Sidenote: Years later, Bowie was hypothetically asked what would have happened to his career had his debut album become a hit alongside "Sgt. Pepper"? He replied, "I'd probably be in the cast of 'Les Misérables' by now!"
As both a huge Bowie fan and a huge fan of the channel, I have the biggest grin on my face right now. I’d always felt you could do a really good video on the early, pre-fame albums (particularly Space Oddity, The Man Who Sold the World and Hunky Dory) but *this* was a genuine surprise. Admittedly I have a soft spot for this one. It’s no Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Station to Station, Low, Scary Monsters or Blackstar, but by being so quaint and strange it has a personality and charm his 1980s albums lack.
A perfectly FINE debut album. Displays him to be a very talented and uniquely imaginative young songwriter, singer, and performer. So it wasn't his "big breakthrough"? .. . now is THAT what something has to be before these critics can hail it or grant it any degree of props?
I love that one! It was after this album, the first song Bowie recorded with Tony Visconti as producer. I also really like "Let Me Sleep Beside You" form the same period.
There was a lot of great Bowie songs from that era which didn't make it onto an album. They are all available now on various compilations or as bonus tracks. If his first had have been more successful there may have have been a second album with In the Heat of the morning, Karma Man, let me sleep beside you and some of the songs that later ended up on the Space Oddity album.
As someone who's been a fan of Bowie since late October, 1972, I cannot BEGIN to tell you how IMPRESSED I am with this video. I have subscribed and will post this on all the various Facebook Bowie fan sites I'm a member of. The depth with which you dove into the subject matter literally thrilled me, for it is not often I learn entirely new bits and pieces regarding our old friend, David. Well done, good Sir. Well done!
A nice surprise! I remember buying this album in 1971…when imports were starting to hit the stores in the southern part of the US. I was trying to like it because it was fanciful at heart…like the Kinks. It wasn’t til the ‘90’s when I pulled it out again and with a couple glasses of a nice Pinot Noir working through me, I heard a completely different album 🥴! I thoroughly got into the lyrics and the theatrical feel of some of the tunes. I still pull this album when I go through a kinks listening phase. I love this album. Nice episode Andrew!
The intro to Come & Buy My Toys was also sampled on Madonna's Don't Tell Me - the penny dropped for me when I watched the documentary 'The First Five Years' and this was playing.
Have always been fascinated with Bowie's early output, so thank you for taking the time to discuss this album and that period of time. London Boys was his first fantastic vocal performance.
My second ever Bowie purchase, because it was cheap, was a compilation of his Deram material (of which there were many), including some of his first album. I knew it was going to be different. It had bad press in the Bowie articles I was reading, but I loved it. It is so British, full of ideas, and David's voice was already very good back then. Glad to see a resurgence of interest in this era of Bowie music. By the way, Brett Anderson of Suede loves "Let Me Sleep Beside You" and asked David why he never played it :)
Brillant stuff I never knew Anthony Newley wrote so many familiar songs ! Took me a while to get into Bowie but his whole output is fascinating the way it changes & veers in all directions ❤😊. Thanks Andrew 👍
100% agree with you Andrew this is an absolute classic. Always puts a smile on my face when I play it. Real 60s escapism. Thanks for vid brilliant as always.
Hi Andrew! I find myself really enjoying you talking about artists other than the Beatles from time to time, taking underrated or not much talked about albums is great! Also, have you thought about doing a video on 'Bee Gees 1st'? I think it's a great listen, and from 1967 too
Another great video - I have always had a soft spot for this period of David Bowie along with his early Mod years. I will be purchasing this because of your informative research. 👏 Thank you Andrew 👍
Of the little bit of Bowie I’ve listened to, this is my favorite album. Same with Clapton actually with his first solo album. I love those underrated solo albums of the artists who started in the late 60s early 70s
My mum had David Bowie and The World of Davis Bowie when I was a toddler. Not sure such a concoction of whimsy and melancholia was good for a five year old but the songs ingrained themselves into my receptive bonce and still haven't left. PS: Straaaaaawberries!
Even at this early stage, Bowie had a unique talent for story songs. When he started to get influenced by Lou Reed & the Velvets and Mick Ronson became his guitarist, his career skyrocketed into then uncharted space.
@@andrews527 Actually, they were to become even more refined. "Space Oddity", "God Knows I'm Good", "The Bewlay Brothers", "Five Years" & "Ziggy Stardust" are all songs with strong narrative story lines.
I'm an enthusiast of this album, but my favourite Deram period track by him is Let Me Sleep Beside You, which he tellingly revisited for his unreleased Toy album
I recently listened his eponymous album yesterday, 'When I Live My Dream' is still my favourites in this album. I also watched the 'Love You Till Tuesday' short film months after his death, and amazed with 'Ching-a-Ling' and the early version of 'Space Oddity'. True masterpieces for me.
I bought the mono UK first press of this album in 1996. It cost me £8, the record shop clerk scoffed and called it "Bloody Awful." 😆 Still one of my fave Bowie albums.
Hi Andrew, I studied at Croydon College in hospitality (chef) and someone told me that David had studied art there which I doubted at the time but it is actually true. I remember very well that my sister who is 18 months older than me loved Bowie and painted her face like Ziggy Stardust in 1972, the laughing gnome single came out shortly after I was completely baffled as to how these things were by the same person? My dad at the time said what a silly record it was and why did he release it? of course none of us knew how that came to be at the time. I think he is an amazing artist and while not in my favourites of all time I love the fact that he kept changing his style and making artistically important records. He truly was unique and innovative, I knew almost nothing about his early influences so that was very interesting to discover. Great upload as always Andrew, cheers Tim
David Bowie was responsible for the formation of Birmingham supergroup, The Move, eventually another successful Dream labelmate. Night of Fear and Fire Brigade were considered for the Pin Ups LP.
Andrew, way back in the early 70's Bowie was starting to get the attention of music fans, a local chain of record shops was having a 'closing down sale' looking thru the albums I found a copy of this album for 50 pence!!, hoping that the other branches would have copies I spent 2 days visiting them searching thru thousands of albums, I eventually found another 2 copies, so I had 3 brand new copies for £1-50p !!! I had planned to hang onto them but as I was unemployed at the time I sold them for around £10 a copy which was a healthy profit, back then an album was around £2, but as you say a few years ago Record Collector price guide valued 'mint' copies of this album at £1000 !!!! if only I had a crystal ball !!!
Great to see you showing some love for this record and also doing a feature on the genius that was Bowie. I think the problem with this album was that Bowie himself was disparaging of it later and so a lot of fans thought they had to trash it as well, thinking it made them somehow 'cooler' or more of a 'real fan' in that insufferable way some people can be. I bet most of them had never even listened to it! Taken on it's own merits, it's a quirky time capsule that does have some worthwhile tracks and shouldn't be totally discounted. I remember hearing 'Please Mr. Gravedigger' for the first time and thinking how totally unique it was. That was Bowie's great genius of course. He could turn his hand to any style or genre of music and pull it off effortlessly.
Great episode! One of the ultimate under-rated albums ever, and I hope that the double album release will bring more listeners in as it should - I think that the 90's Britpop fans were more welcome to hearing the songs as they brought more people in the know of a much-maligned era. Images 1966-1967 and The Deram Anthology worked great for introducing that era through the years and even some of the budget collections and re-issues must have picked up a few fans here and there (The early Decca "World Of" release also being of historical interest). This makes me wonder if there will be a Blu 4K worldwide release of Love You Till Tuesday soon...
My wife and I discovered this album at our local library. Being Bowie fans, we thought , let's give it a go. No knowing what to expect , we were sent on a trip.We loved the whole ride and still play it from time to time. It's a once a year listen. I was so happy to see it on your show.
He actually only re-recorded one from this album specifically, Silly Boy Blue. The other re-recordings are more generally from the 1964-68 period, and are not on the album.
Great Video Andrew. For me the absolutely best track from the DERAM era is 'In The Heat Of The Morning' one of my favourite Bowie tracks of all time. I first heard it via 'The World of David Bowie' LP that had as a kid.
I guess, not having come into the DAVID BOWIE album until after I'd become a big fan of The Move and The Hollies, I never thought there was anything unusual about Bowie's freshman effort. Yes, it was QUITE a bit different than his albums from the 1970s on out, but I had heard these kinds of "evolutions" before with acts of longevity. It was obvious to me that different things had influenced Bowie's sound over time. With this album, this rather "Cabaret" sound could have come from a variety of sources - all of which were completely legit. It's easy to joke about the "Anthony Newley" sound here, but, Newley was an international STAR. I mean, the first time I saw him was on a daytime variety show in the US - around 1974. I was never a fan, but I was aware of Newley, and if Bowie thought the artistical relationship between them could benefit him - who's to blame Bowie?
Great and accurate review. I bought the world of David Bowie for 99p in the 70s because they slapped a pic of ziggy on it. I love these old songs. Shes got medals sounds incredible. So well recorded.
There’s so many re-releases of this album! Good to see it getting more notice after all these years, though. I like the early version of space oddity he recorded around this time as well.
I have it on double vinyl-containing both Mono and Stereo version. I bought it at The Exhibition Shop of The Victoria&Albert Museum in London,when i worked there,in 2013 during "Bowie Is..." Exhibition. Great presentation this is by the way. THANK YOU !
FAB Parlogram video as always. I bought the Canadian stereo press (June 1967) and it sounds terrific. No mono edition was issued in Canada as far as I know. And no Canadian Deram singles that I could ever find. Agree - the David Bowie Lp has been unfairly maligned over the years. Nice to know that finally they have done the album justice in 2024.
Not every artist exactly hit the ground running with their first album. The fact that David Bowie was allowed to record an album such as this speaks volumes of the record company attitudes towards new talent back then compared with today. Had this album been successful I don't think it would have changed Bowie that much if at all, he never stuck with any style for too long, that's why he was so good.
I note how you pronounce Deram and so I'll presume you're right, but the truth is I've always (since Moody Blues days) thought it was said dee-ram. Every day's a school day!
My favorite saying is "I dig everything." Along with "Tomorrow never knows". It's not that the ideas are bad on this record but the way the songs are arranged. We know that he later became a great arranger, chose excellent musicians and really brought the cut up method for lyrics to the forefront. He was constantly evolving and we could probably say that he is one of the founders of a certain style or styles of music. We wouldn't have Duran Duran and numerous other colorful groups if it wasn't for David Bowie. So the next time you listen to David Bowie, David Bowie try to possibly view it as a rough idea for things to come. That way you can possibly find enjoyment in listening to it!
I wholly agree , this album must listen to through the lens of British culture of the time. There are so many great new Bowie re-releases I’d love to see more Bowie content on the channel. Keep up the excellent work and all the best.
I have an original stereo copy of this Deram 15:54 album. I always liked it. My favorite song is "Please Mr.Gravedigger". It's very unique . It sells for a good amount ,for an original, nowadays. Thank you Andrew !!!
Another excellent overview, Andrew. I’m one of those North Americans that still don’t get this record, but your reassessment tempts me to give it a chance again. I always did like the vocals and most of the lyrics, as those to me are his strong suits anyway. I also really like the Toy revisions of these that finally got released after his passing.
Great analysis as ever, Andrew! I'd love to hear you do a retrospective of Bowie's entire catalogue, but that'd be quite an ask! I'm not overly fond of much of this album, but I am glad that it exists. It shows one of many steps in Bowie's journey to find himself and eventually become the superstar we all know. And it highlights just how important it is to give upcoming artists time to develop and hone their craft- rarely do bands land fully formed without several years of work under their belt. I think that's something that got somewhat forgotten in the 21st century and people expect instant results.
I see Days of future passed over your shoulder. I’d love a deep dive on that record. As for David’s first album….not my brand of whiskey…but always appreciate the work that goes into these videos.
Thanks for the video. I love this album. The previous deluxe CD has a few differences to this edition. I guess i'll have to own both. The new 2CD has a "take 1" mix of The Laughing Gnome. That's not on the previous 2cd set. It also has the original version of Space Oddity. It's listed as "Love You Til Tuesday" version. These are not on the green vinyl LP., only the CD. In the early 80s Deram released a compilation LP called "Love You Til Tuesday". It was sort of a soundtrack to the film of the same name. David made a film just after this debut LP that featured songs such as Rubber Band, Love You Til Tuesday, etc... It also featured previous single such as When I am 5. The film is a compilation of promo (music videos) intended to be used to get Bowie a new record deal after Decca dropped him. The film was finallu released on home video in the early 80s, which is when the compilation LP was also released. The original version of Space Oddity was written just before the film. It wasn't originally planned but Space Oddity was recorded and a promo was shot for inclusion on "Lovr you Til Tuesday" the film. The soundtrack had some older singles such as "Liza Jane", but as most of the older singles were mono, it sounds as if the whole compilation was given a "fake stereo" treatment. I wonder if the new 2CD set has that "fake stereo" mix of Space Oddity?
Thanks a lot Andrew, this is really interesting to have that album reevaluated as I think it deserves to be. Even if sounding a bit twee or soppy to me at first, it unveiled true qualities in writing and arrangements which, of course, have very little if nothing to do with his later stuff. Which by the way is only partially true I think : most David Bowie albums can be appreciated as artistic statements of their own, and this one seems as specific as any of the follow-ups taken individually. And though many artists have felt that same embarrassment as regards to their early works, it's always interesting to take a close look at them for what they are and mean, just like Genesis' debut LP From Genesis To Revelation, which must be the closest example I can think of in terms of comparison. Thanks a lot, your videos are still so perfectly conceived and illustrated, and I truly trust your taste. Best wishes from France.
A very enjoyable show once again, Andrew. 😊 I'm a keen Bowie fan and I missed out on buying an original Sixties copy of this album in the 1970's ( much to my chagrin) but I console myself that I have a 1967 pressing of "The Laughing Gnome" and a 1970 cassette version of the album ( with the inclusion of "In the heat of the morning" - in my opinion by far and away the best track that Bowie recorded that year). ☺😎
Another great video! As a huge Bowie fan, I was both surprised and delighted to see this album as the topic for this week’s video. I admit that as corny as this album can be, I do love it and have actually recorded some of the songs myself when I was the singer for a David Bowie cover band in the early 2000s. Would love to see more Bowie videos on your excellent channel! 😊
I bought a mono copy of this album for 65p in August 1972 from Owen Owen department store near me. I was the first David Bowie album I bought. I only had the Starman single at this point. I absolutely loved it then and still do. His storytelling at its best 😊
I remember buying the mid 80s release Love You Til Tuesday on cassette and instantly loving it. It gave us an original early version of Space Oddity. Bowie never “worked for the man” he stayed authentic and original and that’s why I love his music.
Hi Andrew, really enjoying your non Beatles content, makes your channel even better. This record, which I had forgotten was ubiquitous in record shops in the late 70’s and early 80’s, to an annoying extent. There were often loads of copies in the racks, but no ziggy or Heros for example. I’d regularly be out with a mate shopping and thinking “ oh that b****y Deram thing again”. It was generally about £3, but I caved in and bought my copy for 50p. Harlequin records, in Canon St EC3. Anyway, thanks for reviving the memory, i was 16 again for a moment! Cheers
My brother gave me the laughing gnome single for Xmas; I guess it was ‘73. At first I was puzzled by the B side (The Gospel According to Tony Day), but eventually it became one of my favourite things. I also really like the B side of the Sorrow single (Amsterdam).
I love this album I started collecting Bowie in 1972 and was introduced to the songs via The World of David Bowie after the shock of thinking I was getting another Hunky Dory or Ziggy Stardust I really warmed to the songs, I’ve always been a rock fan but have a real soft spot for good pop music whoever sings it, one of my favourite Bowie songs is Love You Till Tuesday (I used to have a Spanish bootleg single with the demo sung in both English and German and it had an extra verse sadly I was broke and sold it) I also immediately loved Uncle Arthur, The London Boys, Sell Me A Coat but really liked it all. I saw the green double album in my local record shop last week and was torn as to if I should buy it or not, now watching this I definitely will! Great video
Thanks for the great video on this album! I've had a version of this since the early 80's when I got the double album version with the cartoon graphics, and I also have The Deram Anthology from 1997 (which I'm playing right now thanks to this video...). Honorable mention must go to the Lower Third ep front the same era, which rocks ferociously, and the Toy album where Bowie revisited some of this material in the late '90's. Thanks again for the smiles!
i got the US London 2 lp album Images around the same time as Diamond Dogs. i think it has most of those tracs. it’s Great that you are branching out again especially with Bowie! I hope you do all his 70s albums too.
Gravedigger is hilarous. I find "Love You On Tuesday" kind of scary. I really dig his old Davy Jones & the King Bees / Lower third single tracks. I was hoping for the next episode would be about Dana Gillespie, who is a good old friend from the early days (not just Bowie's entourage). Dana had kind of two debut albums on both sides of the big pond. "Foolish Seasons" (produced by the great bassman/producer Wayne Bickerton) thanks to a good choice of songs and great arrangements is somewhat the perfect Swinging London album (being released in the US only for weir reasns). The UK release "Box Of Surprises" (produced by Mike Vernon) featured her own compositions only. Both albums are very good. Both were releases on Decca owned labels (just as Bowie's debut) London and Decca. I find it really interesting to speculate what the history would have been like if Dana had become a big singing star before Bowie. The potential was there. In the early 70ies Dana was taken care of by Bowie's MainMan management and sadly her singing career halted drastically for legal reasons when MainMan disintegrated.
My family gave me a copy of this album as a Father Day gift a few years back when i started recollecting records again - its the double album release with 1 stereo and 1 mono - i hadn't heard the album before (have a number of other Bowie albums from my childhood in the collection) - and i was really surprised with it - its really good - yes some of it is left field - but love dropping it onto the mint 80's SL-1200mk2 and letting it do its thing :)
"Torn between being the all round entertainer his manager wanted him to be ..." And, you're basing that on what, exactly? That was certainly the way the story always *used* to be told. But, the allegation that Ken Pitt was trying to mould David into a cabaret star has been denied by Pitt himself (and by Bowie) and shown to be a myth by several Bowie biographers - most notable Nick Pegg.
That’s a good point - Ken Pitt wasn’t the best manager in the world, but he’s been unfairly maligned by history, and he and Bowie remained friends for the rest of Bowie’s life.
Ach so.. ‘Helden’ was not the first time Herr Bowie made a recording sung in Deutsch. To think, ten years separate this album from the Berlin records made with Brian Eno.
Great video, Andrew. I really enjoyed this one. I liked that you love She's Got Medals too. It's one of my favourites from that era and I've only ever seen it get slagged off! It's good to see some well deserved positivity for this very English 1967 album. I don't think it's reputation was helped by 1970's Decca compilation albums like The World of David Bowie and Images, which put photos of then current Ziggy and Young Americans era Bowie on the covers of albums featuring this material. So many people must have bought those records and gone into the songs with totally wrong expectations.
Sidenote: Years later, Bowie was hypothetically asked what would have happened to his career had his debut album become a hit alongside "Sgt. Pepper"? He replied, "I'd probably be in the cast of 'Les Misérables' by now!"
As both a huge Bowie fan and a huge fan of the channel, I have the biggest grin on my face right now. I’d always felt you could do a really good video on the early, pre-fame albums (particularly Space Oddity, The Man Who Sold the World and Hunky Dory) but *this* was a genuine surprise. Admittedly I have a soft spot for this one. It’s no Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Station to Station, Low, Scary Monsters or Blackstar, but by being so quaint and strange it has a personality and charm his 1980s albums lack.
A perfectly FINE debut album. Displays him to be a very talented and uniquely imaginative young songwriter, singer, and performer. So it wasn't his "big breakthrough"? .. . now is THAT what something has to be before these critics can hail it or grant it any degree of props?
Also, a lost Bowie classic from this period is 'In the Heat of the Morning' (which I first heard over the PA at a Paul Weller gig).
How about "The Laughing Gnome"?.....seriously...
I love that one! It was after this album, the first song Bowie recorded with Tony Visconti as producer. I also really like "Let Me Sleep Beside You" form the same period.
The only Bowie cd I play from start to finish. The rest only have 2 good songs on them.
"In the Heat of the Morning" is possibly my favourite from that era. Also "Karma Man".
There was a lot of great Bowie songs from that era which didn't make it onto an album. They are all available now on various compilations or as bonus tracks. If his first had have been more successful there may have have been a second album with In the Heat of the morning, Karma Man, let me sleep beside you and some of the songs that later ended up on the Space Oddity album.
As someone who's been a fan of Bowie since late October, 1972, I cannot BEGIN to tell you how IMPRESSED I am with this video. I have subscribed and will post this on all the various Facebook Bowie fan sites I'm a member of. The depth with which you dove into the subject matter literally thrilled me, for it is not often I learn entirely new bits and pieces regarding our old friend, David. Well done, good Sir. Well done!
Thank you, Sir. Much appreciated!
A nice surprise!
I remember buying this album in 1971…when imports were starting to hit the stores in the southern part of the US. I was trying to like it because it was fanciful at heart…like the Kinks. It wasn’t til the ‘90’s when I pulled it out again and with a couple glasses of a nice Pinot Noir working through me, I heard a completely different album 🥴!
I thoroughly got into the lyrics and the theatrical feel of some of the tunes. I still pull this album when I go through a kinks listening phase.
I love this album.
Nice episode Andrew!
Cheers Brian. Glad you liked it!
Original copies in nice shape come at a premium these days....
"Come and Buy My Toys" is my favorite track! Surprise it isn't better known!
The intro to Come & Buy My Toys was also sampled on Madonna's Don't Tell Me - the penny dropped for me when I watched the documentary 'The First Five Years' and this was playing.
@@owenj4419 yes I agree 🤗🤗 It was suprisw to me that I heard this song on Dutch radiostation with ‘60 and ‘70 music 🤗🤗🤗
Have always been fascinated with Bowie's early output, so thank you for taking the time to discuss this album and that period of time.
London Boys was his first fantastic vocal performance.
First heard this album as a 10yr old (thanx to older brother),loved it then and at 60 played it last week-love it. Bowie is and was the best!
My second ever Bowie purchase, because it was cheap, was a compilation of his Deram material (of which there were many), including some of his first album. I knew it was going to be different. It had bad press in the Bowie articles I was reading, but I loved it. It is so British, full of ideas, and David's voice was already very good back then. Glad to see a resurgence of interest in this era of Bowie music. By the way, Brett Anderson of Suede loves "Let Me Sleep Beside You" and asked David why he never played it :)
Love to hear Brett do a cover of 'Let Me Sleep Beside You'.
THAT song is NOT featured on YHIS particular album though.
Interesting to hear the lasting influence that Anthony Newley had on Bowie's speaking voice as well as on his early singing style.
Your knowledge and devotion dedicated to a Bowie album!! Fantastic! Thank you
Brillant stuff I never knew Anthony Newley wrote so many familiar songs ! Took me a while to get into Bowie but his whole output is fascinating the way it changes & veers in all directions ❤😊. Thanks Andrew 👍
Thanks for covering Bowie, hope more videos about his other albums.
100% agree with you Andrew this is an absolute classic. Always puts a smile on my face when I play it. Real 60s escapism. Thanks for vid brilliant as always.
Great and enjoyable video , more Bowie in the future please Andrew.
Love this record so thanks for highlighting it, Andrew.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I see that copy of Days of Future Passed in the back! I see you Andrew! Please do a Moody's episode!
Hi Andrew! I find myself really enjoying you talking about artists other than the Beatles from time to time, taking underrated or not much talked about albums is great! Also, have you thought about doing a video on 'Bee Gees 1st'? I think it's a great listen, and from 1967 too
Another great video - I have always had a soft spot for this period of David Bowie along with his early Mod years.
I will be purchasing this because of your informative research. 👏 Thank you Andrew 👍
Thanks for watching. Hope you enjoy it!
Of the little bit of Bowie I’ve listened to, this is my favorite album. Same with Clapton actually with his first solo album. I love those underrated solo albums of the artists who started in the late 60s early 70s
Best video ever! Thank you for covering an album deserving the praise.
My mum had David Bowie and The World of Davis Bowie when I was a toddler. Not sure such a concoction of whimsy and melancholia was good for a five year old but the songs ingrained themselves into my receptive bonce and still haven't left. PS: Straaaaaawberries!
Even at this early stage, Bowie had a unique talent for story songs. When he started to get influenced by Lou Reed & the Velvets and Mick Ronson became his guitarist, his career skyrocketed into then uncharted space.
Afterwards, the story songs disappeared, thankfully.
@@andrews527 Actually, they were to become even more refined. "Space Oddity", "God Knows I'm Good", "The Bewlay Brothers", "Five Years" & "Ziggy Stardust" are all songs with strong narrative story lines.
I'm an enthusiast of this album, but my favourite Deram period track by him is Let Me Sleep Beside You, which he tellingly revisited for his unreleased Toy album
I recently listened his eponymous album yesterday, 'When I Live My Dream' is still my favourites in this album. I also watched the 'Love You Till Tuesday' short film months after his death, and amazed with 'Ching-a-Ling' and the early version of 'Space Oddity'. True masterpieces for me.
I bought the mono UK first press of this album in 1996. It cost me £8, the record shop clerk scoffed and called it "Bloody Awful." 😆 Still one of my fave Bowie albums.
What a bargain! 😮
Great review and appreciation of this look into the budding genius of Bowie. Thanks Andrew!
Hi Andrew, I studied at Croydon College in hospitality (chef) and someone told me that David had studied art there which I doubted at the time but it is actually true. I remember very well that my sister who is 18 months older than me loved Bowie and painted her face like Ziggy Stardust in 1972, the laughing gnome single came out shortly after I was completely baffled as to how these things were by the same person? My dad at the time said what a silly record it was and why did he release it? of course none of us knew how that came to be at the time. I think he is an amazing artist and while not in my favourites of all time I love the fact that he kept changing his style and making artistically important records. He truly was unique and innovative, I knew almost nothing about his early influences so that was very interesting to discover. Great upload as always Andrew, cheers Tim
I've loved this album since 1980. An interesting supplement would be the Love You Til Tuesday soundtrack.
David Bowie was responsible for the formation of Birmingham supergroup, The Move, eventually another successful Dream labelmate. Night of Fear and Fire Brigade were considered for the Pin Ups LP.
Andrew, way back in the early 70's Bowie was starting to get the attention of music fans, a local chain of record shops was having a 'closing down sale' looking thru the albums I found a copy of this album for 50 pence!!,
hoping that the other branches would have copies I spent 2 days visiting them searching thru thousands of albums, I eventually found another 2 copies, so I had 3 brand new copies for £1-50p !!! I had planned to hang onto them but as I was unemployed at the time I sold them for around £10 a copy which was a healthy profit, back then an album was around £2, but as you say a few years ago Record Collector price guide valued 'mint' copies of this album at £1000 !!!! if only I had a crystal ball !!!
I love many of these songs, I found them on a later issue, 'the world of David Bowie'
I was unaware of this reissue. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. This is why I keep coming back to this channel!
The thin white duke peaked with the laughing gnome.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the entire Bowie discography, finding only excellents and masterpieces
Great to see you showing some love for this record and also doing a feature on the genius that was Bowie. I think the problem with this album was that Bowie himself was disparaging of it later and so a lot of fans thought they had to trash it as well, thinking it made them somehow 'cooler' or more of a 'real fan' in that insufferable way some people can be. I bet most of them had never even listened to it!
Taken on it's own merits, it's a quirky time capsule that does have some worthwhile tracks and shouldn't be totally discounted. I remember hearing 'Please Mr. Gravedigger' for the first time and thinking how totally unique it was. That was Bowie's great genius of course. He could turn his hand to any style or genre of music and pull it off effortlessly.
Great episode! One of the ultimate under-rated albums ever, and I hope that the double album release will bring more listeners in as it should - I think that the 90's Britpop fans were more welcome to hearing the songs as they brought more people in the know of a much-maligned era. Images 1966-1967 and The Deram Anthology worked great for introducing that era through the years and even some of the budget collections and re-issues must have picked up a few fans here and there (The early Decca "World Of" release also being of historical interest). This makes me wonder if there will be a Blu 4K worldwide release of Love You Till Tuesday soon...
This is one of my favourite Bowie albums ❤
My wife and I discovered this album at our local library. Being Bowie fans, we thought , let's give it a go. No knowing what to expect , we were sent on a trip.We loved the whole ride and still play it from time to time. It's a once a year listen. I was so happy to see it on your show.
Thank you for watching!
I cant believe i'm just now finding this channel! Incredible stuff
Thank you and welcome!
Thanks again Andrew for this very informative video. Cheers Fred
QUESTION; If Bowie was really so "haunted" by the songs on this album then why did he RERECORD some of them LATER on the album Toy?
He actually only re-recorded one from this album specifically, Silly Boy Blue. The other re-recordings are more generally from the 1964-68 period, and are not on the album.
Excellent video. I love this early Bowie material.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great Video Andrew. For me the absolutely best track from the DERAM era is 'In The Heat Of The Morning' one of my favourite Bowie tracks of all time. I first heard it via 'The World of David Bowie' LP that had as a kid.
Do “The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles, & Fripp” next. They and Bowie were label mates on Deram.
"Rodney, your tea's ready!"
Ah!... David Bowie! Long time fan of his. Such fantastic music over the years.
I guess, not having come into the DAVID BOWIE album until after I'd become a big fan of The Move and The Hollies, I never thought there was anything unusual about Bowie's freshman effort. Yes, it was QUITE a bit different than his albums from the 1970s on out, but I had heard these kinds of "evolutions" before with acts of longevity. It was obvious to me that different things had influenced Bowie's sound over time. With this album, this rather "Cabaret" sound could have come from a variety of sources - all of which were completely legit. It's easy to joke about the "Anthony Newley" sound here, but, Newley was an international STAR. I mean, the first time I saw him was on a daytime variety show in the US - around 1974. I was never a fan, but I was aware of Newley, and if Bowie thought the artistical relationship between them could benefit him - who's to blame Bowie?
Great and accurate review. I bought the world of David Bowie for 99p in the 70s because they slapped a pic of ziggy on it. I love these old songs. Shes got medals sounds incredible. So well recorded.
Awesome, thank you, Andrew!
There’s so many re-releases of this album! Good to see it getting more notice after all these years, though. I like the early version of space oddity he recorded around this time as well.
More Bowie please! Especially the early years
Finally somebody talks about Bowie's debiut. I wish we will see more Bowie viedos soon
Fascinating video Andrew, not only about the album but its background and what was going on the Britain at the time. Truly eye opening. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hard to see how someone could be a fan of 60’s music and not like this album. Taken on its own merit it’s a great little snapshot.
I have it on double vinyl-containing both Mono and Stereo version. I bought it at The Exhibition Shop of The Victoria&Albert Museum in London,when i worked there,in 2013 during "Bowie Is..." Exhibition. Great presentation this is by the way. THANK YOU !
Glad you enjoyed it!
FAB Parlogram video as always. I bought the Canadian stereo press (June 1967) and it sounds terrific. No mono edition was issued in Canada as far as I know. And no Canadian Deram singles that I could ever find. Agree - the David Bowie Lp has been unfairly maligned over the years. Nice to know that finally they have done the album justice in 2024.
Thank you, PIers! Glad you enjoyed it.
Not every artist exactly hit the ground running with their first album. The fact that David Bowie was allowed to record an album such as this speaks volumes of the record company attitudes towards new talent back then compared with today. Had this album been successful I don't think it would have changed Bowie that much if at all, he never stuck with any style for too long, that's why he was so good.
A full album by album overview of Bowie would be great. Perhaps even a ranking?
“David Bowie(1st)” better than “Let's Dance”, for me personally!
A very interesting and comprehensive video. Congratulations. 😊
Thank you! 😃
I note how you pronounce Deram and so I'll presume you're right, but the truth is I've always (since Moody Blues days) thought it was said dee-ram. Every day's a school day!
Decca Panoramic Sound.
My favorite saying is "I dig everything."
Along with "Tomorrow never knows". It's not that the ideas are bad on this record but the way the songs are arranged. We know that he later became a great arranger, chose excellent musicians and really brought the cut up method for lyrics to the forefront. He was constantly evolving and we could probably say that he is one of the founders of a certain style or styles of music. We wouldn't have Duran Duran and numerous other colorful groups if it wasn't for David Bowie. So the next time you listen to David Bowie, David Bowie try to possibly view it as a rough idea for things to come. That way you can possibly find enjoyment in listening to it!
Not really a fan of his early work, but loved his Glam Rock Ziggy Stardust era! Again another interesting video!
Finally someone tells the story of one of my favorite albums! THANK YOU VERY MUCH INDEED, ANDREW!
You're very welcome!
Excellent video as usual- I’ve got a 10 track German version from the 70’s called Beginnings which has a lovely hunky dory era photo cover
I wholly agree , this album must listen to through the lens of British culture of the time. There are so many great new Bowie re-releases I’d love to see more Bowie content on the channel. Keep up the excellent work and all the best.
Love this album to death, especially Sell Me A Coat. Excellent video! ❤❤
Thanks for watching!
I have an original stereo copy of this Deram 15:54 album. I always liked it. My favorite song is "Please Mr.Gravedigger". It's very unique . It sells for a good amount ,for an original, nowadays. Thank you Andrew !!!
Another excellent overview, Andrew. I’m one of those North Americans that still don’t get this record, but your reassessment tempts me to give it a chance again. I always did like the vocals and most of the lyrics, as those to me are his strong suits anyway. I also really like the Toy revisions of these that finally got released after his passing.
I didn’t know anything about this album so thanks for the deep dive into it, Andrew!
My pleasure, Nick!
Great analysis as ever, Andrew! I'd love to hear you do a retrospective of Bowie's entire catalogue, but that'd be quite an ask!
I'm not overly fond of much of this album, but I am glad that it exists. It shows one of many steps in Bowie's journey to find himself and eventually become the superstar we all know.
And it highlights just how important it is to give upcoming artists time to develop and hone their craft- rarely do bands land fully formed without several years of work under their belt. I think that's something that got somewhat forgotten in the 21st century and people expect instant results.
Glad you enjoyed it. Hope to be doing more Bowie soon!
Andrew, fantastic information as always. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it
I wish I could have been writing songs like what is on this debut album when I was 20 or so years old - it is a great album of its time😊
I see Days of future passed over your shoulder. I’d love a deep dive on that record. As for David’s first album….not my brand of whiskey…but always appreciate the work that goes into these videos.
Thanks for the video. I love this album. The previous deluxe CD has a few differences to this edition. I guess i'll have to own both. The new 2CD has a "take 1" mix of The Laughing Gnome. That's not on the previous 2cd set. It also has the original version of Space Oddity. It's listed as "Love You Til Tuesday" version. These are not on the green vinyl LP., only the CD. In the early 80s Deram released a compilation LP called "Love You Til Tuesday". It was sort of a soundtrack to the film of the same name. David made a film just after this debut LP that featured songs such as Rubber Band, Love You Til Tuesday, etc... It also featured previous single such as When I am 5. The film is a compilation of promo (music videos) intended to be used to get Bowie a new record deal after Decca dropped him. The film was finallu released on home video in the early 80s, which is when the compilation LP was also released. The original version of Space Oddity was written just before the film. It wasn't originally planned but Space Oddity was recorded and a promo was shot for inclusion on "Lovr you Til Tuesday" the film. The soundtrack had some older singles such as "Liza Jane", but as most of the older singles were mono, it sounds as if the whole compilation was given a "fake stereo" treatment. I wonder if the new 2CD set has that "fake stereo" mix of Space Oddity?
Sky Arts has shown that Love You Till Tuesday film a few times.
Thanks a lot Andrew, this is really interesting to have that album reevaluated as I think it deserves to be. Even if sounding a bit twee or soppy to me at first, it unveiled true qualities in writing and arrangements which, of course, have very little if nothing to do with his later stuff. Which by the way is only partially true I think : most David Bowie albums can be appreciated as artistic statements of their own, and this one seems as specific as any of the follow-ups taken individually. And though many artists have felt that same embarrassment as regards to their early works, it's always interesting to take a close look at them for what they are and mean, just like Genesis' debut LP From Genesis To Revelation, which must be the closest example I can think of in terms of comparison. Thanks a lot, your videos are still so perfectly conceived and illustrated, and I truly trust your taste. Best wishes from France.
Great review Andrew! I love it! Though although my least favorite debut but I might give the album a second listen
Just ordered my copy recently on the most famous auction site due to your recommendation. My copy is green and white
A very enjoyable show once again, Andrew. 😊 I'm a keen Bowie fan and I missed out on buying an original Sixties copy of this album in the 1970's ( much to my chagrin) but I console myself that I have a 1967 pressing of "The Laughing Gnome" and a 1970 cassette version of the album ( with the inclusion of "In the heat of the morning" - in my opinion by far and away the best track that Bowie recorded that year). ☺😎
Thanks for a great video Andrew!!! I would like to have a listen to this album! A great Sgt.Pepper connection too!!
Thanks for listening
I was delighted to see you've produced a Bowie review Andrew - I hope this isn't the last one you do...
Another great video! As a huge Bowie fan, I was both surprised and delighted to see this album as the topic for this week’s video. I admit that as corny as this album can be, I do love it and have actually recorded some of the songs myself when I was the singer for a David Bowie cover band in the early 2000s. Would love to see more Bowie videos on your excellent channel! 😊
Glad you enjoyed it! Stay tuned 😉
I bought a mono copy of this album for 65p in August 1972 from Owen Owen department store near me. I was the first David Bowie album I bought. I only had the Starman single at this point. I absolutely loved it then and still do. His storytelling at its best 😊
Not surprisingly the only Bowie I don't have as a first UK pressing, although not by choice! Thanks for expanding to more great artists!
Great topic, well done.
Thank you!
Another excellent and informative video, everything stops when it appears, brilliant.
Glad you enjoyed it
I remember buying the mid 80s release Love You Til Tuesday on cassette and instantly loving it. It gave us an original early version of Space Oddity. Bowie never “worked for the man” he stayed authentic and original and that’s why I love his music.
Hi Andrew, really enjoying your non Beatles content, makes your channel even better. This record, which I had forgotten was ubiquitous in record shops in the late 70’s and early 80’s, to an annoying extent. There were often loads of copies in the racks, but no ziggy or Heros for example. I’d regularly be out with a mate shopping and thinking “ oh that b****y Deram thing again”. It was generally about £3, but I caved in and bought my copy for 50p. Harlequin records, in Canon St EC3. Anyway, thanks for reviving the memory, i was 16 again for a moment!
Cheers
Glad you enjoyed it, Mike. Those were the days!
when growing up i loved laughing gnome my brother even bought me the cartoon album (cover) lost since
My brother gave me the laughing gnome single for Xmas; I guess it was ‘73.
At first I was puzzled by the B side (The Gospel According to Tony Day), but eventually it became one of my favourite things. I also really like the B side of the Sorrow single (Amsterdam).
I love this album I started collecting Bowie in 1972 and was introduced to the songs via The World of David Bowie after the shock of thinking I was getting another Hunky Dory or Ziggy Stardust I really warmed to the songs, I’ve always been a rock fan but have a real soft spot for good pop music whoever sings it, one of my favourite Bowie songs is Love You Till Tuesday (I used to have a Spanish bootleg single with the demo sung in both English and German and it had an extra verse sadly I was broke and sold it) I also immediately loved Uncle Arthur, The London Boys, Sell Me A Coat but really liked it all. I saw the green double album in my local record shop last week and was torn as to if I should buy it or not, now watching this I definitely will! Great video
Thanks for watching. Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for the great video on this album! I've had a version of this since the early 80's when I got the double album version with the cartoon graphics, and I also have The Deram Anthology from 1997 (which I'm playing right now thanks to this video...). Honorable mention must go to the Lower Third ep front the same era, which rocks ferociously, and the Toy album where Bowie revisited some of this material in the late '90's. Thanks again for the smiles!
Glad you enjoyed it!
i got the US London 2 lp album Images around the same time as Diamond Dogs. i think it has most of those tracs. it’s Great that you are branching out again especially with Bowie! I hope you do all his 70s albums too.
Gravedigger is hilarous. I find "Love You On Tuesday" kind of scary. I really dig his old Davy Jones & the King Bees / Lower third single tracks.
I was hoping for the next episode would be about Dana Gillespie, who is a good old friend from the early days (not just Bowie's entourage). Dana had kind of two debut albums on both sides of the big pond. "Foolish Seasons" (produced by the great bassman/producer Wayne Bickerton) thanks to a good choice of songs and great arrangements is somewhat the perfect Swinging London album (being released in the US only for weir reasns). The UK release "Box Of Surprises" (produced by Mike Vernon) featured her own compositions only. Both albums are very good. Both were releases on Decca owned labels (just as Bowie's debut) London and Decca. I find it really interesting to speculate what the history would have been like if Dana had become a big singing star before Bowie. The potential was there. In the early 70ies Dana was taken care of by Bowie's MainMan management and sadly her singing career halted drastically for legal reasons when MainMan disintegrated.
My family gave me a copy of this album as a Father Day gift a few years back when i started recollecting records again - its the double album release with 1 stereo and 1 mono - i hadn't heard the album before (have a number of other Bowie albums from my childhood in the collection) - and i was really surprised with it - its really good - yes some of it is left field - but love dropping it onto the mint 80's SL-1200mk2 and letting it do its thing :)
"Torn between being the all round entertainer his manager wanted him to be ..." And, you're basing that on what, exactly? That was certainly the way the story always *used* to be told. But, the allegation that Ken Pitt was trying to mould David into a cabaret star has been denied by Pitt himself (and by Bowie) and shown to be a myth by several Bowie biographers - most notable Nick Pegg.
That’s a good point - Ken Pitt wasn’t the best manager in the world, but he’s been unfairly maligned by history, and he and Bowie remained friends for the rest of Bowie’s life.
The first Bowie record is well written and reflects his youth and range very well. "Hey Mr. Gravedigger", is a personal favorite and so creepy.
Andrew, Join the gang was indeed sampled.(by Norman Cook)
The opening drum break makes up the main rhythm of Rockerfeller Skank by Fat Boy Slim
I thought it was a fun and refreshing album when I heard it in the 90's. It's among his albums I return to so it means more to me than some others.
I absolutely adore this album. It's always been a favorite (especially Sell Me A Coat)
Ach so.. ‘Helden’ was not the first time Herr Bowie made a recording sung in Deutsch. To think, ten years separate this album from the Berlin records made with Brian Eno.
Great video, Andrew. I really enjoyed this one.
I liked that you love She's Got Medals too. It's one of my favourites from that era and I've only ever seen it get slagged off! It's good to see some well deserved positivity for this very English 1967 album. I don't think it's reputation was helped by 1970's Decca compilation albums like The World of David Bowie and Images, which put photos of then current Ziggy and Young Americans era Bowie on the covers of albums featuring this material. So many people must have bought those records and gone into the songs with totally wrong expectations.