Actors - Art Decade

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	Actors - Art Decade

"Art Decade" is an instrumental song by David Bowie for his album Low
from 1977.

The song is named for a street Bowie had encountered in West Berlin, whose name was a pun on the art deco style. In fact, the song itself is, like the rest of the songs on the b-side of Low, a portrait piece of a certain location, in this case, West Berlin. Recounting his impressions, Bowie later called West Berlin "a city cut off from its world, art and culture, dying with no hope of retribution." As a result, the song is intentionally droll and slow, attempting a melancholy, depressing sound.

The song features a quick introduction on percussion and vibraphone, using a caravan-like drum sound to continue throughout the piece. Bowie's melodic portion of the composition is layered over the synthetic soundscapes of Brian Eno, whose synthesizer effects are reminiscent to those of the No Pussyfooting album from 1974. The song is intentionally repetitive, half the song does not stray from an E major chord while a two note melody repeats over the sound of continuous effects.

Live versions

A live version recorded on the Heroes tour at the Philadelphia Spectrum, April 28-29, 1978, was released on the live album Stage
.

Other releases

The live versions from Stage was released as the B-side of the single "Breaking Glass
" in 1978.
It was released as a picture disc in the RCA Life Time picture disc set.

Sources

Greatorex, Johnathan. "Just a Mortal With Potential." Teenage Wildlife. Nov. 1996. 06 Mar. 2006 <>.
Griffin, R. "Low." Bowie Golden Years. Jan. 2005. 06 Mar. 2006 <>.

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