”
I have always loved cover versions and I´m sure it was David´s album Pin Ups which first brought them to my attention.It helped that I didn´t know any of the songs and for my virgin ears these were now the originals. Now as I´m just a little bit older!! I find it difficult to listen to a song that I have cherished and loved performed by a different artist. The original songs here by David Bowie have been a constant companion throughout my life and I still love them Passionately.
There have been a few David Bowie covers albums over the years, Goth Oddity, Crash Course For The Ravers and this years War Child release You Were So Turned On I thought I´d put together my own collection because I have found these compilations lacking in what I like from a cover version.
Some of the highlights here include a raw Boys Keep Swinging by Mr Russia, Always Crashing In The Same Car by Danny Michel who produced a whole album of Bowie covers Loving The Alien-It was hard to pick just one- and the late great Billy Mackenzie’s redition of The Secret Life Of Arabia withB.E.F
You may have to get your red shoes on for Loose End´s Golden years and Loopman´s Italio disco cover of Starman. Also of note are Young Americans by Robert Smith and The Cure,that classic unplugged performance by Nirvana of The Man Who Stole The World and a gorgeous version of After All by Tori Amos
The real stars of this collection for me are Heartbreak covering Bowie´s much overlooked eighties classic Loving The Alien , an amazing live version of Rock´N Roll Suicide courtesy of Revue Noir, and the exquisite Space Oddity by Bauhaus front man and long time Bowie admirer Peter Murphy who has been playing this song live since 2002.
Additionally the laid back version of Let´s Dance by M. Ward who has a tremendous voice and you can forget the X-Factors banal version of “Heroes” just sit back and take in this graceful cover by Icehouse.
I hope you enjoy these just as much as I do.
