{"id":26466,"date":"2023-12-17T05:30:15","date_gmt":"2023-12-17T10:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=26466"},"modified":"2023-11-14T08:35:13","modified_gmt":"2023-11-14T13:35:13","slug":"take-five-david-bowies-pin-ups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/12\/17\/take-five-david-bowies-pin-ups\/","title":{"rendered":"Take Five: David Bowie\u2019s Pin Ups"},"content":{"rendered":"

By late 1973 David Bowie was at the top of his game. Riding high on the success of a string of albums \u2013 1971\u2019s Hunky Dory<\/em>, 1972\u2019s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars<\/em> and Aladdin Sane<\/em> (released in April \u201873) \u2013 Bowie seemed incapable of making a misstep. His tours in support of the aforementioned albums had helped catapult him into the highest echelons of the rock world; he now stood aside greats like The Who, Rolling Stones, Elton John and Led Zeppelin in terms of both commercial and critical success.<\/p>\n

So what did he do? He went on a busman\u2019s holiday and cut Pin Ups<\/em>, an album\u2019s worth of covers. Such a move was popular among artists of that era: both Bryan Ferry and John Lennon would release similar collections of oldies. Bowie went one better, though, by selecting songs that \u2013 especially in the U.S. \u2013 hadn\u2019t all been smash hits in their original versions. His thinking may have been to pay tribute to some of his influences, giving them a bit of exposure and perhaps opening their music up to Bowie\u2019s own fan base. Here are the original recordings of five tunes David Bowie covered in 1973. Pin Ups<\/em> was released October 19 some fifty years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cRosalyn\u201d by The Pretty Things<\/strong>
\nThe Pretty Things are one of the groups often cited as examples of excellent British acts who weren\u2019t able to find success during the so-called \u201cBritish Invasion\u201d of the U.S. (In England they call it the beat era.) Formed when former Rolling Stones bassist Dick Taylor quit that group and switched back to guitar, the Pretty Things sounded a bit like the Stones, only harder, tougher. The band\u2019s debut single released in May 1964, \u201cRosalyn\u201d almost made it into the Top 40, peaking at #41. The band would later gain notability as one of the first to make a rock opera, 1968\u2019s S.F. Sorrow<\/em>.<\/p>\n