Actors - Diamond Dogs

Home > Listing Index > Actors > Diamond Dogs

	Actors - Diamond Dogs

: For the 2001 novella by Alastair Reynolds, see Diamond Dogs (novella)

Diamond Dogs is a concept album by David Bowie, originally released by RCA in 1974. Thematically it was a marriage of the novel 1984
by George Orwell and Bowie’s own glam-tinged vision of a post-apocalyptic world. Bowie had wanted to make a theatrical production of Orwell's book and began writing material after completing sessions for his 1973 album Pin Ups
, but the late author’s estate denied the rights. The songs wound up on the second half of Diamond Dogs instead where, as the titles indicate, the 1984 theme was prominent.

Though the album was recorded and released well after the 'retirement' of Ziggy Stardust in mid-1973, and featured its own lead character in Halloween Jack ("a real cool cat" who lived in the decaying "Hunger City"), most commentatiors regard Ziggy as still very much alive in Diamond Dogs, noting in particular Bowie’s haircut on the cover and the glam-trash style of the first single "Rebel Rebel". As in some songs on Aladdin Sane
, the influence of The Rolling Stones was also seen in the chugging title track. Elsewhere, however, Bowie appeared to have moved on from his earlier work with the epic song suite, "Sweet Thing / Candidate / Sweet Thing (reprise)", whilst "Rock 'n' Roll With Me" and the Shaft
-inspired wah-wah guitar style of "1984" provided a foretaste of Bowie's next, 'plastic soul', phase. The original vinyl album ended with the juddering refrain "Bruh-bruh!", a corruption of "(Big) Brother", repeating insistently ad infinitum.

Diamond Dogs was the first Bowie album since 1969 to not feature any of the "Spiders From Mars", the backing band made famous by Ziggy Stardust. Instead, Herbie Flowers played bass with drums being shared between Aynsley Dunbar and Tony Newman. In a move that surprised some critics, Bowie himself took on the lead guitar role previously held by Mick Ronson, except on "1984". The album was also a milestone in Bowie's career because it reunited him with Tony Visconti, who would co-produce almost all his work for the rest of the decade.

Though Diamond Dogs made #1 in the UK charts and #5 in the US, it has been criticised as rough in sound and pretentious in theme. However, Bowie’s raw guitar style and vision of urban chaos, scavenging children and nihilistic lovers ("We'll buy some drugs and watch a band / And jump in the river holding hands") has also been credited with heavily influencing the punk revolution that would take place in the following years.

The cover art features a striking half-dog, half-Bowie figure painted by Guy Peellaert. It was controversial as the full painting clearly showed the hybrid’s genitalia. This was airbrushed out for the 1974 LP’s gatefold sleeve, although the original artwork (and another rejected cover featuring Bowie in a sombrero holding onto a ravenous dog) was included in subsequent Rykodisc/EMI re-issues.

Bowie played much of this album on his 1974 US tour (featured on David Live
) and some on the Station to Station
tour in 1976, but apart from "Rebel Rebel" has rarely performed any of the material in concert since.

Track listing

All tracks written by David Bowie except "Rock 'N' Roll With Me" lyrics by Bowie, music by Bowie and Warren Peace.

# "Future Legend" - (1:05) # "Diamond Dogs" - (5:56) # "Sweet Thing" - (3:39) # "Candidate" - (2:40) # "Sweet Thing" (reprise) - (2:31) # "Rebel Rebel" - (4:30) # "Rock 'n' Roll With Me" - (4:00) # "We are the Dead" - (4:58) # "1984" - (3:27) # "Big Brother" - (3:21) # "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family" - (2:00)

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Diamond Dogs ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Diamond Dogs; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay