Bruna. 28. Bisexual. Brazil. I've got a film degree.
Sometimes I post mature content, so I'll ask to only follow me if you're 18+.
This is a multifandom blog. Expect lots of Hannibal and Star Trek. Also Vampire Chronicles. Lots of movies. There will be on occasion rock bands and singers. Also books and TV shows and random stuff.
Check my About Me and the links in the navigation page to see more info.
Track 82: Oh! You Pretty Things (BBC Sound Of The Seventies: 21-09-71)
Hunky Dory was in the can, and as the machinery geared up for its release, Bob Harris at the BBC offered Bowie a studio session. This broadcast is unique – and utterly brilliant. Just Bowie and (guitarist, pianist and arranger) Ronson. Very minimalist – unplugged before Unplugged. The songs are presented at their most stripped down, but more than that, this session is illustrative of the importance Ronson had taken in Bowie’s life and craft. David Bowie is – at this point of time, and for the next few years – Bowie and Ronno. And here it’s Bowie and Ronson on acoustic guitars; or Bowie on acoustic and Ronson on electric, or bass; or Ronson on piano and Bowie’s voice, and so on. The tracks on the session include two oldies (one from The Man Who Sold the World, one a fave old cover) and five from the new album (again, one of which is a cover). Although two songs were not broadcast (see more stuff below) Amongst the cuts is Oh! You Pretty Things. It was the demo of this song – with Bowie moving to the piano as compositional tool – that kicked off the Hunky Dory period and then led to Bowie’s second hit – albeit only as songwriter for someone else (Peter Noone - see trackbytrack 76). This recording is the oldest release of the track with Bowie at the helm (it had been played live at the BBC Bowie and friends concert back in June, but it was never broadcast, and is now lost - see trackbytrack 80). Here it is just Ronson on piano and Bowie’s voice. Beautiful… beautiful… beautiful…
‘Oh! You Pretty Things’: Track 2 of Sound Of The Seventies: Bob Harris (21-09-71). Broadcast 4 October 1971. Written by David Bowie. Available on various bootlegs.
And I’ll break you Because I lose myself inside you, I’ll make you Fit in the space that I provide you, I’ll take you, Oh yes, I’ll take you just to push you far away, away, away
The moth don’t care if the flame burns low The moth believes in an afterglow And flames are never doused completely All you really need is the love of heat
Track 78: Hang On to Yourself (The Arnold Corns single version)
The B side to The Arnold Corns single Moonage Daydream is another track that would triumphantly resurface in the Ziggy period (in more ways than one): Hang On to Yourself. In February 1971 Bowie went to the USA for the first time as a guest of Mercury records, playing a few intimate solo gigs to promote the recently released The Man Who Sold the World album. While there, Bowie ran into the legendary rock ‘n’ roller Gene Vincent at a recording studio. Let’s see what you’ve got and have a jam, says Vincent! Bowie had the basics of three new tracks in his head, Ziggy Stardust, Moonage Daydream and Hang On to Yourself – Vincent chose the Eddie Cochrane infused Hang On to Yourself and they jammed it out and cut a demo. Bowie forgot about all this until the son of Tom Ayers, the producer, came across a recording and sent a copy over (see more stuff below). All of which is a bit of a tangent, but tangents are fine! The Arnold Corns is itself a tangent! With Bowie back in the UK, the track was chosen as backing to Moonage Daydream (trackbytrack 77). We know the song so well from the Ziggy-Ronson version, but The Arnold Corns’ version has a real charm, with a whispery, slinky, sleaziness to it, replete with its Bolan-esque panting. In short – it would still be a classic even if not given a new lease of life, along with new lyrics, in the Stardust phase… And indeed, B&G records would go on to release it as an A Side – without Bowie’s permission – in the wake of The Spiders from Mars exploding in late 1972! But more of that a little later…
‘Hang On to Yourself’: The B Side to the Moonage Daydream
Single. Written by David Bowie. Single released 7 May 1971.
Available on Five Years (1969–1973) boxset on Re:Call 1
