I’m Still An Alligator

Turns out I have a lot of David Bowie on my hard drive(s) and digging it all out/organizing it is proving to be a task better suited for some sort of digital archaeologist. Just counting songs that are properly tagged as David Bowie/Tine Machine I have about 1,300 tracks in my iTunes library. I know I have more buried somewhere though. And I’m fairly certain that I have some singles back in the states that I never got around the properly recording. That’s a real shame because there are a few gems there, including a weird 10+ minute remix of “Fame ’90.”

I continue to be amazed at how much David Bowie is in print now. If you want the 12″ remix of “Magic Dance” then you can go on Amazon and fucking buy it right now. AND YOU SHOULD BECAUSE IT’S AWESOME. You can even go online and get remixes to “Loving The Alien” if you so desired.

So basically I’m repeating what I said in my previous all Bowie post, if you like David Bowie’s music then you should really be buying his music.

Of course, this blog exists because that’s not always possible. So here’s some shit that’s worthwhile yet unavailable.

David Bowie
Fun (Dillinja Mix)
Dead Man Walking (This One’s Not Dead Yet Mix)
Under Pressure (Live)
Moonage Daydream (Live)
Some real oddities tonight.

First up is a remix of “Fun,” which is doubly weird because the non-remixed version of “Fun” was never commercially released as far as I can tell. I have no idea when it was recorded, the story behind it, or if any other remixes were ever made available in any way shape or form. I got this remix off of the Davidbowie.com exclusive Live And Well 2CD compilation. Most of the remixes from that set were made available when Bowie’s mid/90s output was re-released in 2CD sets, but it didn’t make the cut.

After that we have a unique remix of “Dead Man Walking” which I found off of a CD single to the song. Another mix that didn’t make the cut when Bowie’s 90s records were re-released. A real shame too because it’s one of the better ones. While most of the song’s remixes play the dance angle and crank it up to be a club banger, this one puts Bowie on the forefront and tones it down a bit, all while keeping its beat. It’s a cool take on a great track.

Finally, there are two live tracks, both taken from the CD-single to “Hallo Spaceboy.” The live version of “Under Pressure” is relatively faithful to the original save for the fact that the vocals are shared by Bowie’s amazing bass player Gail Ann Dorsey.  However, the live rendition of “Moonage Daydream” is an interesting departure from the original, stripping away a lot of what made it a glam rock tune and replacing it with some industrial/90s’-rock overtones. Bowie would do this a lot when he toured in the 90s, sometimes to more drastic degrees than others. The changes he made to this track are tame compared to how he totally re-worked “Andy Warhol” into batshit crazy drum and bass track during his “Outside” tour.

By the way, does anyone have high-quality MP3s of this 90s tours that they’d feel like sharing?

7 Responses to “I’m Still An Alligator”

  1. Peter says:

    I’ve the 1996 Loreley show in FLAC (almost 1GB) and in 256kbs MP3 (180MB).

  2. etk01 says:

    I heard about the existence of that remix of Fame ’90 on a different site years ago and am trying to find those reference tapes (or a recorded copy of it) so hopefully you get around to it in the future because it’s a bit of a holy grail in the same way Leon suite tapes were before they leaked.

  3. Adam Stanley says:

    Check out bowiestation.com for a dedicated Bowie concert site. Lots of ’90 shows there.

  4. birotheleggy says:

    Oh, I can hook you up with some 90’s Bowie for sure… I’ll set a reminder to put some things together

    Also FYI: you’re right “Fun” was never officially released, just that one remix on the ‘fanclub only’ “LiveandWell” live cd
    the normal version (and other remixes) only came out on a few promo’s

    as far as that remix of “Fame” – you mean the “Absolutely Nothing Premeditated Mix” right?
    https://soundcloud.com/jsummers/05-fame-90-absolutely-nothing

  5. DJBenW says:

    ATTN: etk01
    https://www.discogs.com/David-Bowie-Fame-90/release/199267
    Picked this up used a few years ago for probably a quarter. haha

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