1. Life On Mars
2. Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (Reprise)
3. The Bewlay Brothers
4. Lady Grinning Soul
5. Win
6. Some Are (Low out-take)
7. Teenage Wildlife
8. Repetition
9. Fantastic Voyage
10. Loving the Alien
11. Time Will Crawl (MM Re-mix)
12. Hang on to Yourself (Live from the Santa Monica ’72)

corking!

Or Nevermind, pal.

1977 was indeed something of a Bowie year. But Never Mind The Bollocks, Saturday Night Fever and flippin Exodus! All of which tower over even the might of New Boots and Panties.

It appears to be one of those years like 67 that you just couldn’t have kept up with new releases (Sgt Pepper, plus 2 albums from Hendrix, 2 from the Doors, 2 from Bolan, 2 from the Stones, 2 from Love, plus Magical Mystery Tour EP, Let’s Spend The Night Together, Strawberry Fields. And Laughing Gnome).

Not sure I’ll have a go at this one, Jim. I’ve bought less and less new music in the last ten years, I’d not have much problem with an overwhelm of candidates since about 1996; if anything I might struggle to find summat for some years of the last decade.

Not that I’m being one of those nostalgia tossers who thinks all modern music is crap compared to when they were young. If anything, I’d guess it’s the opposite; it’s got easier and cheaper to make music, so in all likelihood there’s more great music being made now than ever before.

But I no longer find myself frequently spending hours on end sitting listening to music as a sole activity in itself. More of an issue is the fact that most of what I do get is old stuff. Way the majority of music I’ve discovered in the last couple of years is older than I am.

You’re right when you point out that Station to Station was released in 1976. It was one of the few decent records of that year. But it was hardly a classic. At least, not by Bowie’s standards, and certainly not in the same league as Bob Marley’s 1976 masterpiece (Rastaman Vibration is easily my favourite of his albums). I’ve always seen Bowie’s post-glam / pre-Berlin period as being the calm before the storm. As though he was, as an artist, pausing briefly to gather himself before launching into Low, “Heroes” and Lodger; three albums in a two year period that would define most other artists and overshadow all else they produced, but which — for Bowie — merely became “his late 70s stuff”.

Just looking at the bits of my collection that have made it into iTunes… dear Lord, I’d have to choose between Pet Sounds, Revolver and Blonde on Blonde. And then between Pepper and Forever changes. Then Family entertainment, Basket of light and Volume two…

“nobody else releasing much of anything” in 1976? You mean, apart from Station to station….