![david bowie’s station to station: best inner sleeve of all time? weirdly the internet didn’t have a picture of it, so i took this photograph of my very own copy of the album just now.
[taking photos of my pretty lps, part 3]](http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kxfs1aBaOv1qz84mmo1_400.jpg)
david bowie’s station to station: best inner sleeve of all time? weirdly the internet didn’t have a picture of it, so i took this photograph of my very own copy of the album just now.
[taking photos of my pretty lps, part 3]
max abelson's super groovy music video spectacular
1960s on mon
1970s on tues
1980s on wed
1990s on thurs
2000s on fri
featuring the fine musical stylings of: the beatles, the rolling stones, serge gainsbourg, yo la tengo, the kinks, harry nilsson, ike & tina turner, antony, aretha franklin, wilco, elvis, talking heads, stephen foster, dr. dre, bonnie 'prince' billy, elvis c., neil young, the smiths, dusty springfield, al green, jimi hendrix, r.e.m., ray charles, belle & sebastian, randy newman, cat power, the cure, queen & pavement
i write for the observer, email me at mabelson at observer.com
"mtv makes me want to smoke crack." -beck
see the archives, or a random post.
"i just happen to be here, and it's okay." -caetano veloso
"it took me about three or four weeks to toilet train my cat, nightlife. most of the time is spent moving the box very gradually to the bathroom. do it very slowly and don't confuse him." -charles mingus
"sing a simple song but keep the swing strong." -de la soul
"his wife was a spent piece of used jet trash, made good bloody marys, kept her mouth shut most of the time, had a chihuahua named carlos that had some kind of skin disease and was totally blind." -tom waits
"i’ve still got things inside me—sad things, happy things—that people don’t know about." -loretta lynn
"after cheesecake with all of your friends and family, who's gonna front the bill? me... say you want to take first-class trips, well i want to work those first-class hips. yes i do." -r. kelly
"i drive a rolls-royce, cause it's good for my voice." -t.rex
gotta think straight, keep a clean plate." -joanna newsom
"keep a clean nose, watch the plain clothes." -bob dylan
"my mother used to tell me about vibrations. i didn't really understand too much of what that meant when i was just a boy. to think that invisible feelings, invisible vibrations existed scared me to death." -brian wilson
"i'll be the wind, the rain and the sunset." -lou reed
"hey there, hey now, well, you can make a pacemaker blink, yeah, easy thing, make a man's heart go bibbity bom like a gentle drum: dirty ass rock and roll. -john cale
"i'm dealing in rock and roll. i'm not a bonafide human being." -phil spector
"at a certain point phil approached me with a bottle of kosher red wine in one hand and a .45 in the other, put his arm around my shoulder and shoved the revolver into my neck and said, 'leonard, i love you.' i said, 'i hope you do, phil.'" -leonard cohen
"we were having coffee or something to drink, i forget, at 2 am at the plaza hotel. phil had this long hair, down to his shoulders, he’s a very strange looking guy, it’s, well, anyway, this was before longish hair was everywhere, it goes back. i could see at this table nearby, there were two couples, i remember, they were older people, at least in the 60s, they’d whisper at each other and look at phil and whisper at each other. finally this lady, tanked, comes over to phil and says, 'alright, sonny, what’s your problem?' and he said, 'premature ejaculation, what’s yours?'" -tom wolfe
"i bite my nails and if that fails i go get myself stoned, but when i do i think of you and head myself back home" -gram parsons
woody allen's reasons to live: "i would say groucho marx, to name one thing, and willie mays, and the second movement of the jupiter symphony, and louis armstrong’s recording of potatohead blues, swedish movies, naturally. sentimental education by flaubert, marlon brando, frank sinatra, those incredible apples and pears by cézanne, the crabs at sam wo’s, tracy’s face."
"i'm going to boogie my scruples away" -lowell george
"the first time i got stoned on grass was with john paul jones of led zeppelin. we'd been talking to ramblin' jack elliott somewhere and jonesy said to me, 'come over and i'll turn you on to grass.' he had a huge room with nothing in it except this huge vast hammond organ, right next door to the police. i ate two loaves of bread. then the telephone rang. jonesy said, answer that for me will you? so i went downstairs to answer the phone and kept on walking right out into the street." -david bowie
brian eno songs that will make good book titles for my 10-volume memoir, in order: here he comes, baby's on fire, golden hours, brutal ardour, taking tiger mountain, events in dense fog, through hollow lands, some of them are old, everything merges with the night, dead finks don’t talk
ry cooder albums that every man should own: into the purple valley, boomer's story, paradise and lunch
#1 song on the white album (tie): long long long, happiness is a warm gun
"the only word is love." -john lennon
thelonious monk's middle name: sphere
"think about something else. was art tatum talented?" -charles aznavour in shoot the piano player
"really, we don't want people twiddling their goatees over our stuff" -radiohead
"i don't rap fast, i rap slow, 'cause i mean every letter in the words in the sentences of my quotes." -lil' wayne
"i love songs about horses, railroads, land, judgment day, family, hard times, whiskey, courtship, marriage, adultery, separation, murder, war, prison, rambling, damnation, home, salvation, death, pride, humor, piety, rebellion, patriotism, larceny, determination, tragedy, rowdiness, heartbreak and love. and mother. and god." -johnny cash
"the moon is clear, the sky is bright, i'm happy as the horse's shite." -the pogues
"i hope that you all out there, young, old, tall, short, fat or thin, quick or slow, no matter what kind or color or shape or person you are, if you like to make music, why, go ahead, don't let the microphones and loudspeakers faze you, make some yourself.” -pete seeger
"but chuck berry isn't merely the greatest of the rock and rollers, or rather, there's nothing mere about it. say rather that unless we can somehow recycle the concept of the great artist so that it supports chuck berry as well as it does marcel proust, we might as well trash it altogether." -robert christgau
mashable.com says about the spectacular: "you can expect the unexpected with this awesome gem. groovy."
the 33 1/3 book series' blog says: "whenever i start playing around on youtube i always end up watching that lady fall over while stomping grapes, so it's nice to have someone steer me in a more worthwhile direction."
see album covers, photos, posters, quotes & staches
make a tumblr!
2008: j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d.
2009: j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d.
2010: j. f.
1970s on tues
1980s on wed
1990s on thurs
2000s on fri
featuring the fine musical stylings of: the beatles, the rolling stones, serge gainsbourg, yo la tengo, the kinks, harry nilsson, ike & tina turner, antony, aretha franklin, wilco, elvis, talking heads, stephen foster, dr. dre, bonnie 'prince' billy, elvis c., neil young, the smiths, dusty springfield, al green, jimi hendrix, r.e.m., ray charles, belle & sebastian, randy newman, cat power, the cure, queen & pavement
i write for the observer, email me at mabelson at observer.com
"mtv makes me want to smoke crack." -beck
see the archives, or a random post.
"i just happen to be here, and it's okay." -caetano veloso
"it took me about three or four weeks to toilet train my cat, nightlife. most of the time is spent moving the box very gradually to the bathroom. do it very slowly and don't confuse him." -charles mingus
"sing a simple song but keep the swing strong." -de la soul
"his wife was a spent piece of used jet trash, made good bloody marys, kept her mouth shut most of the time, had a chihuahua named carlos that had some kind of skin disease and was totally blind." -tom waits
"i’ve still got things inside me—sad things, happy things—that people don’t know about." -loretta lynn
"after cheesecake with all of your friends and family, who's gonna front the bill? me... say you want to take first-class trips, well i want to work those first-class hips. yes i do." -r. kelly
"i drive a rolls-royce, cause it's good for my voice." -t.rex
gotta think straight, keep a clean plate." -joanna newsom
"keep a clean nose, watch the plain clothes." -bob dylan
"my mother used to tell me about vibrations. i didn't really understand too much of what that meant when i was just a boy. to think that invisible feelings, invisible vibrations existed scared me to death." -brian wilson
"i'll be the wind, the rain and the sunset." -lou reed
"hey there, hey now, well, you can make a pacemaker blink, yeah, easy thing, make a man's heart go bibbity bom like a gentle drum: dirty ass rock and roll. -john cale
"i'm dealing in rock and roll. i'm not a bonafide human being." -phil spector
"at a certain point phil approached me with a bottle of kosher red wine in one hand and a .45 in the other, put his arm around my shoulder and shoved the revolver into my neck and said, 'leonard, i love you.' i said, 'i hope you do, phil.'" -leonard cohen
"we were having coffee or something to drink, i forget, at 2 am at the plaza hotel. phil had this long hair, down to his shoulders, he’s a very strange looking guy, it’s, well, anyway, this was before longish hair was everywhere, it goes back. i could see at this table nearby, there were two couples, i remember, they were older people, at least in the 60s, they’d whisper at each other and look at phil and whisper at each other. finally this lady, tanked, comes over to phil and says, 'alright, sonny, what’s your problem?' and he said, 'premature ejaculation, what’s yours?'" -tom wolfe
"i bite my nails and if that fails i go get myself stoned, but when i do i think of you and head myself back home" -gram parsons
woody allen's reasons to live: "i would say groucho marx, to name one thing, and willie mays, and the second movement of the jupiter symphony, and louis armstrong’s recording of potatohead blues, swedish movies, naturally. sentimental education by flaubert, marlon brando, frank sinatra, those incredible apples and pears by cézanne, the crabs at sam wo’s, tracy’s face."
"i'm going to boogie my scruples away" -lowell george
"the first time i got stoned on grass was with john paul jones of led zeppelin. we'd been talking to ramblin' jack elliott somewhere and jonesy said to me, 'come over and i'll turn you on to grass.' he had a huge room with nothing in it except this huge vast hammond organ, right next door to the police. i ate two loaves of bread. then the telephone rang. jonesy said, answer that for me will you? so i went downstairs to answer the phone and kept on walking right out into the street." -david bowie
brian eno songs that will make good book titles for my 10-volume memoir, in order: here he comes, baby's on fire, golden hours, brutal ardour, taking tiger mountain, events in dense fog, through hollow lands, some of them are old, everything merges with the night, dead finks don’t talk
ry cooder albums that every man should own: into the purple valley, boomer's story, paradise and lunch
#1 song on the white album (tie): long long long, happiness is a warm gun
"the only word is love." -john lennon
thelonious monk's middle name: sphere
"think about something else. was art tatum talented?" -charles aznavour in shoot the piano player
"really, we don't want people twiddling their goatees over our stuff" -radiohead
"i don't rap fast, i rap slow, 'cause i mean every letter in the words in the sentences of my quotes." -lil' wayne
"i love songs about horses, railroads, land, judgment day, family, hard times, whiskey, courtship, marriage, adultery, separation, murder, war, prison, rambling, damnation, home, salvation, death, pride, humor, piety, rebellion, patriotism, larceny, determination, tragedy, rowdiness, heartbreak and love. and mother. and god." -johnny cash
"the moon is clear, the sky is bright, i'm happy as the horse's shite." -the pogues
"i hope that you all out there, young, old, tall, short, fat or thin, quick or slow, no matter what kind or color or shape or person you are, if you like to make music, why, go ahead, don't let the microphones and loudspeakers faze you, make some yourself.” -pete seeger
"but chuck berry isn't merely the greatest of the rock and rollers, or rather, there's nothing mere about it. say rather that unless we can somehow recycle the concept of the great artist so that it supports chuck berry as well as it does marcel proust, we might as well trash it altogether." -robert christgau
mashable.com says about the spectacular: "you can expect the unexpected with this awesome gem. groovy."
the 33 1/3 book series' blog says: "whenever i start playing around on youtube i always end up watching that lady fall over while stomping grapes, so it's nice to have someone steer me in a more worthwhile direction."
see album covers, photos, posters, quotes & staches
make a tumblr!
2008: j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d.
2009: j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d.
2010: j. f.
![i forgot how good david bowie’s station to station was, but it’s the only thing that’s saving this non-snowy day. first of all, tvc15 is one of the best pop songs of the 1970s, and not only because it’s about an incident in which iggy pop thought his television was eating his girlfriend. but then word on a wing sneaks up on you, golden years is a toe-tapper, and the title song is terrifying and classic. david bowie learned that station to station was recorded in los angeles only afterwards, and it shows.
[taking photos of my pretty lps, part 2]](http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kxfqs0ajKt1qz84mmo1_400.jpg)
i forgot how good david bowie’s station to station was, but it’s the only thing that’s saving this non-snowy day. first of all, tvc15 is one of the best pop songs of the 1970s, and not only because it’s about an incident in which iggy pop thought his television was eating his girlfriend. but then word on a wing sneaks up on you, golden years is a toe-tapper, and the title song is terrifying and classic. david bowie learned that station to station was recorded in los angeles only afterwards, and it shows.
[taking photos of my pretty lps, part 2]
#496: queen - crazy little thing called love (1979)
even if there are infinitely glorious things about freddie mercury’s leather-clad band, like the knee pads he wears down a runway made up of hands clapping along to crazy little thing called love, or his buxom naked lady friends racing bicycles, or his ability to rhyme “moet et chandon in a pretty cabinet” with “just like marie antoinette,” “caviar and cigarettes,” “well-versed in etiquette,” and “playful as a pussy cat,” is it all worth it if the opening song of nbc’s brand new and sensational four-night epic a capella showdown event sing-off manages to utterly and permanently destroy queen’s under pressure?
we would lose a lot if queen and its delightful songs hadn’t existed in the first place, but on the plus side no one would ever have heard this terrifying televised atrocity—let alone the introduction from nick lachey (“group singing is a phenomenon, and tonight we are taking it to soaring new heights”), or his breathless response: “and they did that totally without instruments. amazing! amazing.” would that maybe be worth it? freddie mercury can’t answer, because he’s dead, but someone should ask bowie.
#460: mott the hoople - all the young dudes (1972)
the best david bowie song that’s not actually a david bowie song is also the best pop smash about stealing clothes, popping pimples, funky little boat races, t.rex on tv, boogaloo, news about the end of the world, drag queens, boring 60s songs, wine, concrete and sex. most importantly, those sloppy and delicious hand claps during the chorus make i saw her standing there sound bad. and if you can tear your ears from the claps, you’ll hear ian hunter coo as the song closes, “hey you there, with the glasses. i want you.”
#428: david bowie - oh! you pretty things (old grey whistle test, 1972)
this isn’t just the best song on david’s bowie’s best album (unless ziggy stardust is better than hunky dory), it’s the world’s best example of tickled-ivory glam. was his piano made out of feather boas? yes. do the heavens open when woody woodmansey’s drums crash in? yes. could that jumpsuit have been comfortable? no.
#397: david bowie - rebel rebel (1974)
not that appearances are so important (only kidding, of course they are), but i resisted rebel rebel’s clammy, glammy, extra-warm, super-sticky, late-saturday-night charms until i watched bowie pretend to play it on a red guitar in spandex overalls, a polka-dotted neck scarf and an eye patch. outerspace rockstars who look like lesbians on mid-70s dutch television just have that pull.
#159: david bowie - five years (1972)
i’m back in new york city after seven days in the countryside, where i went to recuperate from cheekbone reconstructive surgery so that i could look more like david bowie.
no, just kidding, i was there on vacation. having bowie’s bones would be nice, though. then i could sing lines like: “news had just come over, we had five years left to sigh in/ news guy wept and told us, earth was really dying/ cried so much his face was wet, then I knew he was not lying.”
still, i don’t want his ‘72 jumpsuits.
#100: david bowie - drive in saturday (1973)
“gee, it’s late, let’s go to bed,” is my favorite pick-up line, and drive in saturday is my favorite david bowie tune. yes, that’s right, i love it—lerve it, luff it—more than starman or any of that spidery jive.
it’s just that there’s something about the doo-wop harmonies, the opium handclaps, the eyes-of-jagger romanticism, and especially the astronette/cabinet rhymes. and the cheek bones.
#99: david bowie - starman (1972)
this here is some hazy cosmic jive (which, incidentally, was originally posted as the second-ever video on this site back on jan. 19th, but because of a small glitch it was removed and reposted here as video #99). in 1972, david bowie was ziggy stardust, his band was the spiders from mars, and on top of the pops on the bbc (which called him “a bizarre, self-constructed freak”) they all played some get-it-on rock and roll.
does guitarist mick ronson’s gold jumpsuit beat dusty’s blouse from video #1? and does ziggy’s puffed red hair beat ronson’s blonde mane? and check out the sweater vested lad jiving in the background. and when you’re done, watch david bowie (then in his “thin white duke,” handfuls-of-cocaine phase), doing a young americans medley with cher on the cher show)
#4: t. rex - children of the revolution (1972)
even though this website’s only been in business for three days, it’s high time there’s a video with giant toothbrushes, stuffed zebras, white-faced glam rockers hiding inside of pianos played by elton john, and some ringo starr in clown paint.
this scene, from the film born to boogie, follows david bowie’s glam arch-enemy, t-rex (aka marc bolen), playing live in apple studios in london. i’ll be damned if ringo’s little drum solo isn’t fantastic, and if elton weren’t wearing a black turtleneck with hearts painted under his eyes i’d like his honky tonking too.
