Customer Reviews

Deram Anthology 1966-1968

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The Deram Anthology is the latest compilation to collect recordings a young David Bowie cut for Decca Records between 1966 and 1968. When Bowie became a superstar, Decca began licensing the songs to various labels, leading to a glut of compilations appearing throughout the years. At 27 tracks and 77 minute, the Deram Anthology is by far the most comprehensive account of Bowie's Decca tenure and may easily be the last word on the subject.

Even though Bowie is an artist known for reinventing his musical persona, these songs will surprise listeners only familiar with his more popular glam rock, Thin White Duke and Let's Dance phases. The Bowie of this era was an Anthony Newley-ish, music hall crooner, miles away from Ziggy Stardust.

"There's a rubber band that plays tunes out of tune/In the library garden Sunday afternoon/While a little chappie waves a golden wand," this strange quasi-Bowie sings on the opening "Rubber Band." Campy, childlike and distinctly British lyrics like these, along with backing from unobtrusive string quartets and horn-sections, define the singer circa 1966. Many songs, such as the jubilant "Uncle Arthur;" the R&B-tinted "Gospel According to Tony Day;" and the unbelievably catchy "Love You Till Tuesday" have enough genuine cleverness and charm to override their campiness. Others, such as the manic "Come and Boy Me Toys," the fairy tale cliché-filled "When I Live My Dream" and the Disney-ish "The Laughing Gnome," which popped-up during Bowie's Ziggy Stardust phase and inexplicably became a small hit, are just too ingenuous and whimsical for most modern listeners to tolerate.

The most enjoyable moments of the Deram Anthology are the ones from the latter months of his Decca tenure, which point to latter day Bowie. "We Are Hungry Men," which sounds as if it were inspired by The Wanting Seed, the classic dystopian novel by Bowie's countryman, Anthony Burgess, foretells the sci-fi rock of 1974's Diamond Dogs. Other songs such as "Join the Gang," about the burgeoning London Underground; "The Little Bombardier," starring a disgruntled WWII vet and "Silly Boy Blue," a well-constructed Willy Wonka-ish micro-epic, begin the trend of bizarre character sketches that has lasted throughout Bowie's career.

With its uber-cheerfulness and its utter lack of coolness by modern standards (heck, even by 1966 standards), the Deram Anthology could be written off as the artistic equivalent of an embarrassing year book picture. Even Bowie's most adoring fans will laugh at some point. Yet, it is evident that this is a singer with grace, charm, talent and, of coarse, potential. Beneath the fluff, the Bowie we all know and love is mushrooming.

Recorded in 1966, this strange album displays Bowie's seeds of genius. The dark subject matter is presented in a type of music hall feel that is unconventional even now, three decades later. The wide variety of themes are often set to noteworthy tunes, whilst the inclusion of an early version of Space Oddity and the charming song The Laughing Gnome make the album a must for Bowie completists.

Tracks like Maid Of Bond Street, London Boys and Join The Gang deal with Bowie's youth in swinging London, whilst She's Got My Medals examines gender roles. The ominous We Are Hungry Men depicts a totalitarian nightmare where population control is carried out by cannibalism, amongst other things. Then there's Please Mr Gravedigger, about infanticide, and Little Bombardier, about child abuse. Bowie also explores the innocence of childhood in songs like This Is A Happy Land, Uncle Arthur and Come And Buy My Toys. Let Me Sleep Beside You and When Live My Dream are songs of yearning, quiet moving and memorable.

In a way, Bowie returned to this style of song on 1973's futuristic cabaret Aladdinsane, albeit with more contemporary instruments and arrangements. That was also the year in which the re-released Laughing Gnome made the top ten in the UK. The music is remarkable and unusual but could find no audience in the psychedelic late sixties when rock legends were made. Those Bowie fans who have assimilated all his transformations down the years might find this an interesting collection, but it often still sounds weird. How great that Bowie persevered to make some of the most compelling music of the 1970s and 1980s. The roots of his genius are certainly evident here.

This album has been in my ears now for three days straight, and i have foregone sleep just to listen to it. This is Bowie as a young man. As a legend to be. I love the thin white duke and ziggy stardust, but this album has so much subtle power that it takes your breath away. Tracks like Sell Me A Coat and Love You Till Tuesday makes one want to cry, and Let Me Sleep Beside You is so subtle with an amazing guitar and lyrics, "Wear the dress your mother wore...Let me sleep beside you" I have heard often people knocking this older stuff for the glam Bowie or the Rock Bowie, but they don't understand that this album is vital to making him who he is. It is not "crappy Beatles" but brilliant work from one of the true geniuses of Rock as we love it.

Any fan of David Bowie, or of eclectic music in general, will love this album. It is a mix of unique, strange, or just plain silly lyrics with various musical styles, spanning a period of great experimentation and exploration for Bowie. Granted, it is quite odd, but I have loved it for ten years and recently bought this one for my sister, who also adores it. I highly recommend it.

On first or second listen, you might be tempted to dismiss this record as silly, campy showbiz, or in any other number of ways. Bowie himself might be tempted to dismiss these old tunes as if they were old garments he's already worn out, but he's entitled. I mean, he's David Bowie, isn't he? But these songs are so damned charming that it's almost impossible for anyone else to dismiss them, for any reason. Maybe it's because it sounds so unlike the David Bowie we've come to know. With 20/20 hindsight, the astoundingly creative theatrics of this `spent-too-much-time-in-Art-School' lad now sounds like a collection of some really entertaining and professional work. Within the space of these twenty songs, he touches on cannibalism ("We Are Hungry Men"), an idiot uncle ("Uncle Arthur"), a laughing gnome, (yes it's called "The Laughing Gnome", in which Bowie plays himself and the sped-up gnome voice), a drugged up Mod, ("London Boys"), murder ("Please Mr. Gravedigger), and a transvestite soldier ("She's Got Medals"). C'mon, you gotta admit, that's quite a variety. . The arrangements are, shall we say, eclectic, also, but I haven't even mentioned his strangest (and perhaps best - certainly the funniest, anyway) character. He calls him (this is hysterical, really) "The Little Bombardier". The song is a waltz, driven by a robust tuba arrangement (!!), about an army/airforce vet who returns home and befriends children, only to be chased out of town by the authorities ("Leave them alone or we'll get sore, we've had blokes like you in the station before"). As Bowie sings it, it's pretty funny stuff. "Join the Gang" is hilarious, too, as Bowie casts an amused eye at the self-appointed `In' crowd (sung to a spy-type rhythm, he sings "This club's called The Web, it's this months pick. Next month we shall find a place where prices ain't so stiff...")
Veering between the silly and the profound, often within the same song, David Bowie creates varied, vivid and amusing theatrics all over this collection of songs. Throughout, he takes an amusedly twisted look at the English `music hall' tradition, filtering his impressions through the eyes of an ambitiously creative teenager during `the summer of love'. Some of these songs could have been used twenty years ago on the Vaudeville circuit ("RubberBand", "Did You Ever Have a Dream?"). Others glimpse toward the future ("Karma Man" is a brilliant pop tune, especially considering how early it was conceived). In 1966 and 1967, David Bowie was doing some remarkably eccentric (and inspired) work. Utilizing all sorts of studio musicians, he practically ignored `guitar rock', psychedelic, or any other kind of rock, for that matter. He was off in his own world, and not many people were listening yet.
The songs that I talk about in this review are available in practically dozens of ways, since they've been repackaged so many times. The copy I'm reviewing is a 12" vinyl double album on London (BP 628/9), with the wonderful cartoon covers, front and back, which animate the song titles. I bet that if he reflects on it, Bowie still holds a place in his heart for some of these tunes after all. I sure do.
A Tom Ryan

David Bowie has been through so many public personae that it's a cliche to say he's a chameleon. In fact, as the liner notes point out, a chameleon tries to blend in, which is actually the opposite of Bowie's modus operandi.

This was true even during the sessions that produced the brilliant work found here, often superficially referred to as Bowie's Anthony Newley period. True, the vocals are often very Newleyesque, as if he were channeling Top Of the Pops by way of light musical theater. While the Beatles held the world's attention, this young man was busily mowing his career path in an entirely different direction. If one truly *listens* to this excellent work, however, Bowie's unique perspective shines through unabashedly.

A number of these songs are as eerie as anything from Diamond Dogs, or as any scene from The Man Who Fell to Earth. Please Mr. Gravedigger, for example, could easily be a Twilight Zone lost episode, as could We Are Hungry Men, Uncle Arthur, The London Boys, Little Bomardier, She's Got Medals, or even Maid of Bond Street, all of which are strikingly vivid character portraits of characters on the fringes, much like Bowie has always portrayed.

There are more straightforward mid-60s pop tunes here too, although with more an orchestral backing a la Petula Clark than anything one would associate with this artist. The Laughing Gnome is a memorable embarrassment, with its Chipmunk style, but unforgettable tunes like Love You Till Tuesday, Did You Ever Have a Dream, Let Me Sleep Beside You, and In the Heat of the Morning are as solid as any of his worldwide hit singles of later years. Oddly, the lyrics of many of these early tunes seem, in retrospect, more mature than many found on later LPs like The Man Who Sold the World, Space Oddity, etc. (Speaking of that Space Oddity LP, Hermione herself turns up as a co-lead vocalist on one of the tracks here, called Ching-A-Ling as well as backing David on a couple of alternate versions of better-known early tracks.)

Any Bowie fans who haven't heard these tracks owe it to themselves to add this collection to the regular rotation on their CD changers. It's a terrific 80-minute aural snapshot of the artist in development, showing that he clearly had the chops to take it to the next level, as indeed inevitably happened.

I purchased "Images" by Bowie over twenty years ago and can tell you this album will stay with you forever. This is bowie at his best.

beautiful amazing unique album by the young david bowie before he became a star. i recomend this to any bowie fan / its an essential if you want to know more or see the young david bowie's artistic and original sound before he became popular. be prepared , it is alot diffrent than his 70s- today music but you have to be open minded about it, give it a chance. When i first heard it i was suprised but the album will grow on you and the more you listen to it the more appreciative of it you will be. The first song on the album is rubber band , it is very diffrent and has horns and sounds a bit theatrical but i like it and it is one of the good songs on the album, 2nd song is london boys-great song, tells story about boy leaving home and trying to fit in and find his place and his experiences, maybe based on bowies experience-the third song is the laughing gnome, its cute and has a gnome voice singing with bowie in the chorus and tells a story about how he befriends a gnome, fourth song - gospel according to tony day had a strong 60's sound / haunting /slow paced- another good song- fifth song is uncle arthur is a fun catchy song/has a unique sound to it. sixth song is buy me a coat- this song has beautiful lyrics and bowie sings it well. 7th song is a slightly diffrent version of rubberband. Love you till tuesday is the 8th song and is a playful side of bowie- its a nice song. There is a happy land is the 9th song and is pretty good tells a story about children and imagination and things. The 10th song we are hungry men is upbeat then goes into a powerful chorus - talking about a messiah and its a good song with a message, the 11th song is when i live my dream and talks about his dream and is pretty good, 12th song little bombarder- not one of my favorites, 13th song is silly boy blue, ok song - not one of my favorites, 14rth song is come and buy my toys- has lots of imagination to it and is a good song, 15th song is join the gang- so so song, 16 is she got medals which is pretty good-17th song is maid of bond street- charming song/another good song- 18th song ( if you can call it a song ) its more of bowie doing a dialogue storytelling and walking during a rainstorm and telling the story of a gravedigger- 19th song is another version of love you till tuesday- 20th song is did you ever have a dream - i dont like this one- 21st song is karma man and is ok, 22nd song is let me sleep beside you (not to good), the next 4 songs are so so and the last song the 27th song on the ALBUM is one of the real HIGHLIGHTS- its a very early and maybe first recording of Space Oddity which gives me chills when i hear it. It is brilliant and the old sound to it makes it even better and just the sheer brilliance of his ideas so early in his career and his ability to write these great songs are amazing. Overall this album is worth every penny and should be in any bowie fans collection. Highly Recomended.

I got this used, and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of Bowie's very early tracks. I had expected them to be poor quality, teaming with good reaons that Bowie was not a hit until "Space Oddity" (an early version of which is the final song on this album), but no: this disc made me think it was actually more the case was that the world wasn't ready for David Bowie, or at least Deram didn't see it. Quality stuff, this. Not superior to his later work (which is why it's not 4 stars . . . EVERYONE doesn't need this one) but quality none the less.

This is a CD version of the old "Images" compilation with two added selections: "Ching-a-ling" and "Space Oddity". Most of these songs are modest, funny, charming, and very reminiscent of the era in which they were written. They grow on you and continue and continue to grow on you. If you have a taste or a tolerance for musical comedy and middle-of-the-road English sixties performers such as Petula Clark and Peter Noone and you love zany humor, why then I suggest you buy this recording.