Great choice, Bowie was always a 'visual' artist. Living in N.Y.C. he had the chance to work & play with the cream of the crop in the talent gravitating around Broadway and the club scene there. As an old man looking back on an idealistic youth, I can relate to feeling like the title subject. We end up compromising to get ahead, or to simply exist! Peace from a ranting old hippie.
Oh good god! Haven't seen this performance since is was 1st aired. I remember vividly watching this and thinking "Is it any wonder why I adore David Bowie?" He really was fearless. Who would do this today? ✌
Yeah, so were my wife and me. And then, later on , he does that amazingly weird version of "Boys Keep Swinging". We were even more stoned and fascinated.
@@Drummingvulture I remember watching that too, but I couldn’t remember the name of it. I do remember Bowie being transformed into a swinging type of doll on a television screen. I’d had a couple of more numbers by then and just sort stared at the screen while it was happening.
Wonderful performance, the album this song comes from is his truly first fantastic album (though Space Oddity has some quite underrated songs too), it has an immaculate sound and some of my favorite bass playing in Bowie's career, would be lovely for a reaction!! As for the performances, TMWSTW truly started to show up on shows very late in Bowie's career, so this performance is one of the few if not the only live we have in the 70s of it, and man it's a great rendition, especially how well it captures the vocal section at the end, it's the best one at creating the feeling the studio version has. Fantastic video as always, thanks for the reaction!!
Someone remarked that this is from SNL - you should check out 'Boys Keep Swinging', from the same show, I believe. On the studio original, Bowie and Eno didn't even tell Adrian Belew what key the song was in when he went in to record the solo. Arty MFers. Oblique Strategies. lmao
Nomi and Bowie were both such creative and talented forces. Its just wonderful that their talents came together here. Sadly, they are both also artists who sang their own epitaphs - Cold Song and Lazarus respectively. I've pulled together a playlist of others, including Johnny Cash (Hurt), Warren Zevon (Keep Me in Your Heart), Glen Campbell (Adios), and so on. Let me know what I've missed. If you're interested, here is a link: th-cam.com/play/PLZ0kfSMCGsaHx6bfPDDlpMoL5lU5WjQoC.html
JP for contrast you should watch the short film on youtube Jazzin for Blue Jean. I can't even describe how hilarious Bowie is as two people. Seeing him so intense on this SNL clip made me think of the nerd he plays, which he said was the real him in the short. Just a thought. Great song this.
I remember watching this as kid on SNL. The clips from Bowie’s career were not in the original broadcast. It was just the performance. I found the clips distracting because some of the clips were not in the same timeline as the performance. Some of the clips were from later years. The complete original performance is on the SNL dvd box set.
Hi JP ! I really wasn't expecting you to react to this :D, but that's ok : one more step into the Bowie Uncanny Valley, with 2 great guest artists along. That was a time where avant-garde still had airplay on TV : like it or hate it, the fact is, I don't think you could find a performance so weird, enigmatic for some, awkward for others, nowadays... By the by, not sure but I think Bowie's outfit in this show inspired Nomi's own costume later. Or maybe it's the other way around...
Klaus Nomi: watch the *live* versions of "Total Eclipse" (kinda campy new-wave vaudeville) and "The Cold Song." The latter is quite poignant, a song about death, and Nomi was in end stages of AIDS and did not have long to live (died August 1983). Despite being ill, Nomi's performance is epic. These two songs give you a great yin-and-yang of his tastes. Enjoy!
Bowie, Nomi, and the other guy, pretty cool video. Had to pick up my cheap secondhand Jay Turser rosewood JT-LT and gave her a go. Just changed strings, and adjusted the action, very zingy. Plays way better now. Thank you vets and those who have died for our freedom. Freedom for all, not just the few.
I saw the SNL Performance with this line up doing "TVC15" live 1st run when I was a kid, and it was trans-formative. Me a kid in PoDunk, Florida seeing a dude in a dress "just because.." Cool as ice, and jamming the paint off the walls. Sometimes dudes wear dresses, don't assume anything the wanted to wear it that day.
Thanks Justin. A great song. The title track to the album of the same name. I'd highly recommend it for a full album listen. I'm wondering when the next Bowie album listen will happen and what album it will be???
URGH! A music War. Watch the whole thing, GO4, Echo and the Bunnymen, GoGos, XTC, Gary Numan, And Klaus Nomi, many many more. It is such a commentary on the day through music. Thanks for this. Was such a weird performance, the other songs he did that night were equally Bowie odd. Fantastic!
You should watch the the show where they found him I want to a show with my sister who was bouncer him as no make up a straight person you never thought was come out of his mouth watching the documentary show
I hate that someone hacked up the original video with random clips of Bowie added. It cuts out some great shots of the band who were arguably the best set of musicians I’ve ever heard play together. This song was so tightly played. Pity you missed the musicians really putting in some great music.
OK, so I don't really know much about Klaus Nomi's work, only this collaboration with Bowie, but this is another opportunity to prompt you to react to the album, TMWSTW! lol. You'll get to hear the original recording of this song. You'll thank me, Justin, really. Also, amongst the footage of his career in this vid, are clips from the movie, "The Man Who Fell To Earth", a role that Bowie was born to play. It's an allegorical sci-fi story about the corruptible nature of man, who prioritises instant gratification over spiritual growth. I'll say no more, in case you decide to watch it. 👽
A good, rockier, version of the original here, and some interesting visuals. On Bowies album, TMWSTW, in part it has an almost 'lounge' feel to it. The album 'TMWSTW', though is definitely a record that needs playing, you wouldn't be disappointed. Failing that, at least give the opener a listen 'The Width of a Circle'. A killer, standout track, on a brilliant album.
Back when MTV had music and played music videos. Back when The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame meant inducting worthy artists. Back when Rolling Stone magazine was about music. Ah, those were the days.
Why does everyone call him David boy? He is clearly in his 20s! This reminds me of riding to high school in TG's travelling motel, listening to Ziggy Stardust or Dark Side of the Moon more often than not, and choking in a cloud of smoke and incense. When he died, I recorded a song where I just kept repeating "Ground Control to Major Tom" to a fade out. No response. Starman now.
@@triscat What I meant was that I hate the changes to the melody that he made for this live version. The studio version is classic. Too bad JP didn't react to the original studio version instead of this performance which does not do the song proper justice IMO.
Love this song. The whole album was highly regarded, by me and the critics. However, I would have listened to the original, less dramatic/ histrionic version. There was a time ib the 70s and 80s when Bowie was considered less an artist and more of a drama queen, literally. He wasn't always a revered icon, for good reason.
This performance was on Saturday night live 1979 he also performed boys keep swinging and TVC 15
Great choice, Bowie was always a 'visual' artist. Living in N.Y.C. he had the chance to work & play with the cream of the crop in the talent gravitating around Broadway and the club scene there. As an old man looking back on an idealistic youth, I can relate to feeling like the title subject. We end up compromising to get ahead, or to simply exist! Peace from a ranting old hippie.
✌
Oh good god! Haven't seen this performance since is was 1st aired. I remember vividly watching this and thinking "Is it any wonder why I adore David Bowie?" He really was fearless. Who would do this today? ✌
Your shirt says music is our friend. As a musician of 58 years I also want you to know that music can be a cruel mistress.
And a warm blanket at night!
Amen
Theme (and shirt) from the 2021 King Crimson (Final?) Tour.
I remember watching this live on SNL when this aired. I thought how cool, avant-garde, and great this was. I was pretty stoned at the time.
Yeah, so were my wife and me.
And then, later on , he does that amazingly weird version of "Boys Keep Swinging". We were even more stoned and fascinated.
@@Drummingvulture I remember watching that too, but I couldn’t remember the name of it. I do remember Bowie being transformed into a swinging type of doll on a television screen. I’d had a couple of more numbers by then and just sort stared at the screen while it was happening.
I had seen it as well. But, I wasn't stoned, I was Eleven.
Wonderful performance, the album this song comes from is his truly first fantastic album (though Space Oddity has some quite underrated songs too), it has an immaculate sound and some of my favorite bass playing in Bowie's career, would be lovely for a reaction!!
As for the performances, TMWSTW truly started to show up on shows very late in Bowie's career, so this performance is one of the few if not the only live we have in the 70s of it, and man it's a great rendition, especially how well it captures the vocal section at the end, it's the best one at creating the feeling the studio version has.
Fantastic video as always, thanks for the reaction!!
Now, that you have seen this, you are ready to watch THE VENTURE BROTHERS, featuring...David Bowie and Klaus Nomi!
nothing beat the original studio version - musically speaking - of course - a show is a show.
Midge Ure from Ultravox did a GREAT cover of this tune.
Someone remarked that this is from SNL - you should check out 'Boys Keep Swinging', from the same show, I believe. On the studio original, Bowie and Eno didn't even tell Adrian Belew what key the song was in when he went in to record the solo. Arty MFers. Oblique Strategies. lmao
Nomi and Bowie were both such creative and talented forces. Its just wonderful that their talents came together here. Sadly, they are both also artists who sang their own epitaphs - Cold Song and Lazarus respectively. I've pulled together a playlist of others, including Johnny Cash (Hurt), Warren Zevon (Keep Me in Your Heart), Glen Campbell (Adios), and so on. Let me know what I've missed. If you're interested, here is a link: th-cam.com/play/PLZ0kfSMCGsaHx6bfPDDlpMoL5lU5WjQoC.html
Bowie was always aware that a concert was both a visual as well as sonic experience. His performances were always incredible.
JP for contrast you should watch the short film on youtube Jazzin for Blue Jean. I can't even describe how hilarious Bowie is as two people. Seeing him so intense on this SNL clip made me think of the nerd he plays, which he said was the real him in the short. Just a thought. Great song this.
I remember watching this as kid on SNL. The clips from Bowie’s career were not in the original broadcast. It was just the performance. I found the clips distracting because some of the clips were not in the same timeline as the performance. Some of the clips were from later years. The complete original performance is on the SNL dvd box set.
Nirvana does a great acoustic cover of this song on MTV Unplugged 😎👍
Hi Justin. If you haven't already seen it I'd recommend reacting to the movie The Man Who Fell To Earth.
What a treat. Thank you. Your observations are always top notch. Bowie is dead! Long live Bowie!
One of the more bizarre performances ever on SNL.
Hi JP ! I really wasn't expecting you to react to this :D, but that's ok : one more step into the Bowie Uncanny Valley, with 2 great guest artists along. That was a time where avant-garde still had airplay on TV : like it or hate it, the fact is, I don't think you could find a performance so weird, enigmatic for some, awkward for others, nowadays...
By the by, not sure but I think Bowie's outfit in this show inspired Nomi's own costume later. Or maybe it's the other way around...
Klaus Nomi: watch the *live* versions of "Total Eclipse" (kinda campy new-wave vaudeville) and "The Cold Song." The latter is quite poignant, a song about death, and Nomi was in end stages of AIDS and did not have long to live (died August 1983). Despite being ill, Nomi's performance is epic. These two songs give you a great yin-and-yang of his tastes. Enjoy!
Another Bowie great one to do would be The Width of a Circle
Oh heck yeah.
Yes, David Live version smokes!
For very early Klaus Nomi (& a little NYC scene history), here’s a clip of an interesting film on the topic: th-cam.com/video/I4sMKzT1uME/w-d-xo.html
Klaus powerful vocals sound amazing on this song.
Bowie, Nomi, and the other guy, pretty cool video. Had to pick up my cheap secondhand Jay Turser rosewood JT-LT and gave her a go. Just changed strings, and adjusted the action, very zingy. Plays way better now.
Thank you vets and those who have died for our freedom. Freedom for all, not just the few.
I recognize this song but I never saw or knew about this performance.
I saw the SNL Performance with this line up doing "TVC15" live 1st run when I was a kid, and it was trans-formative. Me a kid in PoDunk, Florida seeing a dude in a dress "just because.." Cool as ice, and jamming the paint off the walls. Sometimes dudes wear dresses, don't assume anything the wanted to wear it that day.
Thanks Justin. A great song. The title track to the album of the same name. I'd highly recommend it for a full album listen. I'm wondering when the next Bowie album listen will happen and what album it will be???
Yas more Klaus. I think The Cold Song is his most famous song, so maybe do that one? I really like it personally
Another great version of this is by Suzanne Vega backed by Bowie's band.
was there a movie ? w/Bowie
URGH! A music War. Watch the whole thing, GO4, Echo and the Bunnymen, GoGos, XTC, Gary Numan, And Klaus Nomi, many many more. It is such a commentary on the day through music. Thanks for this. Was such a weird performance, the other songs he did that night were equally Bowie odd. Fantastic!
Thanks for this one, time now please for "Low" !
Looking forward to that. He's working his way through the Bowie album catalog, isn't he? JP is a blessing on youtube.
I think I enjoyed your reaction a little bit more than the tune
This could ave been Klaus Nomi's big breakthrough but he came down with aids shortly after this performance.
You should watch the the show where they found him I want to a show with my sister who was bouncer him as no make up a straight person you never thought was come out of his mouth watching the documentary show
Did a nice version with Scottish singer Lulu as well.. Quite a few covers around I think.
I hate that someone hacked up the original video with random clips of Bowie added. It cuts out some great shots of the band who were arguably the best set of musicians I’ve ever heard play together. This song was so tightly played. Pity you missed the musicians really putting in some great music.
I'd love if you reacted to Joey Arias album PAST PRESENT FUTURE. Bowie and Nomi get a lot of credit but Arias' music is outstanding
Glad you got a chance to see this one.
Just 2k more subscribers until we get the Tommy reaction!
I was hoping someone would mention Justin hitting 23K!
Ok, how about "Cold Song" or Lightning Strikes or Rubber band Laser or even Ding Dong the Witch is Dead?
Now you can check out Nina Hagen. I wasn’t aware you had heard Klaus before. Good performance. Looked like SNL.
OK, so I don't really know much about Klaus Nomi's work, only this collaboration with Bowie, but this is another opportunity to prompt you to react to the album, TMWSTW! lol. You'll get to hear the original recording of this song. You'll thank me, Justin, really. Also, amongst the footage of his career in this vid, are clips from the movie, "The Man Who Fell To Earth", a role that Bowie was born to play. It's an allegorical sci-fi story about the corruptible nature of man, who prioritises instant gratification over spiritual growth. I'll say no more, in case you decide to watch it. 👽
A good, rockier, version of the original here, and some interesting visuals. On Bowies album, TMWSTW, in part it has an almost 'lounge' feel to it. The album 'TMWSTW', though is definitely a record that needs playing, you wouldn't be disappointed. Failing that, at least give the opener a listen 'The Width of a Circle'. A killer, standout track, on a brilliant album.
Yes indeed!. I've just prompted Justin on reacting to the album. We're getting there, lol.
@@cosmiccat6708 Aye, I've pushed it a few times in the past as well... We're getting there :)
Listen to the bowie album the man who sold the world.
I like Nirvana's version of this as well. And Kurt Cobain made sure to credit Bowie for the song.
Bowies version still sounds weird to me. Mainly because the first version I heard was of a Top of the Pops cover version.
Decades ago, SNL was funny and had interesting musical performances. What happened?
We got old.
Back when MTV had music and played music videos. Back when The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame meant inducting worthy artists. Back when Rolling Stone magazine was about music. Ah, those were the days.
This was the kind of thing Bowie wanted to do at the beginning and did some very strange performance art before he became successful.
I hope you have watched the original from SNL, without all this rememberancestuff cut into, because it was a great performance.
You could do worse than listen to Nomi's version of "Dido's Lament".
It's a great performance musically visually and vocally. outstanding.
You really should listen to the album version of TMWDTW, from his 1970 album, ideally, you should listen to the whole album.
Why does everyone call him David boy? He is clearly in his 20s!
This reminds me of riding to high school in TG's travelling motel, listening to Ziggy Stardust or Dark Side of the Moon more often than not, and choking in a cloud of smoke and incense. When he died, I recorded a song where I just kept repeating "Ground Control to Major Tom" to a fade out. No response. Starman now.
I hate the change to the chorus
Might want to give him a break. He was only 23 when he wrote it. At 23, I could barely match my sock with the rest of my wardrobe.
@@triscat What I meant was that I hate the changes to the melody that he made for this live version. The studio version is classic. Too bad JP didn't react to the original studio version instead of this performance which does not do the song proper justice IMO.
@@summertime_blooz Ah. Gotcha. Sorry, I totally misread your comment.
Please react to The Smiths - Panic
@@Katehowe3010 They haven't weak songs
Wow. Someone who knows of Klaus Nomi. Try Klaus's song "Total Eclipse of the Sun"
Somebody butchered the video.
Klaus had the widest range of all pop singers.
Fact.
Love this song. The whole album was highly regarded, by me and the critics. However, I would have listened to the original, less dramatic/ histrionic version. There was a time ib the 70s and 80s when Bowie was considered less an artist and more of a drama queen, literally. He wasn't always a revered icon, for good reason.
What a way to destroy a song….his song to do with…but Klaus Nomi is just a horrible singer…..and theatrics?……sad.
I always found Klaus Nomi to be intolerably pretentious.
Bowie ignored Nomi when the going was going good for Klaus. I love Bowie but can’t forgive him for burying Klaus from being bigger.