Part Two of my megachat with comedian and author Adam Buxton and in this episode, we’re joined by the one and only Chris O’Leary, returning to Albumtoalbum after his chat with us on ‘David Bowie’ (1967) some months back, author of Pushing Ahead of the Dame blog and collected essays on Bowie’s canon in ‘Rebel, Rebel’ and ‘Ashes To Ashes’.

We travel through the album’s tracklisting in this episode, from Ashes to Ashes to the closing Its No Game Part II and a bit beyond too. Chris and Adam swap nuggets of Bowie trivia and anecdotes and Adam blesses us with his incomparable tribute to Gary Numan. We talk about pirates, midwives of history, broken pizzas, bad theatrics and s-s-s-s-s-ociet-t-t-t-t-ty. Additionally, Chris shares a prized Tom Verlaine anecdote whilst I generally burble and chuckle along.

 

A fuller meander through my thoughts on the absolute belter Scary Monsters is included in the notes for Part One, but if you want to explore Adam and Chris’s work in greater detail, as well as following up on some of the topics that arose in the chat, here’s a handy cut out and keep list:

 

Chris O'Leary's study of Scary Monsters at 40 

https://bowiesongs.wordpress.com/2020/10/08/scary-monsters-at-40/

 

Adam’s Bowie Spotify compilation

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6ZtTS8N3Qwx2oX1X8jRxL2

 

General Buxton stuff

 

www.adam-buxton.co.uk

 

‘David Bowie in New York 1980 • The Elephant Man, Scary Monsters & Other Strange People’ by Nacho 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1fTtwGqdQw&t=5s