The Man Who Polled the World, aka DAVID BOWIE POLL RESULTS

I came this close to calling the thread "Poll Thing/Candidate/Poll Thing (reprise)"

Let's go! We're burning daylight.

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Part One, Album Poll Results:

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10. YOUNG AMERICANS (1975) - 28 points/8 votes/no first-place votes)

Pack a pack horse up and let's start here. Many thanks for running this!

I might have gone with "Placement To Placement", but this title works well.

or "Sound And Division". There are tons of decent possibilities.

Poll Love

One ballot had the subject line "As they polled you out of the oxygen tent..."

Rock'N'Poll With Me

"He polls out a finger.."

Chev brakes are snarling, as you Suggest Ban across the road...

Gallupin Sane

anyway - YA would have been my sixth place pick for albums. But only the versions with the bonus tracks. Wonder whose decision it was to leave 'Who Can I Be Now' off the original release?

Nick Logan's #1 (circa 1987)

It's not the side effects of the poll name...

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9. SCARY MONSTERS (1980) - 60 points/15 votes/3 first-place votes

Poll Americans
Poll Americans
I wanna poll Americans
alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll night
I wanna poll Americans

My #1. Side 1 is my favourite single side of an album. Drops a touch on side 2, but not by much.

I didn't include albums on my own ballot, but if I had I would've made Scary Monsters my #1.

Scary Monsters was my 5th place for albums, I think? (I'm going to open up the e-mail that I sent with the ballot on so I can check this stuff out). Side One is indeed impeccable, Side Two less so. But I generally listen to this one from start to finish. Love the way its bookended by the two different vibes of the 'It's No Game' parts.

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8. DIAMOND DOGS (1974) - 87 points/15 votes/2 first-place votes)

Woof-woof Bow-wow

Diamond Dogs didn't make my Top 5 Bowie albums, but it'd comfortably come in 6th. Once upon a time I used to think that this album didn't compare with Aladdin Sane and it's grown on me so much over the years to the point where I now easily prefer it to that record.

I would say Diamond Dogs is his best album for listening to in its entirety, but I actually listen to another one more often, so it had to take the top spot.

When I think back to what high school actually felt like for me, I usually end up with Bowie's 70s apocalyptic and dissolute world in ruins. Diamond Dogs is key.

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7. ALADDIN SANE (1973) - 112 points/24 votes/6 first-place votes

i didnt vote in this because i just dont know bowie well enough. i like him though and i'm excited to listen to each youtube that makes it.

I'm not going to do embedded youtubes until the top 10 tracks, to keep the thread from loading too slowly. Youtubes would be great when we get to tracks, but if everyone would use the youtu.be address that keeps it from embedding, that would be best.

Also key: Aladdin Sane... paranoid, romantic and filthy.

xpost!

Is everyone else as lazy as I am, in that unless the youtube is there waiting for me to click (as opposed to opening in a new tab) that I'm probably not even gonna bother?

God, I'm lazy.

well i'll happily click on the youtu.be link :)

Yeah, please don't load a bunch of youtube embeds in here. Those threads absolutely kill my browser at work and since these polls usually go up during the weekday, I want to follow along.

I would say Diamond Dogs is his best album for listening to in its entirety, but I actually listen to another one more often, so it had to take the top spot.

― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Tuesday, March 6, 2012 3:00 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I definitely agree with this up to a point. I mean, I can listen to a lot of Bowie's albums from start-to-finish without complaint, but I can also dip in and out of those records just as easily. I do think Diamond Dogs works much, much better as a whole piece rather than something to be dipped in and out of, definitely.

The thing that comes to my mind every time I listen to Aladdin Sane is how god damn loud it sounds compared to the albums that come before and after it. 'Watch That Man' for example - the guitars on that are scorching!

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6. LODGER (1979) - 135 points/24 votes/5 first-place votes

Lodger is the first of mine to place (my #3), but Diamond Dogs and Scary Monsters were late cuts.

That's 4 of my 5 gone.

This dude has awes cover art but I really like the Lodgers one.

I know the pendulum has swung in DD's favor in recent years but I still think it's one of his weakest records – and embarrassing in places.

Seconded. Can't take anything beyond "Rebel, Rebel" and the title track (and the latter is desperately crying out for some Ronson).

I like Bowie a bunch of the time & love wide swathes of it, but yeah, aside from "Rebel Rebel" & "Panic in Detroit" I can't really get into DD or Aladdin Sane, after years of trying, even. But it's just me: theatrical rock rubs me the wrong-ish way, & those + Ziggy are Bowie at his most theatrical.

The second album of mine to place. Like EZ, Lodger is my #3. I absolutely love this record. A favourite of mine I dig out very regularly.

Young Americans And Aladdin Sane are the two canonical albums I dislike. The former more than the latter.

yeah euler otm, it just doesn't feel like there's much substance to those songs

I prefer AS to Ziggy (which I never listen to) – it rocks!

I know the pendulum has swung in DD's favor in recent years but I still think it's one of his weakest records – and embarrassing in places.

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, March 6, 2012 3:21 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The only track on it that I'd say I'm less keen on in comparison to the others is 'Rock'n'Roll With Me', really. I guess I can see why some may not like Diamond Dogs, but for me its definitely far from an embarrassing album.

Young Americans And Aladdin Sane are the two canonical albums I dislike. The former more than the latter.

― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, March 6, 2012 3:24 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I tend to listen to specific tracks from these two albums rather than the whole album from start-to-finish these days. Neither of these albums made my albums ballot, fwiw.

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5. "HEROES" (1977) - 135 points/30 votes/5 first place votes)

Note the near-tie.

Tucan and I in similar Bowie tastes non-shocker.

"We Are The Dead" makes me cringe – that line about "defecating ecstasy"!

no other Bowie albums made the 100

Did Bowie release Low in time for it to be included on the Voyager missions?

good point, hugo.

So glad "The Man Who Sold the World" placed high. What an effing amazing song. Cobain had great taste.

xpost
I think those NME all time top 100 charts tell the story. I guess in 1985, "normal" Bowie was still a new phenomenon and his role as a postpunk forerunner still meant something. But by the 1988 chart, the highest Bowie entry is Ziggy at 33 (I guess post Never Let Me Down his stock had sunk low) and Low only clocks in at 71. The 1993 list finds Bowie still relatively unpopular (highest entry is Hunky Dory at 38, Low is at 67). Then by 2003, Bowie's stock has risen somewhat, and his highest placing album is Low at 26.

others apparently differ, but i think that the rise and fall (and rise) of bowie's rep must have been more a UK than a US thing, or else concerned critics far more than music fans in general. by the mid-late 80s, his rep as a classic rocker with strong appeal to punks, wavers, goths, indie rockers, & artmusic types was firmly established, and this wasn't much affected by success or failure of his work post let's dance.

Someone sheepishly mentioned upthread that they first heard Bowie in a Wes Anderson movie. In fairness to "Queen Bitch", its placement in "The Life Aquatic" is far more of a marquee billing than at the end of "Hunky Dory".

Was it though? The late nineties/early noughties marked the beginning of the Low ascendancy I'd have thought. Bowie was performing it live in its entirety, Radiohead had taken a Low-like turn towards electronica, Pitchfork placed Low no. 1 in its list of top 100 albums in the 70s...

The Bowie entry (by Rob Sheffield) calls STS his best ("the one where Major Tom learned how to dance").

His Bowie entry might be the best thing Sheffield did in that book.

Alfred otm; the only album that made the list at the back of the record guide was ChangesOneBowie, but Station to Station was the only "regular album" that got a 10 was Station. iirc Low got a 9...

Someone sheepishly mentioned upthread that they first heard Bowie in a Wes Anderson movie.

I think that was me...but what I actually said (sheepishly, yes) was that it was Life Acquatic that got me to love "Queen Bitch." I'd owned Hunky Dory for a few years at that point--came to the album very late--but for whatever reason didn't take much notice of the song the one or two times I played it.

"Queen Bitch" was #2 on my ballot and it was the same for me. Thank you Wess Andersson

I've been listening to a lot of Paul Simon the last few days for the new poll, but keep going back to Bowie on Spotify like I'm sneaking out back to have a smoke.

First time I ever heard "The Man Who Sold the World" was Nirvana's cover. Btw, if you want to g00gle the chords, the top two results say it's by Nirvana. Makes me nostalgic for the Napster days. ("Foxy Lady" by the Beatles, etc)

I first heard Low during the summer of 1989 when I was a summer boarder in the city and one of the fellows living in the house had a copy. I only knew his radio hits at the time, and a few videos from Lodger that MuchMusic would occasionally play. I didn't know anything about the album and Side 1 blew my mind. It still sounds incredibly fresh and exciting today. Side 2 took a lot longer to get into - in fact, it's only recently that I have more than a slight tolerance for mostly instrumental music (thanks Harmonia). Anyway, people can have a genuine preference for this album without trying to be trendy.

I'd shortlisted "Hallo Spaceboy," "We Prick You," and a couple of other post-SM tracks, but in the end there was too much good stuff from the 70s for them to have any hope on my ballot.

Listening to "Heroes" for the first time in 21 years. It's not that I disliked it when I first heard it, but it got pushed aside once I had my first experiences with John Coltrane and Albert Ayler. Anyway, I wish I'd listened to this during voting, because "Sense of Doubt" would've been in my top 5, easy.

Following up on the experiment some dude did with the Stones poll numbers, here's a comparison of the actual album voting with the cumulative point totals for songs by album.

Album results:
1. LOW (1977) - 325 points
2. STATION TO STATION (1976) - 306 points
3. HUNKY DORY (1971) - 198 points
4. THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS (1972) - 153 points
5. "HEROES" (1977) - 135 points
6. LODGER (1979) - 135 points
7. ALADDIN SANE (1973) - 112 points
8. DIAMOND DOGS (1974) - 87 points
9. SCARY MONSTERS (1980) - 60 points
10. YOUNG AMERICANS (1975) - 28 points
11. OUTSIDE (1995) - 14 points
12. THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD - 13/3/0
14. (tie) DAVID LIVE - 7/1/0
14. (tie) STAGE - 7/1/0
16. (tie) LET'S DANCE - 6/2/0
16. (tie) SPACE ODDITY - 6/2/0
17. BLACK TIE WHITE NOISE - 3/1/0
21. (tie) Changesonebowie - 1/1/0
21. (tie) EARTHLING - 1/1/0
21. (tie) HEATHEN - 1/1/0
21. (tie) LABYRINTH (soundtrack) - 1/1/0

...and the albums ranked by how many points their tracks were given:

1. Hunky Dory - 4370
2. Low - 4137
3. Station to Station - 3731
3. Ziggy Stardust - 3731
5. Scary Monsters - 2712
6. "Heroes" - 2698
7. Aladdin Sane - 2280
8. Lodger - 2010
9. Young Americans - 1692
10. Diamond Dogs - 1666
11. Let's Dance - 1067
12. The Man Who Sold the World - 959
13. Space Oddity - 801
14. Outside - 346
15. Black Tie White Noise - 136
16. Heathen - 132
17. Earthling - 120

this was the best poll

sometimes when 'stay' starts up i think it's 'stranglehold' tho

This poll broke my brain

i don't really have anything to say about its order -- i've just been listening to a lot of bowie ever since and it's grebt

Nah the order was cool, I just got plunged back into a teenage level of obsessive thinking that is only reserved for three or four other things

1) alouettes football
2) louis spohr
3) ?

this poll was in fact better than many television shows I have watched.

Am hoping the Neil Young poll will be equally awesome, although it appears turnout will be significantly less

this poll was in fact better than many television shows I have watched.

This poll and the Led Zeppelin poll were incredibly fun, but this one rearranged my brain towards the artist much more. I loved following the comments because I knew so much less about Bowie coming in than I did by the end. I already knew more than anyone needs to know about Zeppelin.

The Beastie Boys poll was also awesome. They're the only two I've ever really got involved in - these big polls are usually too big and involved for me to keep up with.

ppl totally underrated 'man who sold the world'

also no votes for the santa monica (i think) record? the live spiders one?

Thomp if you mean they underrated the album TMWSTW then you are so right, but that abum wears "underrated" real well, there's lots to love if you're sympathetic to it

Xp lol mookie, in all honesty if there was a "rank every episode of MASH in order" you'd see a zealousness usually reserved for FF7 otherkin or Radiohead fans

it's my favourite spiders record. well, proto-spiders. don't understand how 'width of a circle' didn't place.

it's the best bowie tune apart from all the other bowie tunes

I think you're right

I forgot to vote in this one but yeah, the absence of "Width of a Circle" was pretty surprising.

Showrunning this poll and the LZ poll was (were?) huge fun. I'm glad everyone else seems to have had a good time as well.

this poll inspired me to order The Complete David Bowie, which happened to arrive in the mail today!

and already, it's making me seek out things. the entry for Ashes to Ashes (which is 6 columns of small text!) mentions that Bowie has cited the 1952 musical number called "Inchworm" as a melodic influence on the song.

surprised no one's revived this yet.

blackstar would be top 10, lazarus top 15

Would be worth repolling in a few years, but not now while people are still rending garments.

Also would be worth repolling because the body of work is complete (give or take five songs).

Yeah, I'd be interested to see what happens if we redid this in a little while. Right now I think Blackstar and Lazaras might even be in with a shout of winning.

the Jack Doherty interview mentioned many posts above is here. i'd never seen it but yeah it's quite something

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yL4xxGE73E

christ this poll was *five years* ago.

it's a hell of a life when "lady grinning soul" isn't even one of your top 60 songs

she'llllll coooommme

I revise this thing every year. It's hard to dump a song.

fans might want to check out this 3-hour career survey / interview with Chris O'Leary from WFMU

http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/84321