Members rasputin1963 Posted December 9, 2007 Members Share Posted December 9, 2007 Listening to a great British online radio today, I heard them play a song... it was one of the grand "dorky" style of novelty songs, right up there with "Disco Duck", "The Monster Mash", Alvin and The Chipmunks, and "Beep Beep": Turns out, it was by none other than the high prince of ultra-cool, David Bowie! Called "The Laughing Gnome", it had been recorded in 1966, when he was still groping for a sound of his own... Give it a listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuUvvYHwAws Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted December 9, 2007 Members Share Posted December 9, 2007 Yeah, Bowie always says he's embarrassed about this song, but if you take away the goofy pitched-up gnome voice, it's still not a bad little tune. Kinda fun. I like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted December 9, 2007 Members Share Posted December 9, 2007 Listening to a great British online radio today, I heard them play a song... it was one of the grand "dorky" style of novelty songs, right up there with "Disco Duck", "The Monster Mash", Alvin and The Chipmunks, and "Beep Beep":Turns out, it was by none other than the high prince of ultra-cool, David Bowie!Called "The Laughing Gnome", it had been recorded in 1966, when he was still groping for a sound of his own...Give it a listen:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuUvvYHwAws I own it on vinyl. There was an EP of some early David Jones tracks. It's very difficult to listen to. It makes "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" sound like Beethoven's Ninth. It's just extraordinarily irritating. Mrs. Miller is less irritating. But I'm glad I own it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted December 9, 2007 Author Members Share Posted December 9, 2007 it's still not a bad little tune. Kinda fun. I like it. You're right. The melody itself was very clever... Bowie always could write a great song. I read a ROLLING STONE interview with him in which he said he wrote lyrics thusly: He'd go to a magazine stand and buy one of each kind of magazine (politics, sports, girlie, celeb news, science, women's fashion, household tips, guns and hunting, etc.) He'd take the magazines home and cut out important keywords from many, many articles. He'd put these keywords into a hat, then dump them out onto the floor... Then he'd challenge himself to weave ALL the keywords into a single lyric. Now, how brilliant was THAT? An instant guarantee that his songs would have universal contemporary appeal... Every potential listener's ears would prick up when they heard a keyword from their field-of-interest mentioned... But all unified/integrated into a single artwork So a seemingly bizarre lyric like that of "Young Americans" actually had some method to its madness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted December 10, 2007 Members Share Posted December 10, 2007 I kinda like that song, although the Chipmunky voices get old after a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EnemyofSilence Posted December 10, 2007 Members Share Posted December 10, 2007 You're right. The melody itself was very clever... Bowie always could write a great song. I read a ROLLING STONE interview with him in which he said he wrote lyrics thusly: He'd go to a magazine stand and buy one of each kind of magazine (politics, sports, girlie, celeb news, science, women's fashion, household tips, guns and hunting, etc.) He'd take the magazines home and cut out important keywords from many, many articles. He'd put these keywords into a hat, then dump them out onto the floor... Then he'd challenge himself to weave ALL the keywords into a single lyric. Now, how brilliant was THAT? An instant guarantee that his songs would have universal contemporary appeal... Every potential listener's ears would prick up when they heard a keyword from their field-of-interest mentioned... But all unified/integrated into a single artwork So a seemingly bizarre lyric like that of "Young Americans" actually had some method to its madness. yeah, as per William Burroughs who usually gets credit for the technique. Tzara's been dead too long to complain. Anyway, yeah, db used the technique for years and probably still does at times. As for the Laughing Gnome, he had quite a body of work around that time. Most of it quite bizarre and often quite cheesy. The were some gems though. London Boys, for instance, which he actually performed in 2000 which I saw. He also performed Silly Boy Blue at the Tibet House Benefit around the same time - with Philip Glass, Tony Visconti, a string section, and an ensemble of monks. Twas amazing!!! His nostalgia for his work of that period lead to "Toy" - an album reminiscent of his 60's style, which was never released in context, but bit by bit, most of it's seen the light of day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Super 8 Posted December 10, 2007 Members Share Posted December 10, 2007 Bowie's had to pay some dues along the way like anyone else.I about fell out of my chair the first time I saw this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted December 10, 2007 Members Share Posted December 10, 2007 yeah, as per William Burroughs who usually gets credit for the technique. Tzara's been dead too long to complain. Anyway, yeah, db used the technique for years and probably still does at times. As for the Laughing Gnome, he had quite a body of work around that time. Most of it quite bizarre and often quite cheesy. The were some gems though. London Boys, for instance, which he actually performed in 2000 which I saw. He also performed Silly Boy Blue at the Tibet House Benefit around the same time - with Philip Glass, Tony Visconti, a string section, and an ensemble of monks. Twas amazing!!!His nostalgia for his work of that period lead to "Toy" - an album reminiscent of his 60's style, which was never released in context, but bit by bit, most of it's seen the light of day. Actually, the Dadaists probably have more claim to "cut and paste" writing, as they called it. But it may predate them, as well. This article draws connections between the Dadaists of the early 20th century use of the technique in poetry/writing and Hans Christian Andersen's "paper cut" visual art of the mid-19th century: http://www2.kb.dk/elib/mss/hcaklip//intro-en.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted December 10, 2007 Author Members Share Posted December 10, 2007 Bowie's had to pay some dues along the way like anyone else.I about fell out of my chair the first time I saw this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z9b0GFRz9g Ouch--ouchee-ouchee--ouchee---ouch--McOuch---ouchville---oucharooney----ouch-o-rama---www.ouch.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EnemyofSilence Posted December 10, 2007 Members Share Posted December 10, 2007 Actually, the Dadaists probably have more claim to "cut and paste" writing, as they called it. But it may predate them, as well. Hence my mention of Tzara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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