There’s Old Wave, There’s New Wave, And There’s David Bowie…
Uncut magazine, this month (February issue) has on its cover “100 SINGLES THAT CHANGED YOUR LIFE” and inside the feature is headed: “FROM THE SEX PISTOLS TO SLIM SHADY: THE 100 GREATEST SINGLES OF THE POST-PUNK ERA”. Though not denying the importance of the previous years, and despite the fact that half of the artists have split up or are no longer recording, the focus of this article is on singles released in the last 25 years.
And while two of his contemporaries are represented here (Iggy Pop and Neil Young) it is lovely to see David Bowie at number 16 with “Heroes”. After all, bearing in mind that both Iggy Pop and Neil Young were both given the dubious honour of being bestowed with the title of “grandfathers” of youth movements (the former Punk Rock, the latter Grunge) it is easy to understand why these two gentlemen would be included.
But David Bowie, always keen never to align himself to a ‘movement’, is the only artist of his generation (excepting Pop and Young) to be included, and it is easy to see why. Looking through the list, his influence is everywhere. Adam & The Ants, Beck, The Pixies, Devo, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Japan, Blondie, Nick Lowe, Blur, Suede, Aphex Twin, Buzzcocks, Pulp, Simple Minds, A Guy Called Gerald, Gary Numan, The Associates, Oasis, Human League, Talking Heads, The Ramones, PiL, Magazine, Frankie Goes To Holywood, Dinosaur Jr, The Smiths, The Sex Pistols, Kraftwerk, Nirvana and even Iggy Pop and Neil Young, if not directly influenced by Bowie, have some link to him or have had some involvement with him, and they are all included in this Top 100.
For a full run down of the Top 100 and a few excerpts from some of the entries, including “Heroes”, go here.
Total Blam Blam – (European Correspondent)