MORE RSD DROPS & DISC GEMS
It’s ancient news now, but when David Bowie decided to “go disco” in 1974, midway through a months-long U.S. tour during which he was supposed to be promoting the hard rock of Diamond Dogs, it was a serious jolt to the system.
Hindsight insists it made sense — his next album, Young Americans, after all, was his approximation of the R&B he’d grown up with, even if he did describe it as “plastic soul.” But still, savage distortions of old favorites, a medley built around an old James Brown riff and, a little over midway through the show, four new ballads that had nothing to do with anything you expected… no wonder a lot of fans left the room feeling confused, dismayed, betrayed. You buy a ticket to see Ziggy Stardust and spend the night with Hall & Oates. Yuck.
Again, now it (Parlophone) is the clearest picture we have yet received of Bowie’s ever-morphing 1974 U.S. tour. And historically, it’s peerless.
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