Bowiesongs (C. O'Leary)
@bowiesongs.bsky.social
Books (Rebel Rebel; Ashes to Ashes), blogs (64 Quartets; Pushing Ahead of the Dame; Locust St.)
Pinned
Rebel Rebel: A New Version
Presenting: The second edition of Rebel Rebel: The Songs of David Bowie, 1963-1976, which will go on sale on Tuesday, 8 July 2025, and which can be pre-ordered right now. This site gives you some o…
bowiesongs.wordpress.com
A brief note about the Rebel Rebel revision (on sale July 8, but you can order it now): bowiesongs.wordpress.com/2025/06/04/r...
Sharp Pins!
November 24, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Sharp Pins!
Hello, old friend
November 23, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Hello, old friend
Reposted by Bowiesongs (C. O'Leary)
For this week's Sunday Review, I went long on one of my favorite albums of all time: Giant Steps by the Boo Radleys.
The Boo Radleys: Giant Steps
Read Zach Schoenfeld’s review of the album.
pitchfork.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:22 PM
For this week's Sunday Review, I went long on one of my favorite albums of all time: Giant Steps by the Boo Radleys.
Reposted by Bowiesongs (C. O'Leary)
I doubt too many folks will highlight Jellybean’s work in The Family but they were great too. He was so good at adapting Prince’s programmed drum patterns into the a live setting. youtu.be/v-mnW-4oOt4?...
The Family - High Fashion (Live - First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN) [08-13-1985] 1080p 60fps
YouTube video by BEE-eye-ZEE
youtu.be
November 22, 2025 at 2:59 PM
I doubt too many folks will highlight Jellybean’s work in The Family but they were great too. He was so good at adapting Prince’s programmed drum patterns into the a live setting. youtu.be/v-mnW-4oOt4?...
Reposted by Bowiesongs (C. O'Leary)
Meantime, let's also celebrate this man's outrageously great abilities and sense of style and showmanship -- and when you consider the band he was in, that's both expected and a challenge to live up to! A true star in the best of ways.
What a terrible drag to wake up to the news that Jellybean Johnson, one of the all-around funkiest, coldest drummers, guitarists and songwriters of all Time—not just The Time —- is now an ancestor. Sleep well, brother—well done. #MusicSky #BlackSkyOver50
November 22, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Meantime, let's also celebrate this man's outrageously great abilities and sense of style and showmanship -- and when you consider the band he was in, that's both expected and a challenge to live up to! A true star in the best of ways.
looking forward to seeing Sharp Pins this Sunday (they're opening for Robyn Hitchcock); new album is sounding good: sharppins.bandcamp.com/album/balloo...
Balloon Balloon Balloon, by Sharp Pins
21 track album
sharppins.bandcamp.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:34 PM
looking forward to seeing Sharp Pins this Sunday (they're opening for Robyn Hitchcock); new album is sounding good: sharppins.bandcamp.com/album/balloo...
a repost for the morning
64 Quartets, 9: Wire: BASIC DESIGN to BEHIND THE CURTAIN. A hopefully entertaining minor entry---it's the one with the Beatles. 64quartets.wordpress.com/2025/11/20/9...
9. Wire. Harvest Lexicon: BASIC—BEHIND
BASIC DESIGN. Artistic educational method (UK), ca. 1940s-1970s (aka Basic Form, Basic Course, Basic Grammar). Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, and Bruce Gilbert, at their respective art colleges, lived…
64quartets.wordpress.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:23 PM
a repost for the morning
Eno diary, 21 Nov 1995: "Jon Savage sent me over No New York, which I’d asked if he could find for me. It looks now nostalgically exciting - like something from a very strange time indeed (does it always seem that the past was a very strange time?)" www.youtube.com/watch?v=nul3...
Various Artists - No New York
YouTube video by MrNoWave
www.youtube.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Eno diary, 21 Nov 1995: "Jon Savage sent me over No New York, which I’d asked if he could find for me. It looks now nostalgically exciting - like something from a very strange time indeed (does it always seem that the past was a very strange time?)" www.youtube.com/watch?v=nul3...
"Anthology 1 became a staple of used CD bins as quickly as autumn 1996." I recall the NYC DJ Vin Scelsa talking about those discs on the air: [Vin voice, sighing]: 'I am singularly...unimpressed". sterlewine.substack.com/p/the-beatle...
The Beatles, Anthology Collection and Anthology 4
The Beatles celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of their archival trawl by adding a fourth disc to Anthology. The new Anthology 4 highlights the structural problems with the entire project.
sterlewine.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:07 AM
"Anthology 1 became a staple of used CD bins as quickly as autumn 1996." I recall the NYC DJ Vin Scelsa talking about those discs on the air: [Vin voice, sighing]: 'I am singularly...unimpressed". sterlewine.substack.com/p/the-beatle...
64 Quartets, 9: Wire: BASIC DESIGN to BEHIND THE CURTAIN. A hopefully entertaining minor entry---it's the one with the Beatles. 64quartets.wordpress.com/2025/11/20/9...
9. Wire. Harvest Lexicon: BASIC—BEHIND
BASIC DESIGN. Artistic educational method (UK), ca. 1940s-1970s (aka Basic Form, Basic Course, Basic Grammar). Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, and Bruce Gilbert, at their respective art colleges, lived…
64quartets.wordpress.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:44 PM
64 Quartets, 9: Wire: BASIC DESIGN to BEHIND THE CURTAIN. A hopefully entertaining minor entry---it's the one with the Beatles. 64quartets.wordpress.com/2025/11/20/9...
Reposted by Bowiesongs (C. O'Leary)
The Tom Waits shirt is beyond.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n5V...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n5V...
Winona Ryder Needs More Ice Cream While Eating Spicy Wings | Hot Ones
YouTube video by First We Feast
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:14 PM
The Tom Waits shirt is beyond.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n5V...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n5V...
Nacho's been documenting some recent European performances of Carlos Alomar and George Murray's Bowie tribute group: here's "Red Sails" from Berlin, earlier this month. a joy to see Murray play again: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK8U...
David Bowie’s Red Sails | The D.A.M Trilogy | Live at the Metropole | Berlin | 7 November 2025
YouTube video by Nacho Video
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Nacho's been documenting some recent European performances of Carlos Alomar and George Murray's Bowie tribute group: here's "Red Sails" from Berlin, earlier this month. a joy to see Murray play again: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK8U...
Reposted by Bowiesongs (C. O'Leary)
the greatness of a stone roses song sort of hinged on what mani was doing
November 20, 2025 at 4:19 PM
the greatness of a stone roses song sort of hinged on what mani was doing
Reposted by Bowiesongs (C. O'Leary)
I can’t believe this. Mani out of the Stone Roses is dead. One of my favourite bassists of all time, and always the coolest member of any band he was in.
Rest in peace.
Rest in peace.
The Stone Roses - She Bangs the Drums (Official Video)
YouTube video by StoneRosesVEVO
youtu.be
November 20, 2025 at 4:27 PM
I can’t believe this. Mani out of the Stone Roses is dead. One of my favourite bassists of all time, and always the coolest member of any band he was in.
Rest in peace.
Rest in peace.
Reposted by Bowiesongs (C. O'Leary)
so many legendary music history sites that look like this, we don't value our culture part bazillion
OTD 1969 James Brown drags his road-weary band into King Studios in Cincinnati to record. Drummer Clyde Stubblefield bangs out a drum pattern Brown crafts into "Funky Drummer." Minor hit but it forms a foundational beat in Hip-Hop. The bldg remains vacant & standing but King left in 1971.
November 20, 2025 at 3:24 PM
so many legendary music history sites that look like this, we don't value our culture part bazillion
Eno diary, 20 Nov 1995: "On TV, Princess Di going on about duty and the nation and the man in the street - all concepts outside the range of my understanding. Why should one feel duty? What is ‘The Nation’? Who is the man in the street?"
November 20, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Eno diary, 20 Nov 1995: "On TV, Princess Di going on about duty and the nation and the man in the street - all concepts outside the range of my understanding. Why should one feel duty? What is ‘The Nation’? Who is the man in the street?"
Reposted by Bowiesongs (C. O'Leary)
I’m getting real persnickety about these massive archival things (though trying to be zen about how I’m not the market for them), but Tom’s review of the album proper - officially “the favorite album of my 20s” and still top 10 ever - is great.
The Replacements' landmark Let It Be gets a triple-disc Super Deluxe Edition. My review is in my latest newsletter:
The Replacements, Let It Be [Super Deluxe]
The band's 1984 landmark gets a triple-disc Super Deluxe Edition.
sterlewine.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:16 PM
I’m getting real persnickety about these massive archival things (though trying to be zen about how I’m not the market for them), but Tom’s review of the album proper - officially “the favorite album of my 20s” and still top 10 ever - is great.
One of his weirder tours. a shame Page Hamilton got stuck with the "hours" songs: feels like a lost opportunity
David Bowie - 1999-11-19 - New York, NY (SBD) https://so-many-roads-boots.blogspot.com/2025/11/david-bowie-1999-11-19-new-york-ny-sbd.html
David Bowie - 1999-11-19 - New York, NY (SBD)
**David Bowie**
1999-11-19
Kit Kat Klub
New York, NY
FM broadcast
320 kbps
Artwork Included
01. Life On Mars?
02. Thursday's Child
03. Something In The Air
04. China Girl
05. Can't Help Thinking About Me
06. Always Crashing In The Same Car
07. Survive
08. Stay
09. Seven
10. Changes
11. The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell
12. I'm Afraid Of Americans
Bonus tracks
1999-11-30
Later...with Jools Holland
BBC Television Centre
London UK
(Broadcast 1999-12-04)
13. Ashes To Ashes
14. interview with Jools Holland
15. Something In The Air
16. Survive
17. Cracked Actor
**David Bowie - 1999-11-19 - New York, NY (SBD)**
**
**
**1990s - #5:** On September 21, 1999**,** David Bowie released his 22nd studio album, entitled Hours. He launched a short promotional tour in support of the disc, consisting mostly of television and small club appearance. This soundboard recording captures him during that run, at the Lit Kat Club in New York, on November 19, 1999, 26 years ago today.
so-many-roads-boots.blogspot.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:55 PM
One of his weirder tours. a shame Page Hamilton got stuck with the "hours" songs: feels like a lost opportunity
a '79 smooth evening
November 19, 2025 at 10:29 PM
a '79 smooth evening
A decade now. I remember thinking, when I first heard the "something happened..." section kick in, "wow, he's really back."
November 19, 2025 at 12:25 PM
A decade now. I remember thinking, when I first heard the "something happened..." section kick in, "wow, he's really back."
Reposted by Bowiesongs (C. O'Leary)
A rare 1992 sighting of Yo La Tengo's alter ego — SLEEPING PILL.
Sleeping Pill - CBGB, New York City, January 31, 1992 https://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/800568273949294592
**_Sleeping Pill - CBGB, New York City, January 31, 1992_**
Ah yes, Sleeping Pill, the short-lived indie rock trio from the early 1990s … oh wait, that’s just the long-lived indie rock trio Yo La Tengo. From time to time, YLT would book a show under the Sleeping Pill moniker, maybe when they wanted to try out some new jams, experiment a little, mess around, let their hair down.
This CBGB Sleeping Pill performance from January 1992 took place right around the time that _May I Sing With Me_ came out — but James, Georgia and Ira seem to have their eyes on what’s ahead, bookending the half-hour set with embryonic versions of such future _Painful_ faves as “Double Dare” (a beautiful stripped down version that was eventually released as a b-side) and “Sudden Organ.”
In between, there’s an interesting drum-less “Barnaby Hardly Working” and an epic “Sunsquashed” drone, the band’s trusty Acetone organ buzzing mightily, sending shockwaves up and down the Bowery. It won’t put you to sleep, that’s for sure.
doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:20 PM
A rare 1992 sighting of Yo La Tengo's alter ego — SLEEPING PILL.
"Paul “does have an awful lot of balls, he just doesn’t seem to get it down on record”—& there are flashes of McCartney's temper. Pete Townshend raved about an early mix of “Arrow Through Me,” loving how there was no bass; Paul immediately cut a bass track": sterlewine.substack.com/p/paul-mccar...
Paul McCartney, Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run and WINGS [Deluxe]
Paul McCartney argues for the importance of Wings as a band in a new oral history and a triple-disc compilation. My review of the book and the album.
sterlewine.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:46 AM
"Paul “does have an awful lot of balls, he just doesn’t seem to get it down on record”—& there are flashes of McCartney's temper. Pete Townshend raved about an early mix of “Arrow Through Me,” loving how there was no bass; Paul immediately cut a bass track": sterlewine.substack.com/p/paul-mccar...
Reposted by Bowiesongs (C. O'Leary)
I bought this, on vinyl, forty years ago, the same day I bought Rum, Sodomy and The Lash on cassette. I abhor nostalgia, but fucking hell, that was a time.
Four decades back a major label released a debut album that sounded like almost nothing on earth while still sounding incredibly familiar. Our man in San Francisco Ned Raggett takes stock of it all
Happy Birthday to the JAMC's Psychocandy, which turns 40 today!
buff.ly/nflmjN6
Happy Birthday to the JAMC's Psychocandy, which turns 40 today!
buff.ly/nflmjN6
November 18, 2025 at 1:09 PM
I bought this, on vinyl, forty years ago, the same day I bought Rum, Sodomy and The Lash on cassette. I abhor nostalgia, but fucking hell, that was a time.
Eno diary, 18 Nov 95: "Sorting out CDs. I have so many, no idea where most came from. It’s so easy to make ‘sonic landscapes’ now..millions of people at it. A whole technology exists for it..by the time a whole technology exists for something it probably isn’t the most interesting thing to be doing.
November 18, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Eno diary, 18 Nov 95: "Sorting out CDs. I have so many, no idea where most came from. It’s so easy to make ‘sonic landscapes’ now..millions of people at it. A whole technology exists for it..by the time a whole technology exists for something it probably isn’t the most interesting thing to be doing.
Reposted by Bowiesongs (C. O'Leary)
Truly, the only obit for Todd Snider I've read that has rung true to his greatness and spirit.
No surprise that it's from one of the best of the best at this and not from the right-wing men who should just keep Snider's name out of their mouths on principle.
As always, subscribe to DRtI. 👇
No surprise that it's from one of the best of the best at this and not from the right-wing men who should just keep Snider's name out of their mouths on principle.
As always, subscribe to DRtI. 👇
Wrote about Todd Snider, East Nashville and how the more things change, the more they change.
www.dontrocktheinbox.com/something-go...
www.dontrocktheinbox.com/something-go...
Something good comes along, then it’s gone: Farewell, Todd Snider.
When I moved to East Nashville in 2012, legend had it that if you wanted to find Todd Snider, all you had to do was go to Drifter’s BBQ in Five Points, and he’d be there at the bar. Nashville always h...
www.dontrocktheinbox.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Truly, the only obit for Todd Snider I've read that has rung true to his greatness and spirit.
No surprise that it's from one of the best of the best at this and not from the right-wing men who should just keep Snider's name out of their mouths on principle.
As always, subscribe to DRtI. 👇
No surprise that it's from one of the best of the best at this and not from the right-wing men who should just keep Snider's name out of their mouths on principle.
As always, subscribe to DRtI. 👇