In the not too distant past, fellow blogger Runaway American Dream did his top twenty David Bowie list. That, of course, got me to thinking about my own list. I published it on his site but I’ll do that here as well with comments on a few select ones. I will say that his list is excellent, less hit-oriented than mine, with more introspective tracks. I actually revised my list to add a couple of his, moving a couple of others down to the Honorable Mention list. And I thank him for introducing me to the gorgeous “Loving The Alien” that I somehow overlooked:

20. All the Young Dudes – Written for Mott the Hoople about the whole glam scene. Bowie was not to record his own version for several years.
19. Moonage Daydream – from Ziggy Stardust.
18. Hang On To Yourself – We really got a good thing going.
17. 1984
16. Life On Mars? – Everybody, I think, loves this song. A great melody.

15. The Jean Genie
14. Modern Love – a flat-out uptempo R&B tune with kick-ass drums by Tony Thompson of Power Station and Chic.
13. Stay – Love that lick at the beginning. Fun to play on guitar.
12. The Man Who Sold the World – Not a Nirvana song.
11. Panic in Detroit

10. TVC 15 – Wikipedia: The track was inspired by an episode in which Iggy Pop, during a drug-fuelled period at Bowie’s LA home, hallucinated and believed the television set was swallowing his girlfriend. Bowie developed a story of a holographic television, TVC 15. In the song, the narrator’s girlfriend crawls into the television and afterwards, the narrator desires to crawl in himself to find her.
9. Rebel, Rebel – Bowie’s most covered song. Another great guitar lick but Bowie came up with it and played guitar.
8. Ziggy Stardust – Ziggy didn’t play guitar, Mick Ronson did. Let us now pay tribute to his awesomeness. Number 41 on Rolling Stone’s Top 100 guitarists. And he moved way up from the previous list.
7. Ashes to Ashes – We know Major Tom’s a junkie.

6. Changes – “And these children that you spit on, as they try to change their worlds, are immune to your consultations, they’re quite aware of what they’re going through.”
5. Diamond Dogs – Young girls, they call them the diamond dogs.
4. Starman – is there a more gorgeous musical leap in music than StarMAN waiting in the sky?
3. Heroes – inspired by two people Bowie saw kissing at the Berlin Wall. Wouldn’t it be great to be a hero just for one day?

2. Space Oddity – Works on so many levels. Drug addiction, lost in space. Alienation from oneself. “Tell my wife I love her very much, she knows.”
1. Suffragette City – Wham, bam thank you mam! One of the greatest rockers of all time, droogie. Never saw Bowie live but when I saw a Bowie tribute band, the (not young) couple pogoing next to me damn near ran me over. And if they did, well you know, fuck it. All for a good cause.

Honorable Mention: John I’m Only Dancing, Sound and Vision, Boys Keep Swinging, Loving The Alien, Sorrow (cover)

Feel free to share your list.