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

the 4 biggest Bowie staples on US classic rock radio: Under Pressure, Fame, Space Oddity and Changes

Growing up, I heard Ziggy much more than Changes on classic rock radio. Under Pressure was too current to be classic rock.

well yeah i'm going off recent stats. i'm sure if i had more complete stats there'd be several ziggy songs in the top 10 bowie songs

"All The Young Dudes" got a ton of play, doesn't seem like a whole other world away from that. "Get It On (Bang a Gong)" obviously got played a bunch. Not much high camp, but still, I NEVER heard this song until I heard the album proper, and it just seems like a song that would have fit the format of a bunch of stations from my youth.

Seems like a proto-"Changes" sonically, and the lyrics wouldn't have kept it off the air. I guess Bowie just had too many other hits to make room for a song like this. "Heroes" didn't even get much play (might hear it once a year or something), so I guess it isn't surprising, just seems like it could have gotten a spin once in a while. I might have gotten into Bowie earlier if the radio stretched the catalog a bit more.

The local "good time oldies" -- as opposed to "classic rock" -- station is one of my presets when I'm out and about, and "Fame," "Let's Dance" and "Under Pressure" are the only things I can recall hearing in the last few years. Heard "Fame" just last week in fact.

Okay, that makes sense. Classic Rock radio is a weird beast that rarely evolves.

xposts

...and the lyrics wouldn't have kept it off the air.

American stations in the 70s might have been skittish about the "bitch" line.

It's weird how "Who Are You" can have the f-word, The Stones can make a dead man cum and Jackie can give head in "Walk on the Wild Side", but other songs with lyrics less scary can't pass.

"good time oldies" -- as opposed to "classic rock"

A paper-thin distinction in US radio programming that has always fascinated me. xp to myself

They used to play Rebel Rebel and Young Americans all the time on classic rock radio. Station To Station was where they got off the proverbial Bowie bus.

It surprises me that 'Be My Wife' didn't really get anywhere as a single, because to me it's the one track on Low that stands out as obvious single.

― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican)

I've always wondered this too. It's such a catchy song, I've no idea why it wasn't as big as Sound & Vision. It was my number one and could be in my top ten songs of all time. That bass line in the chorus is unbeatable.

oh shit, I'm late for the next one!

TIME FOR THE TOP 10

10. "Rebel Rebel" (from Diamond Dogs) - 638 points/27 votes/0 first-place votes

Album: http://youtu.be/W4SLXaF-lIc
Later with Jools Holland, 2002: http://youtu.be/7HyWXftUiWc

The classic rock station I used to work for was the same way:

Young Americans
Changes
Space Oddity
Rebel Rebel
Ziggy Stardust
Suffragette City
Golden Years

maybe Fame, I can't remember.

Always remember the "Big Jet Airliner" song (or whatever it's called) by Steve Miller had the word "shit" in it, the Who song being the other big swear-word song I remember as a kid. Rolling Stone's "Bitch" certainly got play, but it always felt like the DJs were slipping one in when they played it.

No more radio posts, back to the countdown!

^ read that in Casey Kasem's voice.

In related news, happy birthday Gary Numan!

Yaaay Rebel Rebel. I love his trashy voice in this one.

I don't really understand how someone can not like this song, honestly.

What can I say about 'Rebel Rebel'? That guitar riff clearly was some kind of gift from the Gods.

I love the guitar tone of Rebel Rebel, but one of my friends used to sing "Rubble Rubble" like the Hamburgler (we were 9 or 10) and I've never been able to shake it. Sort of takes the song somewhere else so I've never been able to rate it properly.

That same station I worked for had a promise to its listeners that it would play classic rock songs without profanity. (this was late 90s/00s.) Our engineer would go in and digitally bowdlerize all these songs we'd talk about.

Even that bit in "Life In the Fast Lane" - Our version went "We've been up and down that highway, haven't seen a zchepp-ychepp thing."

also, the sad, Jagger-esque breakdown/coda annoys me.

I don't really understand how someone can not like this song, honestly.

― Laura Lucy Lynn (La Lechera), Thursday, March 8, 2012 10:41 AM (52 seconds ago)

I don't actively dislike it, but it's never moved or grabbed me really.

This one was an easy inclusion into my ballot. Some days I truly believe I could listen to that guitar riff endlessly.

xps

I had a p decent classic rocl station; I heard Golden Years and Panic in Detroit

I def think AtYD is as much a cr staple as Under Pressure

US Radio is funny W/R/T Bowie: "Changes", "Space Oddity", "Fame" and "Young Americans" still get a fuckton of play on classic rock and oldies stations, at least up in the Boston area. "Let's Dance" and "Under Pressure" too. The other two big singles from "Let's Dance" you hear less but still occasionally, "Ashes to Ashes" gets some play on the near-extinct "modern rock" format, and that's basically it. I'm sure I've heard "Rebel Rebel" here and there, but that's basically it. I don't know if I've ever heard "Golden Years," one of his few top 10 hits in the States, on the radio. "Changes," on the other hand, missed the American top 40 entirely, yet I hear it all the fucking time. Which just goes to show that what we call a "hit" is deeply dependent on context of time and place, an obvious point that's often taken for granted.

I don't actively dislike it, but it's not as good as the Jean Genie.

Don't understand why Panic in Detroit doesn't get nonstop airplay on classic rock radio.

This riff was featured by Howard Goodall in his C4 show (which I love) as a prime use of dissonance. I presume he meant the 'DUNNNN' at the end.

"Rebel Rebel" is the best guitar riff Bowie will ever write, hands down.

This poll has got me thinking whether Bowie might have been better served by never having a best-of at all. The distinction between canon and deep cut seems more and more arbitrary.

I'd like Rebel Rebel more if it'd come out in '72, I think.

Rebel Rebel was definitely thw weakest of the early 70s stompy glammy rock hits imo. seemed looking back like a bit of a retread. you can see why it was the last of such things.

It would be a fantasy come true to infiltrate the underground bunker in Texas or whatever spot they beam out the standard oldies/classic rock satellite feeds, and completely rewrite the playlists. xp to f.hazel

Everyone I've ever known who has super-loved Rebel Rebel has been female. Not that this means anything aside from the fact that the song appeals to women. Tore your dress, face is a mess, you're a hot tramp, I luv u, etc.

I think I initially voted "Rebel Rebel" and "Ashes to Ashes" both because those are my fave Bowie karaoke songs.

Maybe it's the repetition. Did you also vote for Station to Station?

I love how the beat on RR is 4-on-the-floor just like "Satisfaction".

I love but don't "super-love" Rebel Rebel - it was top 10 for me. Mainly based on that riff - legions of Stones imitators would kill for less. I'm a dude.

I shit you not, based on the requests I used to get, I wouldn't doubt that Rebel Rebel has its fans in the South for the usual dumb reasons.

Haven't read this thread properly, missed the whole poll unfortunately, but I have super-loved Rebel Rebel and am male btw.

I shit you not, based on the requests I used to get, I wouldn't doubt that Rebel Rebel has its fans in the South for the usual dumb reasons.

Wouldn't surprise me at all.

Lotta Star Wars fans down here.

9. "Suffragette City" (from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars) - 663 points/26 votes/2 first-place votes

Album: http://youtu.be/S_68M0ilDe8
Live in Chile, 1990: http://youtu.be/oIAZWzmOdf8

XP - And what exactly would "the usual dumb reasons" be?

"Thought I saw you in an ice cream parlour...." That verse and the way he sings it, perfect

"She's a total blam-blam!"

zomg More excited for this top 10 than usual

Don't you know, man, The South's Gonna Rise Again! xp to thewufs