Let us head back to the summer of 1967 and the second side of the debut album by promising pop hopeful David Bowie. On this side of the disk, we encounter Little Bombardier, Silly Boy Blue, Arthur (uncle Arthur?) a singer in a band, the Maid of Bond Street, the sneezing Mr Gravedigger and many others. Guiding me in this kaleidoscopic quest is my friendly guest, the man behind Pushing Ahead Of The Dame, Chris O'Leary. In amongst the ditties, he tells me something of his own work and the story behind his remarkable chronicle of Bowie's life and work and how he came to assemble it. We also look at religion, God, gender and theatre. All the cool things. I hope you enjoy this episode and if you do, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or your podporium of choice and check out Chris's work at - https://bowiesongs.wordpress.com

Following on from our conversation about Bowie’s final album, this episode of albumtoalbum whizzes us back 53 years to his first, the eponymous debut, released in Britain on June 1 1967. Of course, any other artist in the world might be nervous about releasing an album - a debut album! - on the same day as The Beatles dropped their long-awaited follow up to Revolver, but that's showbusiness baby. Still, one can only imagine the sense of panic felt in the Decca boardrooms, when puce-faced executives heard just exactly what their newest star would be releasing in competition with the Beatles' masterpiece.

And history proves that for record buyers hotfooting it to their local disc emporioum, pounds shillings and pence burning a hole in their kaftans, Sgt Pepper beat Uncle Arthur and company hands down, in face of stiff competition from other new releases, which included The Parable of Arable Land by the Red Krayola, the debut album by The Bee Gees and Mr Spock’s Music from Outer Space. Hardly surprising, but still disappointing, when the album barely grazed the charts, reaching 125 in the UK and something even less impressive in the US. 

’Aarrghh, that Anthony Newley stuff, how cringey,' recalled a Tin Machine era Bowie in 1990. 'No, I haven’t much to say about that in its favour. Lyrically I guess it was striving to be something, the short story teller. Musically it’s quite bizarre. I don’t know where I was at. It seemed to have its roots all over the place, in rock and vaudeville and music hall and I don’t know what. I didn’t know if I was Max Miller or Elvis Presley’

Max Miller and or Elvis Presley don’t really come to mind when listening to it now. Instead he was consciously creating songs that would span his palette of interests at the time, solid songs that turned out to stand him in good stead for the next year or so as his interests veered towards theatre, mime, Buddhism and the emerging singer-songwriter genre. 

Here, he flits magpie-like, alighting on this style or that, immersing himself in the art of crafting songs. He’s moved away from the rough RnB of his first few years and is experimenting with characters and scenarios that owe something to the general mood of acid-tinged weirdness of the times. But as we can see, these mini capsules of narratives and characters were like Bowie opening up his playbox for the first time, and donning the first of many many costumes to come. From the slightly Syd Barret esque Uncle Arthur to the chilling spoken word murder ballad of Please Mr Gravedigger, these songs aspire to pretty broad palette, veering between enchanting, entertaining, unsettling and ephemeral.  This album is 60s London at its height, Britpsych and sci fi pop jostling with folky sensibilities, Anthony Newley-infused story songs with a Weimar-era Berlin side eye. 

So in order to look at it further, I’m glad to welcome on board the man behind the best Bowie blog ever, Chris O Leary, whose essays on each song and album in his blog Pushing Ahead Of The Dame have become to Bowie what Ian McDonald’s Revolution In The Head was to the Beatles - intelligent, enjoyably opinonated, well researched beautiful slices of prose that manage to conjure fresh perspectives and insights into Bowie’s work. Chris’s blog has been revised and edited into two brilliant volums, Rebel Rebel and Ashes to Ashes and if you haven’t yet read them or the blog, I strongly recommend you do either immediately after listening to this podcast. 

As ever, please do share and recommend this podcast where you can and follow the lovely O'Leary on Twitter if you don't already at @bowiesongs 

The third and final instalment of our epic conversation with Donny McCaslin and Leah Kardos takes a behind the scenes look at the recording of David Bowie's final album, ★ in New York. Donny tells us what it was like to work on Bowie's demos and how even in his last sessions, David B was as inspired, energised and excited as ever by his music and collaborators. Thanks to Donny for his time and generosity in sharing these precious memories and especially to Leah Kardos for her insights and perspectives on the album. Don't forget to follow them both at 

@DonnyMcCaslin 

@LeahKardos

and keep an ear out for their latest sonic adventuring. Meanwhile, if you've enjoyed these podcasts, please do share, review and let me know! If you want to send a small something to keep self and dog in biscuits, I do have a Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=23724958&fan_landing=true and all tips much appreciated! 

Welcome to the second of a megachat with musicians Donny McCaslin and Leah Kardos, as we discuss at length the life and times of the final epic album, 2016’s ★ 

2016’s ★is a dense, darkly textured epic that reveals Bowie in full flight as a musician, improvisator, lyricist and performer, a tour de force that demonstrated that Bowie was as much at ease with his past as he was with his present. 

A remarkable accomplishment indeed, of course, for as we know this was Bowie’s farewell. And what an album ★ is. Like Johnny Cash or Leonard Cohen, Bowie left us with a complex and astonishingly powerful final statement. It’s the sound of an artist at the top of his game, confident, with nothing to prove and that fertile, quicksilver mind running at full throttle. 

It was clear that Bowie wanted something different, yet again, for ★ and in New York based jazz saxophonist and bandleader Donny McCaslin, he found it. An acclaimed composer, performer and lynchpin of the experimental jazz scene, McCaslin’s love of improvisation and passion for ensemble playing created a secure, inspiring pocket around the singer, from where he emerged with some of his greatest tunes. Bringing us a melange of styles from avant-jazz to electro beats, reflective acoustic strumming to theatrical overtures (very much in Bowie’s mind as he was simultaneously preparing the stage show ‘Lazarus’), ★ remains not only the ultimate masterpiece of Bowie’s recording career, but the last masterpiece he would ever do. 

Also joining us on this episode is Leah Kardos - composer/producer, and music scholar and currently senior lecturer in Music at Kingston University near London. She’s co-founder of the university’s Visconti Studio with the one and only Tony Visconti and also runs the Kingston Uni Stylophone Orchestra (the only group of its kind in the world). She is currently writing a book about Bowie's late-period work (2013-2016) called "Blackstar Theory: David Bowie's Death Art", out next year from Bloomsbury Publishing. 

Thanks are also due to the wonderful David Bowie Glamour Fanzine, without whom this podcast would not have happened.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please do share and comment, it's really appreciated :) 

https://leahkardos.bandcamp.com/merch

http://www.donnymccaslin.com/

https://davidbowieglamour.wordpress.com/latest/

2016’s ★is a dense, darkly textured epic that reveals Bowie in full flight as a musician, improvisator, lyricist and performer, a tour de force that demonstrated that Bowie was as much at ease with his past as he was with his present. 

A remarkable accomplishment indeed, of course, for as we know this was Bowie’s farewell. And what an album ★ is. Like Johnny Cash or Leonard Cohen, Bowie left us with a complex and astonishingly powerful final statement. It’s the sound of an artist at the top of his game, confident, with nothing to prove and that fertile, quicksilver mind running at full throttle. 

It was clear that Bowie wanted something different, yet again, for ★ and in New York based jazz saxophonist and bandleader Donny McCaslin, he found it. An acclaimed composer, performer and lynchpin of the experimental jazz scene, McCaslin’s love of improvisation and passion for ensemble playing created a secure, inspiring pocket around the singer, from where he emerged with some of his greatest tunes. Bringing us a melange of styles from avant-jazz to electro beats, reflective acoustic strumming to theatrical overtures (very much in Bowie’s mind as he was simultaneously preparing the stage show ‘Lazarus’), ★ remains not only the ultimate masterpiece of Bowie’s recording career, but the last masterpiece he would ever do. 

Also joining us on this introductory episode, where we set the scene and get acquainted with Donny, is Leah Kardos - composer/producer, and music scholar and currently senior lecturer in Music at Kingston University near London. She’s co-founder of the university’s Visconti Studio with the one and only Tony Visconti and also runs the Kingston Uni Stylophone Orchestra (the only group of its kind in the world). She is currently writing a book about Bowie's late-period work (2013-2016) called "Blackstar Theory: David Bowie's Death Art", out next year from Bloomsbury Publishing. 

Thanks are also due to the wonderful David Bowie Glamour Fanzine, without whom this podcast would not have happened. 

https://leahkardos.bandcamp.com/merch

http://www.donnymccaslin.com/

https://davidbowieglamour.wordpress.com/latest/

The legendary bass player to the stars Guy Pratt joins us for a wonderful succession of amazing tales, rock and roll anecdotage, fashion advice, Floydian digressions and hot takes on Lodger in this second part of our megachat extravaganza!

1979's 'Lodger' is an often underrated album but upon further inspection, this blend of new wave, electrorock, globally-inspired music and esoteric experimentation stands the test of time. It's a shift away from the previous two 'Berlin' albums and probably the most Eno-esque of all Bowie's records, until 1995's '1. Outside'. The tough line up of Carlos Alomar, Dennis Davis and George Murray are on top form and our man Bowie sounds, in turn, edgy, expansive, impassioned and artful. 

Joining me to discuss this superb moment in Bowie's career is the legendary boss of the bass, Guy Pratt who since the early 80s has been boosting the bottom end for Robert Palmer, Bryan Ferry, The Smiths, Icehouse, Coverdale/Page and in a relationship spanning over thirty years, various permutations of Pink Floyd. Today, he plays with Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets band, who bring the magical era of Syd era Floyd to the stage. His 2009 autobiography, 'My Bass And Other Animals' is one of the finest, funniest and most enjoyable accounts of a life out on the wilds of the rock scene at its most debauched and delightful best. 

Guy has also been in the enviable position of having supported Bowie in 1983, as part of Australian art rockers Icehouse, in the midst of a fan scrum with him in Rotterdam and having Bowie meet his mum outside a caravan full of coke-deranged Australians. He also played bass on Bowie's last ever UK appearance, when he joined Dave Gilmour and band for 'Arnold Layne' and 'Comfortably Numb' in London's Royal Albert Hall in 2006. 

This recording, done under lockdown via Zoom, picks up towards the end of side one of Lodger, and makes it to the end of side two via the scenic route. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed talking to Guy!

There are occasional groans from my dachshund, the worst of these have been removed.

Check out guypratt.com for news, info and updates on all things Guy Pratt and look up his Lockdown Licks on YouTube and get the inside scoop on how to play some of his best-loved licks and lines. 

1979's 'Lodger' is an often underrated album but upon further inspection, this blend of new wave, electrorock, globally-inspired music and esoteric experimentation stands the test of time. It's a shift away from the previous two 'Berlin' albums and probably the most Eno-esque of all Bowie's records, until 1995's '1. Outside'. The tough line up of Carlos Alomar, Dennis Davis and George Murray are on top form and our man Bowie sounds, in turn, edgy, expansive, impassioned and artful. 

Joining me to discuss this superb moment in Bowie's career is the legendary boss of the bass, Guy Pratt who since the early 80s has been boosting the bottom end with the likes of Bryan Ferry, The Smiths, Icehouse, Coverdale/Page and in a relationship spanning over thirty years, various permutations of Pink Floyd. Today, he plays with Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets band, who bring the magical era of Syd era Floyd to the stage. His 2009 autobiography, 'My Bass And Other Animals' is one of the finest, funniest and most enjoyable accounts of a life out on the wilds of the rock scene at its most debauched and delightful best. 

Guy has also been in the enviable position of having supported Bowie in 1983, as part of Australian art rockers Icehouse, in the midst of a fan scrum with him in Rotterdam and having Bowie meet his mum outside a caravan full of coke-deranged Australians. He also played bass on Bowie's last ever UK appearance, when he joined Dave Gilmour and band for 'Arnold Layne' and 'Comfortably Numb' in London's Royal Albert Hall in 2006. 

This recording, done under lockdown via Zoom, gets halfway through side one of Lodger, with many many digressions and much deviation on the way - and I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it! Stay tuned for Part 2 imminently 

Check out guypratt.com for news, info and updates on all things Guy Pratt

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bass-Other-Animals-Guy-Pratt-ebook/dp/B001NLKY5G/ref=sr_1_1?crid=FB2HVV7IX4UW&dchild=1&keywords=guy+pratt+my+bass+and+other+animals&qid=1587652109&sprefix=guy+Pratt%2Caps%2C133&sr=8-1

With our tin cans and string stretching across the locked down nation, Stuart and I return to conclude our scuttle through the dark underworld of Bowie's Diamond Dogs. In this episode, we rattle through what we quaintly call 'Side 2', taking in the soul-inflected death disco vibe and pondering its debt to Orwell. Along the way, we look at the disparate influences that come into play and touch on disco, soul, claret, Stormzy, the Arctic Monkeys and Chas'n'Dave and debate the burning issue of the day - viz. Is it "reason" or "treason"? Find out more ... in NINETEEN EIGHTY FOOOURR

"This is not the end. This is not the beginning of the end. But it is the end of the beginning." Winston Churchill could have been talking about this episode of Albumtoalbum, in which Stuart and I continue our deep dive into the world of Bowie's* Diamond Dogs and conclude the first part of our chipper chat session. In this handy, pocket-sized episode, we marvel at Sweet Thing/Candidate and Rebel Rebel, via Bowie's eyepatch, John Lennon, Alvin Stardust and a choice of Germanic influence - 1920s Berlin Cabaret or pounding krautrock? 

*Have you noticed how, in 1974, it was just "Bowie"? 

In the year of the Diamond Dogs... while the zombie peoploids were crawling through Hunger City yowling with rage, a cheerful 13 year old lad in Wigan encountered Bowie's chilling, thrilling 'Diamond Dogs' LP. Today, Stuart Maconie, BBC DJ, critic and author joins me for a wonderfully rambling and enjoyable chat about all things Diamond Dogs. In this first episode, as well as recalling those halcyon days of the mid 1970s (and indeed they were halcyon, according to his new book The Nanny State Made Me),  we delve deep into the mid 70s world of Bowie, the rise and fall of glam, debate the Rolling Stones, why Jagger and Bowie fell out, what Paul McCartney told Stuart when he asked him about a legendary outtake, why Alan McGee inspired the 'Exactly!' game, more about Diamond Dogs, Brownie and Nidge and wonder why poor old Hallowe'en Jack only gets one line to himself. I hope you enjoy and of course, check out Stuart on BBC6 where his Freakzone show is a reliably magical pot pourri of esoteric sounds from distant shores and look out for his fantastic new book The Nanny State Made Me: A Story Of Britain And How To Save It here: 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nanny-State-Me-Stuart-Maconie/dp/1529102413/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1SFWPCJLJB1A6&keywords=stuart+maconie&qid=1585055403&sprefix=Stuart+%2Caps%2C144&sr=8-1