Normally I quite enjoy reading The Quietus, but their recent “Beyond the Hits” feature on unheralded David Bowie tracks pissed me off a bit. Most (not all) of the selections were annoyingly obvious. Someone even chose “Queen Bitch”! “Queen Bitch”? Great song, but off the beaten track of Bowie fandom? Are you kidding me? HA!
If you’re going to ask supposed “experts” at least make sure they’re folks who know something about the subject. Tracks from Low, Young Americans, Hunky Dory or Lodger, no matter how great they are, can hardly be considered rarities.
There was one inspired selection, though, I thought, and that was courtesy of Joe Stannard, the insane instrumental outtake from Low called “All Saints”:
which first appeared on All Saints: Collected Instrumentals 1977-1999 an expanded version of a CD that Bowie gave out to friends one Christmas. I own a ridiculous amount of Bowie bootlegs and this song never turned up on any that I was aware of until this collection came out in 2000. At the proper volume, this song can knock you off your feet:
This track, from the Berlin recording sessions which produced Low, is almost indistinguishable from early Throbbing Gristle. Play it back-to-back with TG circa 1979 (as compiled on 1986’s CD1) and you’ll see what I mean. A gnarly squall of low-end electronic noise punctuated by sprite-like coils of treble, this track more than matches the original industrialists for uncompromisingly ugly beauty and offers a stark contrast to the far less visceral instrumental pieces which made the album’s final cut. In truth, Bowie’s decision to leave this piece off Low is understandable; it seems likely that the other tracks would have simply withered in its proximity. Bowie wouldn’t properly release anything as harsh as this until 1995’s flawed but fascinating reunion with Eno, Outside, by which time the term ‘industrial music’ meant something completely different.
Stannard’s observation about the wisdom of leaving the incredible “All Saints” off the track listing of Low is probably right on the money. Can you imagine what the mainstream rock press would have made of a song like this in 1977? Low was already considered to be an uncompromising and impenetrable album at the time, the inclusion of “All Saints” would have seen the critics questioning Bowie’s sanity.
And YES, it sounds just like Throbbing Gristle.
If you want an amazing, vintage Bowie rarity to blow your doors off, turn this up super loud and let it wash all over you. You’ll be glad you did.
