Episodes
Thursday Jun 27, 2019
You Belong in Rock & Roll: One Fan's Idle Speculation
Thursday Jun 27, 2019
Thursday Jun 27, 2019
Sometimes a healthy, good-natured fandom veers off-course into the deep, dark waters of self-destructive obsession. Now is one of those times. Read along as Charlie gets out of control with a penetrating speculation into what, exactly, might be in the next big, fat David Bowie box set, which will likely be announced sometime in the next month.
So if you've read this far, you probably have a basic awareness of what we're talking about here: for the last four years in a row, the Bowie camp has released a super deluxe 13-15 LP box set of mostly previously released music from Bowie. The next one will probably be announced in the next month and come out in the fall and crazy fans like myself can't help but try to figure out what will be in it.
So far, they've done 1969-73, 1974-76, 1977-82, and 1983-88. For awhile it felt unsure if they would go ahead right away with 1989, because it kicks off Bowie's much-maligned hard rock side-project band, Tin Machine. With that said, there has definitely been a noticeable uptick in magazine articles about ol' Tin Machine along with peripheral mentions on the official Bowie site. It seems like they'll almost definitely be the focus of the next set.
As for the name, I'm going with You Belong in Rock & Roll, the title of the lead single on 1991's Tin Machine II. It just fits. I'm also going to make the bold declaration right here and now that this set won't be as big as the previous ones. You'll see why further down.
So here's what I think might be in it and how likely I think it will be. I did this last year too and over all I was pretty successful.
100% Chance - Re:Call 5
All the sets have included a round-up compilation of single versions, b-sides, unique mixes and edits, etc. This one will too.
95% Chance - Tin Machine
I, of course, am referring to the 1989 album here, not just the group in general. There's no good reason why this won't be included. See below for some confusion about the other Tin Machine releases.
90% Chance - Tin Machine II, Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby
So this is one of those weird rights issues... the first Tin Machine album was released under Bowie's solo record contract and seems to be owned outright by the Bowie estate. The second (and final) studio album from 1991 and the officially released live album from 1992 are owned equally by the four members of the band (Bowie, Reeves Gabrels, Hunt Sales, and Tony Sales). It would be very strange to me if the other three living members wouldn't make a deal to make these work. I'm assuming they like money. Then again, these two albums have both been out of print for awhile so who knows.
80% Chance - Live at the Docks
The aforementioned Oy Vey, Baby live album was also released as a video... that included none of the same recordings. Unlike the album, which uses performances from a variety of dates and venues, the video is all from a single performance: October 24, 1991 at The Docks in Hamburg, Germany. There is a precedent in these sets for including unreleased audio of released video (see Serious Moonlight from the last set) so this one seems pretty likely.
50% Chance - Use Your Wallet
Apparently, Tin Machine were planning on releasing another live album in '92 or '93. Oy Vey, Baby is a terrible pun on Achtung Baby so apparently it was going to be called Use Your Wallet as a terrible pun on Use Your Illusion? I don't know. Anyway, the album apparently wasn't released because everybody hated Oy Vey, Baby (with good reason). It's hard to say how far along the album actually was but it's possible it could be released a la The Gouster from the second set. It also seems possible that just the title and cover (if it was created) could be used for the above mentioned Live at the Docks album a la Dance from the fourth set.
40% Chance - Remix Album?
The other four sets have all included at least one remixed/remade album from the period. Will this one too? I honestly don't know. I have no clue which album they would do (especially as there are only two to choose from) but I also know that they're going to have to put in some special collector bait to sell this box because the period isn't well-regarded. This could be one of those.
30% Chance - Sound + Vision Live
Right in the middle of the Tin Machine period, Bowie took a break and went on a gigantic greatest hits solo tour. A live album was in some level of planning at the time but was never released. It seems vaguely possible that it could be released with this set as a bit of collector bait. Alternately, it could show up next year for Record Store day or something like that. It's hard to say if they'll mix in Bowie solo stuff or just stick to Tin Machine for this box.
20% Chance - Ryko Reissue Compilation
In 1990-92, Bowie's back catalog from 1969-82 was rereleased on CD by Rykodisc. Perhaps the most notable part of this campaign is that nearly all of the albums came with bonus tracks, many of them previously unreleased. There's been speculation online that some of these tracks will be included in the next set. Frankly, I just don't see it. These were recorded at very different times and if they were going to come out, I think they would have on earlier sets. The very slim possible exceptions are a few tracks from the later 70s that seem to have been augmented and added to in the late 80s/early 90s. But I still think it's unlikely.
10% Chance - Black Tie White Noise & Buddha of Suburbia
An alarming number of folks on the Bowie message boards think that Bowie's pair of 1993 solo comeback albums will make the next set. I can't imagine why this would happen other than putting more LPs in the box. Stylistically, they couldn't be more different than Tin Machine and they mark a very strong transition from what came before. They also fit very nicely stylistically with Bowie's following two albums, Outside and Earthling. Sorry folks, this just ain't happening.
So my ultimate guess is that we'll get a smaller set this year and it will include some combination of what's above. Check back in a few weeks to examine all the unforgivable errors I've no doubt managed to make!
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